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Case Studies
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Ai weiwei: F**K YOU MOTHER [LAND MICHELLE MARY OSHEA
“If there is one person who is not free, then I am not; if there is one person who sFll suffers from insult and humiliaFon, then I do. Do you understand yet?” Ai weiwei Ai weiwei, (born 1957) is a Chinese internaFonally renowned arFst and acFvist, his work is poliFcally charged and he has on many occasions been an outspoken criFc of the Chinese government. He believes in order for China to become a democraFc society; it needs people who can act, voice their opinions, talk to the young people and try to find a way to encourage people to be involved. He reminds people through his art and social media that an individual can make an impact for social change. Ai believes that the internet is the most valuable source of informaFon, where people can freely express themselves. “This event isn’t about me, but about how people are treated…freedom of expression and the internet, and how people can communicate and share ideas through the internet.” Ai uses his blog and Twi^er stream to organise, inform and inspire his followers, becoming an underground hero to millions of neFzens. On the 3rd of April 2011, Ai weiwei was detained by Chinese police at Beijing airport, aeer 81 days he was released from detenFon. The Chinese authoriFes alleged that Ai was guilty of tax evasion! Many in the internaFonal community felt that the arrest was the government’s response to his poliFcally-‐ charged work and social acFvism. -‐ just as they believed that his release was brought about by internaFonal pressure. According to Olga Viso, curator at the walker gallery, “… those voices and acFons, the appeal for freedom and democracy, do make a difference.” Ai weiwei is more than willing to use the power of this global internet age to voice his frustraFons.
Ai weiwei does Gangnam style “Grass Mud Horse” h^p://youtu.be/n281GWfT1E8
In late October 2012, Ai weiwei released a parody video of Gangnam style, enFtled “Grass mud horse style” (Cao ni ma). Filmed for roughly 10mins, took a whole day to edit and was uploaded online at midnight. Aeer a few hrs, tens of thousands, had watched it. The next day it was blocked from Chinese websites by Chinese authoriFes. China has a great firewall which has forbidden any informaFon that is considered sensiFve, so the struggle is always very strong there because the government basically censors everything they don’t like. New technology is helping people to hop over the great firewall. To date, it has received 160,813 views on YouTube. Ai’s video is a collecFve dig at the Chinese government, where there is a reference to his detenFon.
During part of the video Ai is handcuffed to a fellow dancer, in another part of the video Ai while dancing, waves a set of handcuffs and a dancer’s hands are crossed much like when a person is in handcuffs. “Art is a way of communicaFon. It should be shared by an audience. I’m trying to find a way to make the message more relatable to our daily lives.”
It is a playful mimic and he salutes the authoriFes with an invisible middle finger with his Ftle of “Grass Mud Horse” (Cao ni ma), “fuck you mother [land].” When a society constantly demands that everyone should abandon their right for freedom, the society becomes a society without creaFvity. Grass Mud Horse, (Cao ni ma) an alpaca-‐ like animal invented by China’s web users, literally translates as, “Fuck your Mother” which is similar to the English insult “motherfucker” One person invented the word “Grass Mud Horse”, another
created the song of the grass mud horse and then, the whole online crowd discover this song and sing it as a way to express their emoFons for free expression. It is probably the most famous example of how Chinese neFzens alter their language to sneak past censors. It is symbolic of the protest against internet censorship in China, represents informaFon and opinions that cannot be accepted by the mainstream discourse and has also become a metaphor over the power struggle of internet expression. “Grass Mud Horse” song: “There is a herd of Grass Mud Horses in the wild and beau6ful Ma Le Desert They are lively and intelligent They are fun-‐ loving and nimble They live freely in the Ma Le Desert They are courageous, tenacious and overcome the difficult environment Oh lying down Grass Mud-‐ Horse Oh running wild Grass Mud Horse They defeated river crabs***in order to Protect their grass land River crabs forever disappeared from Ma Le Desert.” The conflict between the people and the Chinese authoriFes is evident: We (Grass Mud Horses) were living happily with the internet (Ma Le desert), then you, the Chinese authoriFes (River Crabs) come along and try to take our freedom of expression (Ma Le Desert) from us, but, we will overcome this because we are courageous and will protect our human rights. So, fuck you mother [land]! Do you understand yet? In response to Ai weiwei subversive parody, Indian born BriFsh sculptor, Anish Kapoor invited 100’s of arFsts (friends), Amnesty acFvists and leading members of the cultural world to his London studio to create their own gangnam style video, “gangnam for freedom” as a sign of support to Ai weiwei and human rights. To date, it has received 246,511 views on YouTube.
Anish Kapoor does Gangnam style for freedom h^p://youtu.be/tcjFzmWLEdQ “Our film aims to make a serious point about freedom of speech and freedom of expression. It is our hope that this gesture of support for Ai weiwei and all prisoners of conscience will be wide-‐ranging and will help to emphasise how important these freedoms are to all of us.”
He also asked individuals and insFtuFons around the globe to submit videos and photographs to stress the importance of free speech and expression. The film was immediately removed from the web by Chinese authoriFes The film features appearances from arFsts bob and robera smith, mark wallinger and galleries and organisaFons such as MoMA, Guggenheim, new museum and many more.
InsFtuFons involved: Solomon R. Guggenheim museum, New York Hirsh horn Museum and Sculpture Gardens, Smithsonian Los Angeles County Museum of Art Mariam Tzannatos Whitney Museum of American Art Tumblr Lisa Appignansi Helen bamber Oliver + oslie Bestridge with William + Allegra Mullan Gladstone Gallery New museum MoMA, NEW YORK Richard Wentworth Philadelphia Museum of art Brooklyn Museum Sakip Sabanci Museum Istanbul Dementrio Paparon Norman Rosenthal Museum of contemporary art, San Diego Cornelia Parker + Jeff Macmillan Hanif Kurieshi SerpenFne Gallery Conor Taylor
Reprezent Radio 107.3FM Channel 4 news team La Guardia Community College
The Gangnam style song by the South Korean rapper PSY, his official video on YouTube has received 21,010,813 views and is the 2nd most watched video at this Fme. The gangnam has exploded globally and people are connecFng through song and dance. “Hey, sexy lady…” Ai weiwei is very aware of this and by dancing to his parody of gangnam style he knows it will be viewed on YouTube, clever man! In China, internaFonal internet sites have been blocked; Facebook, twi^er, Google and YouTube. The Chinese authoriFes are fearful of any informaFon that they consider sensiFve. Ai’s name cannot even be tagged, his blog has been censored, he is constantly under surveillance-‐ camera’s, phone monitored, tailed and his internet account is always being checked, he lives in a society where freedom of expression is not allowed. The nature of his work relies on the internet to get people aware of the true facts and informaFon. Ai weiwei thinks in the next few years-‐ China is facing a moment for a social and poliFcal change, yet in the past 30 years China has made a great difference economically and is much more connected and recognised by the internaFonal community, but is sFll a communist society where freedom of speech and human rights are in poor condiFon. Through his poliFcally charged work he quesFons the Chinese government on their lack of democraFc and civilised engagement. He poses the quesFon, “…Do you understand yet? If there is no free speech, every single life has been lived in vain… Fuck you mother [land].”
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ACTION RANKING- REFLECTIONS
We divided our actions in to individual and collective and think both are important. We felt that being part of an organisation helps you engage in collective action. We had volunteering as last in priority, but that was thinking about international volunteering abroad. The best action is to inform yourself...we agree but you can't push it on other people. It can be preachy. People take in information when they go out to find it..not when its pushed on them. We see lobbying as link between individual and collective action. You can do lots of lobbying and informing people with Facebook....a very individual action but with big impact. We felt that the best action is to be creative attracting public attention. We felt that the 1st priority is to look at your own life style and choice and make change. The priorities seem to reflect that the personal is important and that its core to the other types of actions. In terms of action you don't need to reinvent the wheel. Theres things that are proved to be effective. I think the power of lobbying TD is underestimated. It can be quite powerful. lots of things need to change at a legislative level. We put a lot of responsibility on our elective representatives. We have responsibility for ourselves. We also need to acknowledge we voted them. It easy to put all the blame somewhere else. When we priorities informing ourselves and taking responsibility for ourselves change should work up from there. Theres a lack of taking responsibility at a governmental level. People like Roisin Shorthall...stood up and took responsibility but she is not in position of power anymore. If you can change politics on the inside...it seems like everyone confirms. You can start making alternatives, different models and solutions. We need to focus on what we do want ...not just shouting about what we don't want.
Useful links IDEA What is Development video clip - IDEA Sheila's case study reference TVG Animation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U951TscOFoA&list=UU8ufmgh-IbIM1Q... http://www.creativenaomi.com/GLobalisation.jpg Radi-aid Case study http://www.africafornorway.no/ Development Education Resources - NYCI - National Youth Council of Ireland http://www.youthdeved.ie/ ADBUSTING/ Critical thinking http://www.adbusters.org/ GREENPEACE -NESTLE KIT KAT ADD LYNX http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FialjqvnESM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BCA8dQfGi0 Dove Add - Our perception of beauty is distorted..... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U Media Empowerment Tool kit http://www.adbusters.org/cultureshop/mediakit Education/ Development Education Models http://www.trapese.org www.globaleducation.edu.au http://www.deeep.org/dear-definitions.html http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/humanrights-education/