Dec 2, 2011 | Clippings, Portraits
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Ai Weiwei in his studio to take portraits for Foreign Policy’s Top 100 Global Thinkers list where he appeared at #18 in the rankings. He was very amiable and open to me directing him about his compound where I posed him with some of his favorite cats. Ai Weiwei is all over the news again. After a short period of silence following an 81-day incarceration, he continues to lash out at authorities and decry the trumped-up charges of tax evasion brought against him in an attempt to silence his outspoken criticisms. A recent Newsweek piece he penned where he related Beijing to a “nightmare” was especially noteworthy. This renewed vigor and boldness seem in large part due to the outpouring of support shown by anonymous Chinese donors who rallied behind him to raise $1.4 million to challenge his huge tax bill which he refers to as ransom money. Other admirers are finding more brazen outlets to show support by posting nude photos of themselves online in defense of other spurious pornography charges brought against Ai Weiwei for a set of revealing self portraits released on the Internet. To make things even more controversial, high profile figures are weighing in on the situation, including Taiwan’s president Ma Ying-jeou who visited his current exhibition at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum. It’s all quite a mess, but I am sure Ai Weiwei is pleased with himself for creating an even larger fuss than before his arrest – another great case of censorship backfiring in the face of the Chinese state.
In a crazy sense I think the political space in China has truly transformed Ai Weiwei’s life into an interdisciplinary work of art or a “social performance” as he calls it. His invocation of the Chinese state’s ire came through a combination of critical sculptures, writings, photographs, videos and installations. While these separate pieces might not be interdisciplinary in nature, they have brought about a dynamic where every action or utterance of Ai Weiwei becomes performative in nature and open to intense analysis by journalists, officials, police and, increasingly so, the general public. His identity remains at the center and activates all of these mediums of expression, especially through the Internet which exponentially magnifies his impact. In a statistical sense, Ai Weiwei is not well known in China. Still, he is making waves where it counts and China’s intelligentsia is taking note. These are the people fashioning the new China, and his stand against censorship and political suppression is singular. By tapping into a populist sentiment with his donation drive, he is putting officials even more on edge. It’s a very crucial moment for Ai Weiwei right now. There is still a very distinct possibility he might disappear again.
In other Ai Weiwei news, my friend Alison Klayman’s documentary, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, is set to premiere at the Sundance Festival in January. Check out the trailer and her appearance on the Colbert Report. It is very timely and should be a great film.
Sep 25, 2011 | Clippings
I am definitely late in publicizing this, but Time Magazine used a bunch of photographs from my Red China Rising series in a recent article on red culture and Maoist thought promotion in China for the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party. The foreign and domestic media frenzy surrounding the promotion of red songs and Mao quotes seems to have subsided now, but it certainly doesn’t mean old people won’t keep gathering in public parks to belt out “The East is Red” and other Cultural Revolution favorites. The whole campaign sort of turned into a joke by the end, and certainly never really caught on amongst the youth. The only real impact I could see is that couples dressing up for cheesy romantic portait sessions now like to don People’s Liberation Army garb covered in red stars. Intentional irony or not, march on!
Oct 27, 2010 | Music
Gum Bleed just released a new EP, No War But Class War, on October 15. The evening also celebrated their fifth year anniversary as a band. Gum Bleed are, “the youngest and most revolutionary street punx in People’s Republic of China,” according to their website. The lead singer rocks a hardcore, deep-throated growl as he expounds on the problems of the working class and the socioeconomic excesses of a now globalized China. It’s hard to discern what he is singing on stage, but the lyrics are incendiary to say the least. I don’t usually see punk bands openly publicize such lyrical discontent to this extent. On the website they also post separate links to a host of both international (Myspace, iTunes, YouTube) and domestic (Douban, Youku, Renren) media sites – very savvy. Buy some of their badass t-shirts which are also on sale. Here is to another five years of fighting the system. Onward and upward with Gum Bleed!
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“Civilization Crime”
Whoa.. Oh..Whoa Civilization crime
Whoa.. Oh..Whoa Civilization crime
We was born in hate and dark
With this modern slavery
Bank and law has bleed white us
Hey what’s the hell, what’s going on
99 for new colony capital
Get paid 1 from the TNC
World free market brings us endless debt
Hey what’s the hell, what’s going on
Welcome to the brilliant world factory
Full of grandeur industrial parks and top airports
Working class pay the liabilities for the whole country
But die in private property social security system
Globalization imperialism , Civilization crime
Corporatocracy failed us, Civilization crime
Hey! look at the country’s GNP
Hey! why you still in terror n’ disease
Hey! wake up the jobless and tear up the reins
Hey that’s the future, keep going on
Globalization imperialism , Civilization crime
Corporatocracy failed us, Civilization crime
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“Economy is Fake Anyway”
Struggle turns to market, Politic’s a business
People on high level said: “That’s not enough!”
Covered by the money, Covered by the profit
Greedy meat eater said: “That’s the human nature!”
Cheaper than the machines, Cheaper than the live stocks
We were betrayed by nation but: “Enough is enough!”
Used to be no words, Used to be no faces
We were zero but: “We won’t be silence!”
We won’t calculate anyway
We won’t produce anyway
We won’t buy you anything
We won’t sell you anything
Expose the truth
Cynicism
Egoism
Deferential to yield
Enough for us
We won’t buy you
We won’t sell you
We won’t buy you
We won’t sell you
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Play: Gum Bleed – No War But Class War
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Play: Gum Bleed – Liberation Day
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Oct 5, 2009 | Society
The celebrations surrounding the 60th Anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China took over Beijing this past week. However, on the actual anniversary, October 1, people were cleared off the streets due to the high-profile military parade snaking across the head of Tiananmen Square. Everything was carefully orchestrated for this massive made-for-TV event. Even the sky miraculously turned a deep blue thanks to weather control programs. In the end, the only way people could really interact with the special occasion was complaisantly at home via televised programming or by cramming into Tiananmen Square over the next week to inspect the floats used in the parade. Despite all the control, everyone was stirred up into a proper nationalistic fervor.
Oct 5, 2009 | Music
Modern Sky is definitely one of the pioneers in bringing large-scale music festivals to China and were planning something big this year. However, thanks to the sensitive nature of the sixtieth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, all foreign acts were canceled last minute. This is going to be a huge blow to Modern Sky’s ticket sales and confidence in importing foreign acts in the future. It is also a bit of a scare tactic employed by the local government who like to let people know who is in charge every once in awhile. Nonetheless, the festival continued with its domestic lineup and rocked out Chaoyang Park to great acclaim. Maybe next year.