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Case Studies

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

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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.

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=FialjqvnESMhttp://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.orgwww.globaleducation.edu.auhttp://www.deeep.org/dear-definitions.html

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-international-agenda/human-rights-education/

Useful links