Ai Weiwei is one of three artists taking over the famous Piccadilly Circus billboards this year.
October marks the start of the exciting CIRCA 20:20 series, which will see three incredible artists take over the Piccadilly Circus billboards for two minutes each day. Europe’s largest billboard will screen digital artwork between 8:20pm and 8:22pm every evening for the rest of the year, after which it will return to its regular programming of ads, ads and more ads. Each artist will occupy the space for one month, and the contemporary artist and Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei is up first. [Featured image: @lisson_gallery]
Every evening this October, a two-minute clip of Weiwei’s 30-part series will be projected onto the big screen in the city centre. It will explore his professional ventures from the 1970s to the present day, focusing on the decade he spent working in New York. You can also expect references to his personal life, including his friendship with the world-renowned artist Andy Warhol.
The man of the hour (or month) Weiwei said “CIRCA 20:20 offers a very important platform for artists to exercise their practice and reach out to the public. I think this is going to be a very interesting project and it will have an impact on the arts and culture for London.”
You will have several opportunities to see his iconic show, set to feature pictures, videos and of course, his most famous artworks, before the next artist takes over in November.
The artist Josef O’Conner came up with the whole idea, and said “In our current state of emergency, artists can shine a light, creating new perspectives that can challenge, inspire and change the future. CIRCA champions the vision and collaborative mindset that is required to pull us all forward. We are honoured to be given this opportunity on such an iconic platform to present both emerging and established artists and help support the wider creative community.”
The event began last night and has already dazzled dozens of passers by. So make sure you bring your friends, your camera and most importantly, your headphones so you can tune into the audio on the CIRCA website. And for those that won’t be able to attend – or miss the two-minute slot – their website will stream the artwork every evening.