Diary in Exile

Thursday, 19 January 2012

The Year of Dragon: Crackdown Continues on Activists in China

NYTimes: The Chinese authorities have responded by drastically intensifying a crackdown on rights activists that dated from December 2008, when the writer and intellectual Liu Xiaobo was detained after helping write the Charter 08 democracy manifesto. Mr. Liu was convicted of subversion in December 2009, and in 2010, while serving an 11-year prison sentence, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Last March, a court in Sichuan Province sentenced another activist, Liu Xianbin, to 10 years in prison on subversion charges, and another prominent rights activist in Sichuan, Chen Wei, drew a nine-year subversion sentence in December. On Dec. 26, a Guizhou Province court sentenced Chen Xi to 10 years for subversion.

Further readings:
Zhu Yufu was charged with subversion for writing a poem: "It's time, Chinese people! / The square belongs to everyone / the feet are yours / it's time to use your feet and take to the square to make a choice."

No Enemies, No Hatred: Selected Essays and Po…

by Xiaobo Liu, Perry Link

Exposing CPC Tyranny and Running to the Free World: My Statement on Leaving China by Yu Jie

It will enable readers in China and beyond as well as the international community to see the truth behind China’s economic growth—reckless autocracy, rampant corruption, deterioration of human rights, damage to the environment, moral decline—and that Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao are sinners of history whose sins cannot be forgiven.

Sunday, 8 January 2012

Tiananmen SquARed: Tank Man and the Goddess of Democracy at LA Re.Play

4Gentlemen with ManifestAR @ LA Re.Play

LA Re.Play, an Exhibition of Mobile Art in conjunction with Mobile Art: The Aesthetics of Mobile Network Culture in Place-making during the College Arts Association Annual Meeting, Los Angeles, February 22-29, 2012
Co-curators: Hana Iverson, Visiting Scholar, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Dr. Mimi Sheller, Director, Center for Mobilities Research and Policy, Drexel University and Jeremy Hight, independent artist and curator
Opening reception at CAA Convention Center LA Re.Play Hub Location, February 22, 5:30 – 7:30 pm
Reception: EDA Grad Art Gallery, Broad Art Center, UCLA, Friday, February 24, 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Whereas the public square was once the quintessential place to air grievances, display solidarity, express difference, celebrate similarity, remember, mourn, and reinforce shared values of right and wrong, it is no longer the only anchor for interactions in the public realm. That geography has been relocated to a novel terrain, one that encourages exploration of mobile location based public art. Moreover, public space is now truly open, as artworks can be placed anywhere in the world, without prior permission from government or private authorities – with profound implications for art in the public sphere and the discourse that surrounds it.

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.