Showing posts with label chineseness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chineseness. Show all posts
4.4.11
31.3.11
23.3.11
"Sina's Shameless Cheating"
Ai Weiwei Gave "Shameless Cheating" Banners to Sina.com
(you tube)
Well-known Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and supporters rushed to the 2010 "Art Power List" ceremony site, to present the organizers with many silk banners with "Sina's Shameless Cheating" on them to protest against Sina's black-box selection.
Sina.com launched 「Art Power List" contest on Jan. 26. Ai Weiwei received an overwhelming amount of votes.
However, one day later, on Jan. 27, the webpage displaying the voting results disappeared.
The webpage suddenly resurfaced on Feb. 15.
Within "Artists of the Year" category, however, Ai Weiwei's name has completely disappeared.
In the category "Art Institutions of the Year", Three Shadows Photography Art Center was picked.
Perhaps Sina didn't realize that Ai Weiwei is actually the center's consultant.
The next day, many netizens voted for the center. With over 5,000 votes, Three Shadows topped the list.
At 8 p.m. on the same day, the organizer Sina.com changed the votes received by the 1st runner-up from around 3,400 votes to over 5,000 votes. Three Shadows' votes were reduced to 4,500 or so. Many netizens made screenshots as proof.
On Feb. 17, many called Sina.com to question about the altered votes, but Sina.com refused to disclose details.
On Feb. 21, on the award ceremony, Ai Weiwei and his supporters arrived at the scene,
and presented many banners to the organizers, with words "Sina's Shameless Cheating".
Well-known Chinese musician "Little Left Curse":
The whole process is ridiculous and very humorous. In the cold, people lined up to take photos with Ai, because the banner at the back said Sina is shameful.
Ai Weiwei said, many so-called artists bow to power. They have done so many detrimental things.
Yet they still want to obtain the honors. There are struggles in many countries to bring such people down.
Ai: In fact, China has no real contemporary art, because the contemporary art is closely linked to social realities and the openness of the society. When a country blocks and oppresses all this, the platform for arts cannot really exist.
On Feb. 19, Sina.com announced the award ceremony. Ai openly asked for netizens' opinions online.
Many netizens found that as an open network media, Sina.com carried out unfair black-box selections.
Sina.com bowed to the CCP's Propaganda Bureau and 「self-castrated」. As a media, it lost credibility.
"Little Left Curse" said, art should be more entertaining, and should allow everyone to participate.
Open and fair rules should be established. He believes Sina.com may have unspeakable difficulties, because
they are monitored by the Propaganda Bureau.
NTD reporter Tang Yan and Xue Li
17.3.11
grass-mud horse and river crabs
Origins of the Grass-Mud Horse
In early 2009, a creature named the “Grass-Mud Horse” appeared in an online video which became an immediate viral hit. The term grass-mud horse, which sounds nearly the same in Chinese as “f*** your mother” (cáo nǐ mā), was originally created as a way to get around, and also poke fun at, government censorship of vulgar content. After netizens created an online video depicting the grass-mud horse at war with and eventually defeating the river crab, a homonym for “harmony,” a propaganda catchword, the idea caught fire instantly and the symbolic meaning of this term has been completely transformed. Within weeks, the “grass-mud horse” became the de facto mascot of netizens in China fighting for free expression, inspiring poetry, photos and videos, artwork, lines of clothing, and more. As one Chinese blogger explained, “The grass-mud horse (草泥马) represents information and opinions that cannot be accepted by the mainstream discourse, and “ the Song of the Grass-Mud Horse” has become a metaphor of the power struggle over Internet expression”
In early 2009, a creature named the “Grass-Mud Horse” appeared in an online video which became an immediate viral hit. The term grass-mud horse, which sounds nearly the same in Chinese as “f*** your mother” (cáo nǐ mā), was originally created as a way to get around, and also poke fun at, government censorship of vulgar content. After netizens created an online video depicting the grass-mud horse at war with and eventually defeating the river crab, a homonym for “harmony,” a propaganda catchword, the idea caught fire instantly and the symbolic meaning of this term has been completely transformed. Within weeks, the “grass-mud horse” became the de facto mascot of netizens in China fighting for free expression, inspiring poetry, photos and videos, artwork, lines of clothing, and more. As one Chinese blogger explained, “The grass-mud horse (草泥马) represents information and opinions that cannot be accepted by the mainstream discourse, and “ the Song of the Grass-Mud Horse” has become a metaphor of the power struggle over Internet expression”
6.3.11
At the end of the event questions remained. Will river crab become a banned food in China? And would consuming this delicacy mean that you hold subversive intent against the authorities?
Ai Weiwei / River Crab Feast @ Shanghai Studio
http://vimeo.com/16706085Ai Weiwei Studio Protest Party/River Crab Feast - "A Party of Politics" - 7 November 2010
RachelMarsden1983http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnIMBW-y7rk
People had travelled from far across China, staying and sleeping at his studio from Wednesday to secure a place at the long dining table, which crossed the central courtyard. The feast included dishes of stewed beef, pork and asparagus, fresh bread, white rice and the promised 10,000 local river crabs. Local chefs and kitchen-hands made and served the food from a small room at the front of the building, viewed through an open window which turned into a public viewing platform.
The River Crab Banquet - Images and Report from Rachel Marsden
We are pleased to welcome Rachel Marsden, a writer, researcher and curator based in Stafford, UK, to Bird’s Nest as a contributor. She’s currently in Shanghai and took the time to share this article and images from her visit to Mr. Ai’s studio. This is a cross post from Art Radar Journal, which contains additional photos from the event.So the media thought the Ai Weiwei party was cancelled … but it wasn’t. Only a handful of the press were there – Reuters, South China Morning Post, Le Monde and a few others. A few hundred people turned up to the artist’s studio, which served as a venue for music, food, overnight residence and political presentation.
Posters in protest of Zuoxiao Zuzhou and Ai Weiwei. Image (c) Richard Warren
As controversial Beijing artist Ai Weiwei remained under house arrest in Beijing for planning a protest party, his “party of politics” went into full swing at his soon to be demolished $1.1m (£670,000) studio in the Jiading district of Shanghai. It was an ironic celebration of the decision made by authorities to tear the building down after they had persuaded him to build it. Ai publicly cancelled his party via Twitter and through the media on Saturday. He led the authorities to believe it wasn’t happening, only for it to go ahead on Sunday afternoon from 12pm.
People had travelled from far across China, staying and sleeping at his studio from Wednesday to secure a place at the long dining table, which crossed the central courtyard. The feast included dishes of stewed beef, pork and asparagus, fresh bread, white rice and the promised 10,000 local river crabs. Local chefs and kitchen-hands made and served the food from a small room at the front of the building, viewed through an open window which turned into a public viewing platform.
The crabs, considered a local delicacy, were used at the party as a jibe at officialdom. In Chinese, the word for river crab, hexie, sounds very similar to that for “harmony”, the ideological buzzword of the current regime referencing the censorship of China. It is a word that is frequently used ironically by Chinese Internet users, and here is used in reference to the “harmonising” of Ai’s new studio. As the crabs were served, people started to chant repeatedly, “For a harmonised society eat river crabs…”, whilst smiling and laughing, considering it a personal yet political joke.
“A Party of Politics” - Ai Weiwei’s protest party. Image (c) Rachel Marsden
At one stage, a young teenage boy held up a handmade sign making his own personal protest, only to quickly be patted on the head by an elder and told to think clearly about his actions. Later on in the day, the commercial reality of the event set in as the organisers sold books and large photographic portrait posters by Ai. These posters were held up by individuals as another form of visual protest, explicitly referencing back to the propaganda posters used during the Cultural Revolution in China in the 1970s.
Only a handful of Westerners were present at the event where the atmosphere was jovial, although there was a serious undercurrent filled with the negative possibilities of what could occur that day, making you realise the local and global presence and power of not only Ai, but the authorities.
At the end of the event questions remained. Will river crab become a banned food in China? And would consuming this delicacy mean that you hold subversive intent against the authorities?
Party goers chant whilst sharing river crab. Image (c) Rachel Marsden
Ai Weiwei’s installation Sunflower Seeds, which was also restricted, this time due to public interaction being considered a health hazard, is currently on display at Tate Modern, London, until the 2 May, 2011.
The feast included dishes of stewed beef, pork and asparagus, fresh bread, white rice and the promised 10,000 local river crabs. Local chefs and kitchen-hands made and served the food from a small room at the front of the building, viewed through an open window which turned into a public viewing platform.
28.2.11
ai weiwei's blog: vertaald uit chinees
2011 MITTpress
"The opinions expressed in this book are all those of the autor. (...) The Internet became the primary source for such annotations, and as this book was assembled in China, fact checking necessitated "leaping over the Great Firewall", which in 2008-2009 was constantly updating its Internet-monitoring software and methods. At last, using a VPU allowed access to almost all websites otherwise unavailable to the average mainland browser (including Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and occasionally Flickr). But once over the firewall, a more serious challenge was posed in reconciling the often extreme differences between Western and Chinese sources. These discrepancies are perhaps the last vestiges of the Cold War. I hope that through more translations like this one, our two civilizations can reconcile the 'facts'." Lee Ambrozy
"The opinions expressed in this book are all those of the autor. (...) The Internet became the primary source for such annotations, and as this book was assembled in China, fact checking necessitated "leaping over the Great Firewall", which in 2008-2009 was constantly updating its Internet-monitoring software and methods. At last, using a VPU allowed access to almost all websites otherwise unavailable to the average mainland browser (including Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Vimeo, and occasionally Flickr). But once over the firewall, a more serious challenge was posed in reconciling the often extreme differences between Western and Chinese sources. These discrepancies are perhaps the last vestiges of the Cold War. I hope that through more translations like this one, our two civilizations can reconcile the 'facts'." Lee Ambrozy
23.2.11
20.2.11
De Morgen In Beeld - Foto - De Morgen
De Morgen In Beeld - Foto - De Morgen
In China wordt opgeroepen tot manifestaties in dertien grote steden. Volgens mensenrechtenactivisten zijn sindsdien al een vijftiental advocaten en militanten preventief in hechtenis genomen door de autoriteiten. Ook het woord 'jasmijn' zou intussen gecensureerd worden op het net. © reuters
3.2.11
3th february - chinese new year: year of the rabbit
A placid year, very much welcomed and needed after the ferocious year of the Tiger. We should go off to some quiet spot to lick our wounds and get some rest after all the battles of the previous year.
Good taste and refinement will shine on everything and people will acknowledge that persuasion is better than force. A congenial time in which diplomacy, international relations and politics will be given a front seat again. We will act with discretion and make reasonable concessions without too much difficulty.
A time to watch out that we do not become too indulgent. The influence of the Rabbit tends to spoil those who like too much comfort and thus impair their effectiveness and sense of duty.
Law and order will be lax; rules and regulations will not be rigidly enforced. No one seems very inclined to bother with these unpleasant realities. They are busy enjoying themselves, entertaining others or simply taking it easy. The scene is quiet and calm, even deteriorating to the point of somnolence. We will all have a tendency to put off disagreeable tasks as long as possible
Money can be made without too much labor. Our life style will be languid and leisurely as we allow ourselves the luxuries we have always craved for. A temperate year with unhurried pace. For once, it may seem possible for us to be carefree and happy without too many annoyances.
7.12.10
25.10.10
12.10.10
26.9.10
20.9.10
La Chinoise de Godard (nouvelle vague)
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