Ai Weiwei's F Lotus Installation at Vienna's Belvedere Gardens

Ai Weiwei has installed 'F Lotus' in the pond of the Belvedere Gardens in Vienna, as part of his ongoing series addressing the Mediterranean migrant crisis. The work consists of 1,005 life jackets recovered from the Greek island of Lesbos, where over 500,000 were abandoned by refugees. The jackets are grouped into 201 rings of five, floating on the water to form the letter 'F'. The installation is on view at the 21er Haus museum of contemporary art. Earlier in 2016, Ai Weiwei created a similar installation on the facade of the Konzerthaus in Berlin using 14,000 orange life jackets. His upcoming exhibition at Palazzo Strozzi in Florence (September 22, 2016 – January 22, 2017) will feature 18 large rescue boats anchored to the building's windows. Ai Weiwei was detained for 81 days in 2011 due to conflicts with Chinese authorities.