threee instalations in one room: soft ground, rooted upon and a fairytale
Soft Ground is an artwork done by Ai Weiwei exclusively for his exhibition "So Sorry" at the Haus der Kunst in Munich. The 380m² large rug (size 10.61m x 35.61m) is a replication of the building's limestone flooring and was done from 969 rectangular tiles. Each stone tile was photographed, traced by hand, to be then reproduced using a coloured yarns. Production time: ninety days. A project, in terms of labour cost, only feasible to in China.
"The work is like a map pointing to events and people who have occupying the floor of the Haus der Kunst from 1937 to today [..] transforming the historical architecture into a soft confortable condition."
making soft ground, from exhibition catalogue
* The building was constructed from 1934 to 1937 following plans of architect Paul Ludwig Troost as the Third Reich's first monumental propaganda building. (source: wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haus_der_Kunst)
further reading:
Ai Weiwei: So Sorry. Katalog zur Ausstellung im Haus der Kunst, München (paperback)