Computer Solutions

Here’s a snippet from a recent interview with Ai Weiwei

Leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei threw his shoe at the UK Parliament building on his way back to China, following his show at Philips de Pury in London in early March. He was partly reacting to the recent shoe throwing incident at Cambridge University, when a student threw his footwear at China’s Wen Jiabao .
“I was on the way to the airport, my flight was at 4.35. We were passing, and I saw so many people taking photos in one direction, the driver said it was the parliament. So we stopped and I asked them to take a photo of me. I took off my shoe and threw it three times. The police were fine, they didn’t care. They were like who cares what this fucking guy is doing here.”
Explaining his motivation Ai said: “I thought this student who threw his shoe at Wen Jiabao was so brave, and they made such a big fuss in China, all those patriotic youth in China said how can this guy do this, but you know it’s very normal, Wen Jiabao is a political leader. Our political leaders hold a position where they should be criticized.”
This act was the basis for several articles on Ai Weiwei’s blog, “I wanted to show that its ironic, its not a problem, to show people you can do this. It’s a joke, but already 10,000 people have read the joke. One commentator said you used one stone to kill two birds – firstly Chinese political culture is still so naïve, they are not used to public opinion being against them, or negative opinion, even though the (Chinese) constitution has guaranteed civil rights for demonstrations, and these things, it still completely illegal in practice. And secondly, maybe its more important, all those institutions in Britain and America have the same shit as China, seeking for profit and their own interests, and human rights are always the first thing to be sacrificed. I think they are just as bad as any dictators, I find it really disgusting. I mean, for instance, we have this financial crisis, and they pretended everything was fine….the recent crisis shows western democratic societies are not functioning, they have been betrayed by mega economic forces. Russia, America, China, its all the same shit.”
Ai Weiwei’s blog is now spearheading an investigation into the deaths of schoolchildren in the large earthquake in China’s Sichuan province last year, posting long and detailed transcripts of conversations with officials, who many feel are covering up the number of deaths.
Describing his move into writing and other media Ai Weiwei said: “To use art is not enough, to describe your view, in the old traditional forms, such as painting, sculpture… as a citizen you need to express your views, writing, blogging, giving interviews, is a part of that, otherwise you will very easily be misinterpreted, or misunderstood, by the society, by the establishment I should say. “
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