Diary in Exile

Friday, 7 October 2011

Three Wise Monkeys

Three Wise Monkeys: Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

by 4Gentlemen

Portraying Chinese dissent artist Ai Weiwei, the work ironically refers to principles of Three Wise Monkeys: ‘hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil,’ that arguably originates from Analects of Confucius: "Look not at what is contrary to propriety; listen not to what is contrary to propriety; speak not what is contrary to propriety; make no movement which is contrary to propriety" (非禮勿視，非禮勿聽，非禮勿言非禮勿動). Instead of reviving its original teaching of moral value, the authorities adopt Confucianism in order to constrain freedom of speech in China in the 21^st century.
      Being concurrent with social turbulence in Middle East since spring of 2011, many Chinese intellectuals and activists including Ai Weiwei have been secretly detained for criticizing social injustice that the government considers ‘inciting instability and subversion.’ The international community’s outcries for releasing dissidents have limited impact. Although released in August 2011 after spending 81 days in jail, Ai is not set free – he addresses worries of being a rights activist in the future, because "they can make me disappear.”
       During Ai’s secretive detention, many leading global art institutions call for the release of the artist. As Chinese, we intend to remind the world that freedom of speech remains gravely suppressed in this society that announces the ‘freedom’ is ‘evil’ for Chinese people. We intend to deploy AR technology to launch this project at leading art institutions around the world, therefore continue informing global audience of the condition of freedom of expression in China.
      Three Wise Monkeys is also proposed to participate Manifest.AR group event 'The Art of a Placebo' at Digital Art Week. The Three Wise Monkey is designed for citizens enduring oppression of free speech. It can be used as a part of psychological treatment after a major social crisis such as indicated by the image sequence: The self-immolation to protest religious policies (F1), subway trains crash (F2), mysterious death of the village head who led petitions against alleged abuses by local government (F3), or earthquake smashing poorly constructed school buildings to result death of thousands of students (F4). Three Wise Monkey will effectively help individuals quell anger, therefore never offend the authorities.

F1: 3 Wise Monkeys at
Aba County in Sichuan, where a Tibetan monk set himself ablaze

F2: 3 Wise Monkeys at
the scene subway trains crashed in Shanghai

F3: 3 Wise Monkeys at
eastern Zhejiang Province, where the popular village head
Qian Yunhui killed by a 'traffic accident'

F4: 3 Wise Monkeys at
Sichuan, where earthquake smashed poorly constructed
school buildings to result death of thousands of students

screenshot at Open Space Gallery, Canada. Date: October 27, 2011.

More information: http://manifestarblog.wordpress.com/daw11/project-list/

Tuesday, 27 September 2011

The Great Firewall of China 伟大的中国防火墙

By 4Gentlemen

During the Qin Dynasty, Emperor Qinshihuang began building the Great Wall to keep northern nomads out of China. In the Internet age, China has invented the Great Firewall to block free thinking, to censor messages and images which criticize government policies and draw attention to violations of human rights, and to keep this activity from circulating in the blogosphere. While the ancient Great Wall of China is regarded as a wonder of human civilizations, the Great Firewall in cyberspace becomes the most sophisticated, extensive and notorious project preventing the world’s largest population from expressing themselves with contemporary technologies. How does this invisible wall impact the lives of people within China and beyond in the information era?

The Great Firewall of China is an augmented reality public art project. Built for smart phone mobile devices, the project seeks to make Internet repression visible by setting the Great Wall ablaze. The public can simply download and launch the project and aim their device’s cameras at the at Wall. The application uses geolocation software to superimpose flames at precise GPS coordinates along the Great Wall, enabling public to see the fire integrated into the physical location as if it existed in the real world.

Explore Great Firewall AR on Google Earth

View Larger Map

Related projects also on view at Distributed Collectives exhibition at Little Berlin Gallery, PA: