[spectre] (fwd) Sign the Petition: Release Ai Weiwei

[Andreas Broeckmann]

heath,

thank you for these questions. i will think about them carefully, 
since i assume that these are the kind of questions that people like 
myself will have to answer when they get in the hands of the chinese 
stasi, should the chinese stasi choose to ask me questions about why 
i supported a campaign for the release of ai weiwei.

http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-the-release-of-ai-weiwei

because you now know that i have this association when reading your 
questions, i assume that you will understand that i would rather not 
enter into this interrogation now. such interrogations are structured 
to make people say contradictory things which harm them and others.

i respect you as an artist and your work (e.g. 
http://status.irational.org/ ), and because of that respect i choose 
to assume that the imputation in your questions - that ai weiwei 
might be in prison for good reason - is rhetorical and strategic. 
(besides, i believe that people who evade taxes should not be put in 
prison, but forced to pay taxes.)

i support the campaign for the reslease of ai weiwei because i 
believe that he is wrongfully imprisoned, like many other people in 
china (and elsewhere). he is a figure-head, and the campaign has, in 
my understanding, an important 'symbolic' dimension in that it is 
directed against the lack of freedom of speech and freedom of the 
arts.

i did not know that you were arrested. it is of course a problem of 
the attention economy that i didn't know about this. is it cynical to 
say that, while i despise that fact that you get arrested regularly 
because of your work with borders and identity, i am glad that you 
have been arrested by people acting on behalf of authorities that 
released you again soon afterwards, rather than also arresting your 
partners and keeping you under arrest away from the public eye for an 
(as of yet) indefinite period of time. the latter is what is 
happening to ai weiwei.

should this happen to you and i know about it, i will also support 
the campaign for your release.

regards,
-a

ps: i am very well this morning, going for breakfast now.



>On Thu, 14 Apr 2011, Andreas Broeckmann wrote:
>
>andreas broeckmann
>
>can you explain why you are campaigning for this person ?
>
>are you sure he not guilty of tax evasion ?
>
>does the fact that this campaign is supported by so many elite 
>organisation not make you question this campaign ?
>
>i didn't note much interest or support in my case when i was 
>arrested every time i entered or exited the united kingdom or when i 
>was disappeared by the UK secret police and accused falsely of bomb 
>threats at a london airport - i was facing up to 7 years in prison
>
>this was a result of my work with borders and identity and i still live
>under surveillance
>
>in the similar manner that no one benefits from my rise through the 
>art stratosphere, hence no rise or stardom, who is benefiting from 
>Ai Weiwei and his hyper inflation in the attention economy ?
>
>Ai Weiwei campaign seems a classic case of elite people protecting 
>their own transgressions (tax evasion) and profiting from disaster 
>capitalism rather than universal human rights and human rights 
>workers, such as artists
>
>would there be an international campaign by elite institutions to 
>support a independent artist, such as myself ?
>
>this seems a very similar situation to julian assange. instead of 
>the social network supporting a member of the blood rank, we should 
>be supporting social justice and human rights and those that work 
>using such methods
>
>Ai Weiwei is clearly a member of the international blood rank posing 
>a social networker - an astroturfer
>
>this strikes me a co-option of the social network for the purposes 
>and values of the elite
>
>hope you can answer some of these questions
>
>hope you are well
>
>heath bunting
>
>>On April 3, internationally acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was 
>>detained at the Beijing airport while en route to Hong Kong, and 
>>his papers and computers were seized from his studio compound.
>>Sign now! we need to reach 100,000 signatures!
>>http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-the-release-of-ai-weiwei#?opt_new=f&opt_fb=t
>>
>>'The members of the international arts community express their 
>>concern for Ai's freedom and disappointment in China's reluctance 
>>to live up to its promise to nurture creativity and independent 
>>thought, the keys to "soft power" and cultural influence.
>>
>>The initiative has been taken working closely with Jerome Cohen, 
>>the leading Chinese human rights lawyer who is working on Weiwei's 
>>case, and who believes that this action could be effective.
>>To support the petition you can link it on your website, on 
>>Facebook and Twitter sites, in order to quickly reach millions of 
>>people.'
>>
>>We need to reach 100,000 signatures.
>>
>>______________________________________________
>>SPECTRE list for media culture in Deep Europe
>>Info, archive and help:
>>http://post.in-mind.de/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/spectre