In this striking edition of translucent red glass vases, precisely cast in iron molds on the renowned island of Murano — a historic epicenter of glassmaking — Ai Weiwei continues to explore the complex relationship between tradition and modernity, art and consumption. The piece features the iconic Coca-Cola logo, applied through a refined technique that ensures the perfection of each individual vase, granting it an aura of industrial objectivity that contrasts with the delicate nature of glass.
Each vase bears the artist’s engraved signature on its base and is individually numbered. The work is delivered with a certificate of authenticity, affirming both its exclusivity and its place within Ai Weiwei’s enduring artistic investigation.
This edition marks another chapter in the artist’s fascinating dialogue with traditional Chinese ceramics, a theme present throughout his career. From the controversial moment in 1995 when Ai Weiwei deliberately smashed a priceless Han Dynasty urn on camera, to the series where he hand-painted the iconic Coca-Cola logo onto ancient vessels, his practice challenges our perception of value, history, and material culture.
In the red glass vase, Ai Weiwei stages the tension between millennia-old craftsmanship and contemporary mass production, while subtly critiquing the omnipresence of commercial symbols and their almost mythological power in today’s society. The piece invites contemplation on how everyday objects, seemingly banal, acquire meaning and become testimonies of our era.
Beyond its formal beauty, this work opens a space for reflection on the fragility of tradition in the face of the whirlwind of global capitalism, and how art can serve as a tool to keep memory alive and question the power structures that shape our reality.
Ultimately, the Coca-Cola Glass Vase is a cultural hybrid encapsulating the essence of an era — an object that, with ironic elegance, challenges us to reflect on value, history, and identity in a world where everything seems to be in constant flux.
