While he was living in New York attending the Parsons School of Design and then the Art Students League of New York he developed an interest in blackjack often making frequent trips to Atlantic City.(6) Throughout the 1980's he was living in an unfurnished apartment but because he was a rated blackjack player he had full comps at most of the casinos in Atlantic City as well as free limo rides to and from the casinos, free dinners and suites. He befriended another player named Vinnie who goes by the name "Snake Eyes" and together the two would make the 80 miles trip to the casinos every few days for many years.(7) .
Weiwei became interested in art as a youth; in 1978 he enrolled in the Beijing Film Academy studying animation. It was there that he found a more intellectual and creative stimulation through a collection of avant-garde artists called Xingxing ("Stars") in which he was one of the founders. The group consisted of Ai and six other artists, they disbanded in 1983 but not before exhibiting the country's first show of experimental art in which the group hung Cubist-style painting's on a fence near the Forbidden City complex, they dubbed it the "Democratic Wall". Authorities shut it down the following day.(8) Ai has since participated in regular "Stars" group shows since the disbandment such as the "Stars: Ten Years" in 1989 that was shown in Hong Kong and Taipei. He also participated in a retrospective exhibition in Beijing in 2007 called "Origin Point".(1)(2).
Now frustrated and eager to escape the restrictive Chinese society he moved to New York City in 1981 when it became possible for Chinese citizens to travel abroad. With just $30 in his pocket and not being able to speak a word of English he enrolled in the aforementioned Parsons School of Design where he initially focused on painting.(2)(8) However, he soon turned to sculpture with his inspiration coming from French artist Marcel Duchamp and German sculptor Joseph Beuys.