Fox commentator: Fear the color pink!!

Be very afraid! Of the color pink.

That's the message from a Fox commentator, who pens a 675-word reaction to an image on the J. Crew website of a male toddler with pink toenail polish. The company's art director, Jenna Lyons, says in the accompanying text, “Lucky for me, I ended up with a boy whose favorite color is pink. Toenail painting is way more fun in neon.”

Keith Ablow, a psychiatrist, co-author of a Glenn Beck book and Fox opiner, sounds the alarm!

Yeah, well, it may be fun and games now, Jenna, but at least put some money aside for psychotherapy for the kid—and maybe a little for others who’ll be affected by your “innocent” pleasure.

This is a dramatic example of the way that our culture is being encouraged to abandon all trappings of gender identity—homogenizing males and females when the outcome of such “psychological sterilization” [my word choice] is not known.

Later he writes, "These folks are hostile to the gender distinctions that actually are part of the magnificent synergy that creates and sustains the human race. They respect their own creative notions a whole lot more than any creative Force in the universe."

Meanwhile, the rightwing "Culture and Media Institute" dials it up even more, calling the J. Crew promo "blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children." J. Crew, writes Erin R. Brown, "apparently does not mind exploiting Beckett behind the façade of liberal, transgendered identity politics... Propaganda pushing the celebration of gender-confused boys wanting to dress and act like girls is a growing trend, seeping into mainstream culture."

Brown's organization, the media wing of the conservative Media Research Center, has a mission to "preserve and help restore America’s culture, character, traditional values, and morals against the assault of the liberal media elite, and to promote fair portrayal of social conservatives and religious believers in the media."

Via The Advocate.

"Hanksy" wheatpaste

Banksy-style Tom Hanks wheatpaste spotted by Flickr user Mittsuniverse.

[via]

Ai Weiwei Update: 04.12.11

Installation of PLATOON's Free Ai Weiwei project in Berlin

• China is "unhappy" that the international community is rallying around Ai Weiwei. "The Chinese people also feel baffled -- why do some people in some countries treat a crime suspect as a hero?" Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. I suppose Ai, too, is "unhappy." What with being kidnapped without charge and prevented from contacting his family and all.

• The New Yorker's Beijing reporter Evan Osnos looks into "whether the world is paying undue attention to his case, in light of the fact, the argument goes, that the vast majority of the Chinese public has never heard of him. Does the fact that Ai’s professional impact is overwhelmingly felt abroad mean that the world is overstating the importance of his detention—and disregarding the more widespread, routine concerns of the Chinese people?" (It's true that Ai's detention has gotten far more attention than have disappearances of countless lesser known activists, writers, artists -- including photographer Guo Gai, who I'll have more on soon -- and regular citizens.)

• Chinese officials are now questioning Lu Qing, Ai's wife, and asking her to produce tax documents, more evidence that the government is looking into Ai's financial dealings. Trouble is, Lu couldn't produce the documents because law enforcement has already confiscated the family's papers.

• The Guardian also reports that Wen Tao, Ai's friend, is unaccounted for since he was detained at the same time as Ai. "On Monday assistants from the studio said Ai's accountant and driver, Ms Hu and Zhang Jingsong – also known as Xiao Pang – had gone missing." Finally, supporters say architect and designer Liu Zhenggang, a collaborator of Ai's, has also been missing since Ai was taken.

• Walker Art Center director Olga Viso, who gave us her comment on Ai's detention last week, follows up with a blog post in which she urges readers to sign the Guggenheim Foundation's petition, which at nearly 30,000 signers has "tremendous momentum."

• The Christian Science Monitor: Five famous jailed dissidents in China

Earlier: Ai Weiwei Update: 04.11.11

David Byrne on Crist suit: I'm one of the "few artists who has the bucks and cojones to challenge" copyright infringement by candidates

Last May, David Byrne explained why he was suing Florida Senate candidate and then-governor Charlie Crist for the unauthorized use of the Talking Heads' "Road to Nowhere" in a campaign video:

"I still believe songs occasionally mean something to people — they obviously mean something personal to the writer, and often to the listener as well. A personal and social meaning is diluted when that same song is used to sell a product (or a politician). If Crist and his campaign folks had asked to use the song, I would have said no."

Byrne, who settled with Crist and his campaign, today:

“I was shocked to discover, while working out our settlement, that the use of songs for political ads is pretty rampant. It turns out I am one of the few artists who has the bucks and cojones to challenge such usage - I'm feeling very manly after my trip to Tampa! Other artists may actually have the anger but not want to take the time and risk the legal bills. I am lucky that I can do that. Anyway, my hope is that by standing up to this practice maybe it can be made to be a less common option, or better yet an option that is never taken in the future.”

While details of the financial part of the settlement haven't been released, apparently a video apology from Crist was part of the deal:

Photo: Wikipedia

Bits: 04.12.11

• LA exhibition: Martha Cooper: Remix, in which 50 artists -- including Aiko, Neckface, Swoon, Shepard Fairey (above), Kenny Scharf, and the London Police -- interpret the works of the legendary New York street photographer, on view through May 7 at Carmichael Gallery in Culver City. Via Vandalog.

• Ed Koch, New York mayor (1978-1989), quoted in the book The History of American Graffiti (Harper Design, 2010): "I thought it was disgusting and disgusting on the part of those who supported it. Graffiti was generally supported by wealthy people who said, 'Isn't it wonderful what the animals are doing?' They wouldn't have it in their house! I had nothing but contempt for those who supported graffiti."

• Bob Shaw, author of Helvetica and the New York Subway System, on "the font that took over the world": "It's survived how many mayors, how many heads of the subway, budget crises, graffiti. If you're asking what symbolizes New York, it's not Helvetica. It's how what Vignelli and Noorda did has survived. That's very New York. It doesn't matter that everything around them has fallen apart; it's still there." (Thanks, Linda.)

• Via Rebel Art, the Madrid Street Advertising Takeover.

• Science Friday! "Novelist Cormac McCarthy, filmmaker Werner Herzog, and physicist Lawrence Krauss discuss science as inspiration for art and Herzog’s new film on the earliest known cave paintings."

• The New York Times' Room for Debate asks: Can there be artistic freedom without political freedom?

• In honor of Record Store Day, Apr. 16, "40 Sad Portraits Of Closed Record Stores."

Ai Weiwei Update: 04.11.11

Rather than inundate y'all with a series of Ai Weiwei posts, I'm going to start Bits-style update posts. The first:

• In Hong Kong, the Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements in China marched "in support of Ai Weiwei, led by Hong Kong legislators Lee Cheuk-yan and Albert Ho and community activist Richard Tsoi" on Apr. 10 (above).

• In his last interview before being detained a week ago Sunday, Ai echoed sentiments German MPs shared last week: "China in many ways is just like the middle ages. China's control over people's minds and the flow of information is just like the time before the Enlightenment."

• China has said Ai is being held for "suspected economic crimes," but one news outlet, The Australian, is now saying his detention is the result of "obscene" art: a work that shows "the artist naked except for a toy horse concealing his genitals. The caption has a double meaning in Chinese, so millions of internet users have seen the six characters interpreted as: 'F . . . k your mother, the party central committee.'"

• More speculation about why Ai was detained without charge and remains incommunicado from his family. Even if the charge wasn't bogus, is plagiarism really grounds for disappearing someone in China these days?

• A US report on China's poor human rights record got a hasty response from Chinese officials: a slapped-together tome about alleged U.S. rights infractions, including the erroneous claim that the United States has the world's highest violent crime rate. One area we should be knocked for: the indefinite detention of Bradley Manning, the suspected Wikileaker who is reportedly being forced to sleep naked. Amnesty International, the American Civil Liberties Union and others have decried the "inhumane treatment" of Manning by the U.S. government

• Redacting all ten questions about detained artist Ai Weiwei from the official transcript of a press conference is one thing, but censoring all time travel TV shows? That's what Chinese officials are doing, Boing Boing says. The reason: Such shows are disrespectful to history.

• Via the Free Ai Weiwei Facebook page, a letter from Ai's wife inquiring about her husband's situation:

Beijing, Central Commission for Discipline Inspection，
Secretary Ye Qingchun:

My name is Lu Qing, I am Ai Weiwei's wife. At 8 a.m. on April 3rd, 2011, Ai Weiwei arrived at the Beijing Capital Airport, Terminal T3, prepared to board flight CA111 to Hong Kong scheduled to depart at 9:30 a.m.

According to Ai Weiwei's assitant, Jeniffer, who was traveling with him, at around 8:04 a.m. while she and Ai Weiwei were in line for security checks, Ai Weiwei was led away by three uniformed airport security workers, from then on she was unable to communicate with him. After the flight took off, Jeniffer asked airport security about Ai Weiwei's whereabouts, to which they replied: Ai Weiwei has other business today, he cannot board the plane, we can not tell you the reasons why.

At around noon that same day, 60 policemen holding a search warrant from the Beijing City Police Department searched Ai Weiwei's studio and apartment (258 Caochangdi, Chaoyang district, Beijing) for over six hours, seizing over 129 computers, laptops, hard drives as well as dozens of personal items. They led me and the 9 other staff members present at that time to the Nangao local police station for questioning.

As of 8 p.m. today, it has been over 120 hours since the Beijing Capital Airport security officers detained Ai Weiwei, we have heard no news whatsoever.

We ask of the City Commission for Discipline Inspection to urge the city police bureau to:

1. Let us know why Ai Weiwei is detained.

2. Inform us of Ai Weiwei's daily location and conditions while imprisoned.

3. Inform the Public Security Bureau whether or not forceful measures were taken against Ai Weiwei, if any were taken, in accordance with the laws and regulations we ask the family members to undertake legal procedures.

April 8th, 2011,

Lu Qing

Chinese artist Guo Gai detained by Beijing police

Update: Three weeks after his arrest, Gai remains in police custody. Read "The art of Guo Gai: Chinese artist’s political works may offer clue to continuing detention."

Ai Weiwei isn't the only artist who's been detained by Chinese authorities: The Soap Factory notes on Facebook that artist Guo Gai has been in police custody since being detained in Beijing on Mar. 24. Guo, who is scheduled to have a work in a show at the Minneapolis art space this August, also had his computer confiscated, like Ai, according to a tweet by the Soap. (More details to come.)

Amnesty International reports (here's the Chinese version; emphasis mine):

On March 20, dozens of artists appeared at a performance art exhibition [pictured below] at the Beijing Museum of Contemporary Art. Some of the pieces touched on the current crackdown on freedom of expression and the "Jasmine Revolution," and as a result four artists were detained. On March 24, Beijing artists Huang Xiang (黄香), Zhui Hun (追魂), and Cheng Li (成力) were criminally detained for "causing a disturbance" by officers from the Songzhuang police station in Beijing. The three are currently being held in the Tiahu Detention Center in Beijing's Tongzhou District. Also on March 24, Beijing artist Guo Gai (郭盖) was taken away by police, who confiscated his computer. It is believed that Guo was seized for taking photographs during the exhibition. Guo is also being held in the Taihu Detenion Center, though further details are currently unavailable.[iii]

Guo is scheduled to present a "new large scale photographic work ...with a newly commissioned Choral piece" at the Soap Factory on Aug. 27.

On Facebook, the Soap Factory says the detention is "part of the deplorable government crack down on creative expression." As Chinese Human Rights Defenders wrote on Mar. 31, "The Chinese government has criminally detained a total of 26 individuals, disappeared more than 30, and put more than 200 under soft detention since mid-February after anonymous calls for 'Jasmine Revolution' protests first appeared online."

In February, the New York Times reported:

...Activists, possibly from outside China, have called on citizens in China to express their displeasure at the country’s lack of reforms and officials’ corruption by silently meeting in front of department stores or other public areas for a “Jasmine Revolution,” a named borrowed from the Tunisian revolt that set off the Middle East unrest.

Organizers have now called for the protests to continue each Sunday, and gave a list of spots in a dozen major cities where people could “go for a stroll” this coming Sunday at 2 p.m.

Because the calls are made via Twitter and other services widely blocked in China, they circulate only to those who know how to bypass Internet censors. But Chinese authorities have been responding with their customary zeal. On Sunday, a protest in Beijing was overwhelmed by police officers.

And the word “jasmine” has been blocked on popular social networking sites and chat rooms...

Among others detained by police across China are writers, bloggers, students, lawyers and human rights activists. A map by CHRD of detentions (click to enlarge):

Ai-inspired street art

Hyperallergic catalogues street-art responses to Ai Weiwei's detention. Here's a few, but click through for more.

Tate posts "Release Ai Weiwei" sign as museums exert more pressure

Tate Modern -- which is hosting Ai Weiwei's gigantic Sunflower Seeds installation -- now bears a "Release Ai Weiwei" sign on its exterior. Meanwhile, Tate director Nicholas Sirota is among the many museum professionals to sign a Guggenheim Foundation letter/petition calling on Chinese authorites to release the artist. And, in Germany, members of parliament are calling on three museums there to shut down the exhibition Art of the Enlightenment, which features their work, at the National Museum of China in Beijing. Ai's detention, says MP Volker Beck, contradicts the Enlightenment values the show represents.

"This exhibition was supposed to persuade the Chinese nomenclature to think about the ideas of the Enlightenment but in reality, the Chinese government has used it as an instrument to show its strength," he said.

Toilet prank: "Duchamp was here"

From The Daily What (via Sympathy for the Art Gallery).

Letter: "Our fears for Ai Weiwei"

A letter to The Guardian signed by artists, writers, curators and scholars including Cao Fei, Adrian Searle, Paddy Johnson, Tim Etchells, Jeremy Deller, Haegue Yang, the Gao Brothers, David Carson and dozens of others (I'm also a signatory).

We write as a matter of urgency regarding the arbitrary detention of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei (Report, 7 April). We and many Chinese and other friends are very concerned at the Chinese government's behaviour towards its own citizens. Ai Weiwei's position is that he firmly believes in the freedom of speech and the right to speak up on behalf of others who have been brutally silenced for their efforts to change society for the better.

As an immediate priority we urge governments to exert strong pressure on China to treat its citizens with respect as a matter of basic justice and humanity. At this stage of China's development as a country taking an increasing part in world affairs, it is crucial that we make it clear that China's credibility in the world is at stake if it does not significantly improve its human rights record.

For example, another artist, Wu Yuren, was released in Beijing on 3 April after being detained for nearly 11 months without trial. His wife and child were left in a state of great anxiety for his safety and welfare and he had committed no crime. Liu Xiaobo has been handed an 11-year sentence as a writer who expressed the need for constitutional reform in the Chinese political system. He has effectively been removed from society for more than 10 years for expressing his views.

We are concerned that the same fate awaits Ai Weiwei. We urge the UK government to treat this case as an urgent priority and to press for his immediate release.

Katie Hill (Curator and Lecturer, Chinese Contemporary Art)

Cai Yuan (Artist)

Ma Jian (Author, Beijing Coma)

Jung Chang (author, Wild Swans)

Jon Halliday (Historian)

Craig Clunas (Professor of Art History, University of Oxford)

Michael Stanley (Director, Modern Art Oxford)

Jayne Parker (Head of Graduate Fine Art Media, Slade School of Fine Art)

Adrian Searle (Critic)

Gao Brothers (Artists, Beijing)

Iwona Blazwick (Director, Whitechapel Gallery)

Tehching Hsieh (Artist)

Greg Hilty (Lisson Gallery)

John Gittings (Writer)

Rob and Roberta Smith (artist)

Kathy Battista (Programme Director, Contemporary Art, Sotheby's Institute)

JJ Xi (Artist)

Britta Erickson (Chinese art specialist and curator)

Alison Craighead (Artist)

Fabio Rossi (Director, Rossi & Rossi Gallery)

Langlands & Bell (Artists)

Siu Lan Ko (Artist)

Prateek Raja

Chris Berry (Professor of Film Studies, Goldsmiths)

Voon Pow Bartlett

Esther Menon

Eunice Yu (MYU projects)

Sarah Macdonald

Cameron Eeles

James Robertson (Writer)

Jo Ahern

Siobhan Doran

Sharon McCulloch

Fawz Farhan

Anna Allalouf

Richard Allalouf

Ciaran Daly

Jennifer McGuire

Jenny McConnel

Julie Rogers

Malu Halasa

Stella Hurtado

Jean Madgwick

Susan Whitehead

Leah Garnett

Roman Ondak (Artist)

Lisa Hanover

Isaac Julien (Artist)

Penny Spurbund

Julia Carver

Jill Hartz

Haili Sun (Artist)

Xiaoping Sun

Kate Edwards

Manuela de Laborde

Kathryn Lloyd

Tess Fitzjohn

Susan Collins

Richard Noble (Professor, Goldsmiths College)

Sarah Keeling

Maitreyi Maheshwari

Miriam Wiesel

David Ka-Shing Tse (Director, Chinatown arts)

Lisa Goldman

Gerard Choy (Artist)

Grace Gelder (Photographer)

Kevin McLoughlin (Curator of Asia, National Museum of Scotland)

Wenny Teo (Scholar)

Julie Segraves (Curator)

Andy Field

Paddy Johnson

Griselda Pollock (Professor of Art History, Leeds)

Sharon Sinclair

Stephanie Houde

Keith Wallace (Editor, Yishu Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art)

Polly Kwong (Artist)

Isabella Maidhead

Timothy Birch (Writer)

Keith Whittle (Director, Fountain Art)

Wessie Ling (Artist)

Sangita Mulji

Ann Twiselton (MIT Press, London)

Julia Carver

Augusto Corrieri

Owen Parry

Stefan Szczelkun

Catherine James

Samir Pandya

John E Owens (Professor of Politics, University of Westminster)

Rosie Thomas (Director, CREAM, University of Westminster)

Nat Hunter (Designer, Airside)

Blaise Drummond (Artist)

Jeroen de Kloet (China scholar and curator)

Diana Yeh (Writer)

Anna Soranzo

Sarah Cheang (Art historian, London College of Fashion)

Lois Keidan (Director, Live Arts Development Agency)

George Dawei Guo

Benedict Ramos (Photographer)

Nathan Thomas

Teresa Cisneros

Emily Pethick

Holly Willats

Doreen Mende

Jeremy Chu

Emily Smith

Melanie Manchot

Neil Sansom

Helena Wee

Annie Lok

Moti Roti (Artists)

Clemmie Marshall

Benben Hill-cai

Louis Hill-cai

Louisa Pearson

Lisa Hanover

Thomas Eller

Rachel Lucy King

David Thorp (Curator)

Rob Hadrill

Tarikh-Oliver Bull

Sheyma Ettefagh

Carole Sabas

Richard Croxford

Paul Chauncy

Mark Ball

Lisa Le Feuvre

Laura McLean-Ferris

Anne Katrine Dolven

Annie Lloyd

Nina Miall

Alison Harvey

Jason Bowman

Sue Jones

Abigail Sidebotham

Dave Farnham

Simone Kenyon

Manick Govinda (Curator, Artsadmin)

Hwang Eunhye

Matt Calderwood

Gregory Mosher

Isabel Paterson

Hannah Knights

Matt Watkins

Birgit Spies

Lucy Badrocke

Rebecca Partridge

Laura Godfrey Isaacs (Curator)

Jonathan Ashworth

Tim Knowles

Anna Lo

Molly Taylor

Eva Ting (Curator, TwoCities Gallery, Shanghai)

Anthony Elliott (Curator)

Hilary Crisp

Elisabeth Nelson

Christian Marclay

Lucy Mercer

Ian Brown

Caitlin Tebbit

Harvey Cohen

Paul Luckratt

Eliza Gluckman (Curator)

Lucy Day (Curator)

Deh-I Hsiung

Victoria Munro

Claudia Albertini (Curator)

Abel Ségrétin

Martin Kemp (Emeritus Professor of the History of Art, University of Oxford)

Carolyn Black

Holly Black

Stephanie Kirkness

J Whalen Bridge

Alison Clarke

Kelly Wojtko

Viola Götz

Nicky Wheeler

Manja Krech

Nigel Llewellyn

Matt Price

Yuehping Yen

Jas Elsner

Maya Schweizer

Clare Hills-Nova

Katrin Macmillan

Izumi Yuu

Camilla Pearson

Matthias Kispert

Gerard Faggionato

Louis Eastwood

Jay Ridings

Umi Baden-Powell

Melissa Lam

Rhianon Morgan-Hatch

Elizabeth Bromley

Bradley Phillip

Kasia Fijalkowska

Philip Watson

Anna Merton Kan

Verity Wilson

Rachel Marshall

Dr. Clare Harris (Art historian)

Eyawn Harry

Raksha Patell

Pamela Skelton

Mariele Neudecker (Director, Neudecker Gallery)

Peter Davies

Mike Tsang

Annette Lord

Sally Joyston-Bechal

Ellen Mara De Wachter

Michael Walling

Emma Talbot

Dave Cross

Stuart Jones

José A. Sánchez

Tim Etchells

Rose Issa (Curator)

Caragh Quinlan

CJ Mitchell

Cecilia Wee

Gini Simpson

Sue Giles

Erika Tan (Artist)

Debra Wacks

Franziska Koch

Christine Robertson

Grace Lau (Artist)

Dinu Li (Artist)

Anne Odling-Smee (Designer)

Mary Ryan

David Elliott (Curator)

Gervase Rosser

Mary Hill

Alice Mills

Christopher Horrocks

John B. Turner (photographer)

Sarah Hymas

Eric Fong (artist)

Cao Fei (artist)

Victoria Brown

Julian Ward

Anthony Roberts (Director, Colchester Arts Centre)

Amelia Beatty

Ben Lewis

Fiammetta Rocco

Hanneke Grootenboer

Adam Chodzko (artist)

Antonia Mexcua

Malcolm Bull

Pasco Q Kevlin

Jonathan Murray

David Campany (photographer)

Miriam Manook

Jeffrey Wasserstrom (China scholar)

Sylvio Nery

Rob La Frenais (Curator, The Art Catalyst)

Frank Dikötter (author, China's Great Famine)

Jon Kear

Nikki Tomlinson

Paul Carey-Kent

Alicia Paz

Fleur Donnelly-Jackson

Claire Doherty

Grace Sherrington

Thomas Clark

Layla Curtis

Julie Umerle

Claire MacCrory

Emma Kelly

Katie Paterson

Roisin Byrne

Karen Wright

Marco Filippini

Jeremy Deller (artist)

Anne Gerritsen

Mei Yuk Wong

Joanne Greenbaum (Artist)

Taylor Trabulus (Artist)

Caryn Coleman (Curator)

Lauren Weinberg (Art & Design Editor, Time Out Chicago)

Jamie Sterns (Director, PPOW Gallery)

Ron Hogan (Writer and Blogger)

Rachel Selekman (Artist)

Alyce Santoro (Artist)

Lisa Cooley (Director, Lisa Cooley Gallery)

Rachel Mersky (Artist)

Caren Golden (Director, Caren Golden Fine Art)

Louky Keijsers Koning (Director, LMAKprojects)

Aileen Tat (Artist)

Greta Kuriger (Archivist)

Jennifer Sanchez (Artist)

Jeffrey Baij (Artist)

Michael Gillespie (Director, Foxy Production)

Priya Bhatnagar

Julia Halperin (Writer, New York Observer)

Nora Gomez (The Alliance for Young Artists and Writers)

Tracey Harnish (Artist)

Paul Schmelzer (Managing Editor, American Independent News Network)

David Carson (Typographer)

Alexis Tryon (CEO, Artsicle)

Eva Kenny

Sally McKay (Artist)

Matt Held (Artist)

Judith Braun (Artist)

Jacqueline Mabey (Writer)

Rachel Stevens

Sheila White (Artist)

William Schefferine (Artist)

Charles Gute (Artist)

Helen Dennis (Artist)

Kathryn Smith (Artist and Curator)

Kelli Miller (Designer)

Man Bartlett (Artist)

Jennifer Dalton (Artist)

Torben Zenth (Kopenhagen.dk)

Perry Bard (Artist)

Sally Williams (Brooklyn Museum)

Matthew Gaffney (Artist)

Andrew Russeth (Critic, 16 Miles of String)

James Joyce (Artist)

Renee Vara (Vara Fine Arts)

Nathalie Herling

Joyce Pommer (Artist)

Dan Levenson (Artist)

James Wintner (CEO, BenefitEvents)

Michelle Forsyth (Associate Professor, Washington State University)

Michelle Vaughan (Artist)

Ian Ferrier

Madeline Warren

Natalie Moore (Artist)

Kate Wilson (Artist)

Grace Johnstone (Artstar)

Benjamin Tischer (Director, Invisible-Exports)

Elaine Kaufmann (Artist)

Erik Parker (Artist)

Randy Wray

Daniel Wilson

Alexis Hubshman (President, Scope Art Fair)

Jane Deschner (Artist)

Tyler Carter (Writer)

Monica Lundy

Rebecca Taylor (Arts Blogger, The Huffington Post)

Judith Page (Artist)

Peter J. Russo (Editorial and Program Director, Triple Canopy)

Heather Bhandari (Director, Mixed Greens Gallery)

Amy Talluto (Artist)

Mark Holdrege

Susan Smith Rosenthal

Fiona Gardner (Artist)

Leah Sandals (Writer)

Chloe Pantazi

Nicole Eisenman (Artist)

Amy Bennett (Artist)

Michael (Art Observed)

Courtney Strimple (Exhibitions Coordinator, Mixed Greens Gallery)

Poppy Gordon Lennox

Lisa Moon

Siobhan Burke

Julie Peppito

Forrest Nash (Editor, Contemporary Art Daily)

Elizabeth Zans

Svea Lin Soll (Director, Swarm Gallery)

Caroline Dumalin

Nickolus Meisel (Assistant Professor, Washington State University)

Kevin Zucker (Artist)

Rebecca Loyche (Co-Director, Co-Verlag)

John Zeppetelli (Curator, DHC/ART)

Cheryl Sim

Emily Vey Duke (Assistant Professor, Syracuse University)

Olen Hsu (Artist)

Annie Rana (Director, Marianne Boesky Gallery)

Lyle Rexer (Curator and Writer)

Doug Garth Williams (Artist)

Alice Gray Stites (Curator)

Laura Sandoval

Shelley Marlow (Photographer)

Thomas Jaeckel (Director, 532 Gallery Thomas Jaeckel)

Brainard Carey (Director, The Artworld Demystified)

Sholeh Asgary

Borbay (Artist)

Edith Bolton

AMI Miami (Design)

Sophie Leininger (Artist)

Alana Amram (Musician)

Whitney Jordan (Artist)

Emily Falvey (Curator)

Diana Nemiroff (Director, Carleton University Art Gallery)

Cathy Busby (Artist)

Garry Neill Kennedy (Artist)

Cindy Baker (Programme Coordinator, AKA Gallery)

Dennis Cordell (Photographer)

Howard Johnson

Steve Loft (Trudeau National Visiting Fellow, Ryerson University)

Jennifer Gheith (Critic)

Carly Murphy

Deborah Kass (Artist)

Martha Moszczynski

Tina Newlove (Artist)

Jeanette Doyle (Artist)

Danielle Mysliwiec (Artist)

Ariel Goldberg (Artist and Writer)

Bobby Lukas (Artist)

Chris Fraser (Artist)

Chloe Wyma

Jana DesForges (Director, BLK/MRKT Gallery)

Scott Fulmer

Suzan Frecon (Artist)

Lisa Sigal (Artist)

Myriam Vanesch (Artist and Writer)

Peter Herley (Artist)

Barbara Petro Escobar (Curator)

Ellie Buttrose (Writer)

Sirui Yan (Salon 94)

Santina Amato (Artist)

Krista Knapp (Designer)

Filip Noterdaeme (Director, Homeless Museum of Art)

Kasey Lindley (Artist)

Amanda Slack-Smith (Artist)

Vicky Colombet (Artist)

Roger White (Artist)

Caroline Elizabeth Babson (Curator)

Rebecca Layton (Artist)

Michael Walsh (Artist)

Chase Granoff (Artist, Choreographer and Curator)

Kate Stirr (Artist)

Ava Roy (Director, We Players)

Ellie Irons (Artist)

Deborah Margo (Artist)

Shihoko Iida (Curator)

Kathryn Weir (Curator and Head of International Art, Queensland Art Gallery)

Tirtzah Bassel (Artist)

Diana Kingsley (Artist)

Karen Hatch (Photographer)

Lori Waxman (Critic)

Leah Stuhltrager (Director, Dam, Stuhltrager Gallery)

Doug E. Roberts (Director, Mixografia Workshop)

Charles Beronio (Artist)

Lauren Silberman (Artist)

Donna Billick (Artist)

Kathryn Faulkner

Isabel Dreyer

Susan Chan Egan

Boris Austin (Photographer)

Holli Cooper

Manuela de Laborde

Mary-Jane Ng

Orlagh Woods (Co-Director, New Work Network)

Ai Xiaoming (Professor and filmmaker, Sun Yatsen University, Guangzhou)

Adriane Battaglia

Tanya Barrett

Hazel Muir

John Condon

Rustyna Edwards

Kate Newnham

Leslie Johnson (Director, Valand School of Fine Arts, Göteborg, Sweden)

Flore Nove-Josserand

Haegue Yang

Michael Duffy

Dr. Alice Correia (Gimpel Fils)

Michael Duffy

Judith Knight (Director, Artsadmin)

Estelle Holland

Erica Ornato

Gianni Barucco

Susan Hill

Robin Hill

Jane Bowen (Artist)

Dylan Bowen (Artist)

Arthur Bowen

Sarah Pickering (Teaching Fellow in Photography, Slade School of Fine Art)

Deirdre O'Mahony (Programme in Art and Design, GMIT, Galway, Ireland)

Joon Lynn Goh (Battersea Arts Centre)

Stephen Williamson

Richard Williamson

Dr. Patricia Lyons

Tania Mouraud (Paris)

Nicolas Aiello

Eric Alliez (Professor of Philosophy, Paris)

Joshua Loftin

Bernadette O'Donnell

Xenia Piëch (Writer and curator)

Peter Fraser (Insight Education)

Dragoljub Nesic

Loraine Baud

Simon Steven

Kai Syng Tan

Kwanyi Pan

Jean Cameron (Director, Visual Arts Festival, Glasgow)

Ynaiê Dawson

Beatrice Bonafini

Julia Whitehead

James Bluemel

Jaymz Wong

David Smith

Astrid Mahrer

Jeremy Mahrer

John Tucker

Beth Keeble

Rekha Pandy

Manu Pandy

Paul Edwards

Christine Edwards

Flora Drew (Translator)

Catherine Allen

Mary Knowles

John Cayley

Harriet Evans (Professor of Chinese Studies, University of Westminster)

Jeremy Lee (Artist)

Bits: 04.07.11

Myeongbeom Kim, Untitled, balloons, rope

• As YouTube pulls a clip of Canadian Conservative Party leader and PM Stephen Harper playing John Lennon's "Imagine" over copyright concerns, Art Threat calls his campaign appearance with Filipino-Canadian YouTube sensation Maria Aragon "a heartless attempt to deploy Imagine for electoral gain": "Here is a Conservative politician who has worked to dismantle public arts funding and has headed ‘closed-border’ immigration policies enforced by the Conservatives for years. His campaign appearances highlighting Canada’s ‘diversity’... are entirely disingenuous and by extension callous. In reality, Conservative immigration policies and even 2011 election campaign ads are overtly racist in nature."

• Minneapolis' Location has a new artist book that's of particular interest: In quiet rooms young girls are writing poetry, featuring 20 David Rathman's war-themed watercolors. The book will be on sale at Weinstein Gallery the evening of Apr. 14, along with the premiere of a new Rathman film installation that "blends and bends the tank/plane/warship drawings with flickering footage" of the Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston boxing match.

• Twin Cities art guy Andy Sturdevant looks at flags in the U.S., asking, "Which ones have been co-opted?" First up, the "completely co-opted" Gadsden "Don't Tread on Me" flag: "Somehow, this excellent underdog motto and symbol has been completely co-opted by the most privileged group of people in the annals of Western civilization as a rallying cry to abolish the last lingering vestiges New Deal and re-institute the Gilded Age (except without the jaunty mustaches this time)."

• China Digital Times says the blog service Sina Weibo has been deleting Ai-related posts: "One user reported that she reposted a message about Ai Weiwei over 200 times and it was deleted each time." To combat the censorship, some web users have adopted the phrase “Love the Future” (爱未来) to use in place of Ai's name (艾未未), because it looks and sounds similar; web censors are catching on however.

• While it may seem like I've been running one of late, Hyperallergic now has an actual Ai Weiwei liveblog filled with really good updates.

• A Twin Cities radio station's "parody" (er, racist song) about Hmong people sparks an interesting reply by actor Bee Vang, who played the lead in Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. He wrote of trying to "stay true to the script" and "do justice to my own life and to that of others like me," but said "so many things in [the film] seemed distorted and unrecognizable" -- including when his character made this retort to racists, "You can call me whatever you want, because you know what? I'll take it." His point: Unlike the filmic version of Hmong people, he can't shrug the KDWB "joke" off. (Via Braublog.)

• "Each year, an area at least the size of Belgium of native forests is cleared from around the planet." Konstantin Dimopoulos' awareness-raising response in Vancouver: Blue trees!

• Your moment of Banksy-inspired maxipads.

Walker Art Center's Olga Viso on Ai Weiwei's arrest

More figures in art and government are speaking out about the arrest and detention without official charge of China's most famous artist, Ai Weiwei. The latest is Olga Viso, director of Minneapolis' Walker Art Center and former deputy director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. In an email to Eyeteeth, she writes:

Having visited the artist last year in his Beijing studio and in dialogue with him about potential projects, I have been following the news reports with great concern, as have many people at the Walker and colleagues around the world. The suppression of artistic freedom in any society is deplorable. To see China hark back to the Cultural Revolution, in which so many artists, including Weiwei’s father, were targeted is horrifying.

Chinese authorities are now openly saying Ai is "under investigation on suspicion of economic crimes." In the first official comments on the arrest, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, "It has nothing to do with human rights or freedom of expression. Other countries have no right to interfere."

Ai's sister, Gao Ge says the claim is "absurd" because "the way he was taken and then disappeared shows it's nothing of the sort. This is more like a crime gang's behaviour than a country with laws."

Related: Former Walker chief curator Philippe Vergne on Ai

Photo: Walker Art Center

Dylan mum on Ai in Beijing

Dylan plays Beijing, says nothing of fellow artist Ai Weiwei's detention:

...Perhaps mindful of the scrutiny of the Chinese Communist party, who requested 2,000 of the 18,000 seats at Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium, Mr Dylan left out some of his more famous protest songs, such as 'Blowin' in the Wind' and 'The Times they Are a-Changin''.

Many observers had expected Mr Dylan to shock the mostly Chinese audience, perhaps by making a political statement or by voicing support for Ai Weiwei, the Chinese artist who has not been heard from since police escorted him from Beijing airport last Sunday.

"It would have been a total disaster if he had said anything, this was a really high-profile event," said Archie Hamilton, a music promoter in China, recalling the near two-year ban on foreign acts that the Communist Party imposed after the Icelandic singer Bjork made a plea for Tibet at the end of a concert in Shanghai in 2008...

Meanwhile, stunningly, a PRI piece on the politics of Dylan's show fails to mention that Ai and an assistant are missing after police detained them and are being held incommunicado likely by law enforcement. The segment goes into great detail about Bjork's banning from the country after making pro-Tibet remarks during a concert, but neglects to mention the imprisonment of an artist so famous he's called "the Warhol of China."

In other news, Ai's family has responded to a cryptic police statement that Ai is being investigated for "suspected economic crimes." From The Guardian:

Ai's older sister, Gao Ge, told Reuters: "The economic crimes report is absurd, because the way he was taken and then disappeared shows it's nothing of the sort. This is more like a crime gang's behaviour than a country with laws."

She said her brother had previously warned his family he might one day be jailed for his activities. "He was very clear that we shouldn't try to meddle and stop him speaking out ... My mother cried," she added.

Ai's mother, Gao Ying, said the "economic crimes" allegations were being used to stifle his activism, adding: "If he's not released, this will be the start of a long struggle ... They still haven't notified us why he was taken or where he is."

Photo: Wikipedia

Xinhua: Ai Weiwei is being investigated for 'economic crimes'

More all-Ai-all-the-time treatment. Now The Guardian reports that a one-sentence dispatch, now deleted, at China's Xinhua news service said that Ai Weiwei is being investigated for "economic crimes." Of note, the story is the first indication so far that the police have the artist. Also, if it is an official statement, it says plenty about Chinese justice: "suspicion," apparently without formal charges or promise of a trial, is grounds for kidnapping and prolonged detention.

Chinese police are investigating outspoken artist Ai Weiwei for "suspected economic crimes", the state news agency, Xinhua, has announced. Authorities had not previously acknowledged police action against the 53-year-old, who went missing on Sunday after being stopped by officials at Beijing airport.

The single-sentence report, deleted shortly after it appeared, did not explicitly refer to his detention, and there was no word on his friend Wen Tao, 38, who has also been unreachable since his reported detention on the same day....

Update 11.07.11:

"Ai Weiwei is under investigation on suspicion of economic crimes," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters, in the first official comments on the artist's arrest. "It has nothing to do with human rights or freedom of expression. Other countries have no right to interfere."

Dia's Philippe Vergne: Ai Weiwei's detention is a 'tragedy and his triumph over barbarism'

One thing the detention and disappearance of artist Ai Weiwei by Chinese police shows, says Philippe Verge, director of the Dia Art Foundation and former chief curator at the Walker Art Center, is fear. In an email, Vergne offers Eyeteeth readers this statement:

When a regime imprisons its thinkers and its artists, when a regime exercises censorship, it demonstrates fear. Not so much fear of the art or of the artists but the fear of what these regimes have become, fear of losing control, fear of what is different, fear of the others, fear of questions that might force them to reconsider their values. Such regimes fear the barbarians that they have become.

Imprisoning an artist is a tragedy, and paradoxically only reveals the power of art. Ai Weiwei‘s detention is both tragedy and his triumph over barbarism.

Ai has been missing since Sunday. Chinese authorities have not indicated whether he's in custody, but instead said via a state-owned newspaper early today that Ai is a "maverick" who will "pay a price" for his activities.

Vergne is among many art and governmental figures speaking out against Ai's detention.

Update 04.15.11: Vergne expands on these ideas in a new piece at ArtInfo.com.

[image]

Ai Weiwei's Remembering

Ai Weiwi, Remembering, installed at the Haus der Kunst, Munich, 2009; click to enlarge

At the 2009 show show So Sorry, Ai Weiwei took on a familiar theme in his work, the 2008 earthquake which killed 80,000 people in Sichuan province. Ai contends that corrupt officials skimmed money from building projects, weakening the foundations of schools, which collapsed in the quake, killing thousands of kids. Chinese officials rejected that claim, and refused to acknowledge the death toll or release the names of the disaster's victims. With a team of volunteers -- and in defiance of a government threat of retribution against parents who release the names of dead children -- Ai researched and published online the names of more than 4,000 people who were killed.

For his show at Munich's Haus der Kunst, he made a moving, yet simple installation on the building's facade: Using 9,000 school backpacks, he spelled out in Chinese characters the words a grieving mother told him about her daughter who perished in the quake:

"She lived happily for seven years in this world"

The work, Remembering, measured 100 meters by 10 meters.

While Ai plays the role of punk provocateur or trickster in works like his "Study in Perspective" series -- photos shot from his vantage point as he extends a middle finger to centers of power, from the White House to Tiananmen Square -- this piece shows Ai's role as closer to that of his father, Ai Qing, was a famed modern poet. Or as Holland Cotter writes this morning, that of "China's conscience."

"Dan Rather Reports" on Ai Weiwei

Dan Rather's HDNet show featured Ai Weiwei last night and put the entire thing up on YouTube today. It's just one of many western media outlets focusing on the recently detained -- and currently missing -- Chinese artist.

Bits: 04.06.11

Anna Beeke, from the series "Amsterdam, NY," via Conscientious

• A stolen Warhol silkscreen of Mick Jagger purchased for $2,000 in 2007 by a Phoenix man has been returned to its rightful owner, a collector in Argentina, ICE reports.

• Ai Weiwei tops TIME's list of the 10 "persecuted artists."

• Massimo Vignelli's classic '72 NYC subway map as digital art project/musical instrument. Carolina Miranda (aka C-Monster) tells all about Alexander Chen's new work.

• “The culture wars are back,” says Yale art school dean Robert Storr. Critics are insatiable and clever, but “We have to be cleverer.”

• Sad, complicated, award-winning: two views of a post-earthquake scene in Haiti that won Paul Hansen a Swedish Picture of the Year Award.

• So what do you think about whether the Minneapolis Institute of Arts should remove a little red hunter guy from a Meindert Hobbema’s 1665 painting Wooded Landscape with a Watermill? The addition is thought to have been made to the painting long after the artist's death.

• Jilly Ballistic's subway art interventions.

China breaks silence on Ai Weiwei

Chinese authorities have broken their silence on Ai Weiwei, but instead of indicating anything about his whereabouts, they unleashed a round of attacks against the artist and westerners who are calling for his release. An editorial in the Communist party newspaper said Ai "has been close to the red line of Chinese law," CNN reports, and "as long as Ai Weiwei continuously marches forward, he will inevitably touch the red line one day."

"He will pay a price for his special choice, which is the same in any society," the editorial stated.

CNN continues:

The Global Times editorial Wednesday blasted "Western governments and human rights institutions" for calling for his release.

It accused them of "reckless collision against China's basic political framework and ignorance of China's judicial sovereignty to exaggerate a specific case," and failing to find out "the truth."

"The West's behavior aims at disrupting the attention of Chinese society and attempts to modify the value system of the Chinese people," the Global Times said.

The Chinese-language version of the article is harsher, saying criticism from the West is the reason Chinese people "loathe" it.

The state-run paper said Ai was engaged in "legally ambiguous activities," adding that Chinese law "won't bend to mavericks."

Ai has been missing since Sunday. Almost immediately after he was detained when trying to board a flight to Hong Kong, his studio was raided by police, who reportedly took hard drives and computers and occupied the space.

The Washington Post's William Dobson writes this morning that we shouldn't expect an explanation from China about its rationale behind its apparent capture of Ai:

It is quite probable that the regime is attempting to redraw the red lines of what will or will not be tolerated, and sending a message to its most vocal critics that the old rules no longer apply. Ai may be the son of one of China’s most revered poets and well known the world over, but the Chinese Communist Party is making clear that none of this guarantees his safety. In the end, the party will not clarify its purpose because it believes the obscure and arbitrary nature of its repression creates even more fear for those who would contemplate speaking out. If the targets of its repression cannot know when they will be targeted, how can anyone else?

Image: Ai stencil via Drains to Bay.

Ai Weiwei's "Study in Perspective"

Study of Perspective - Tiananmen Square
1995-2003. Gelatin silver print, 15 5/16 x 23 1/4" (38.9 x 59 cm)

Media ups exposure of Ai Weiwei's detention by Chinese police

There's a spate of video interviews with Ai Weiwei that are coming out in the wake of the celebrated artist's detention by Chinese authorities a few days ago, including TED's video of last month. Already China's most famous artist, he's the subject of several others:

"Dan Rathers Reports" will air the last interview with Ai before his disappearance tonight on HDNet. Here's the promo:


Frontline's segment "Who's Afraid of Ai Weiwei" is available for viewing at PBS.


That segment was reported by filmmaker Alison Klayman, whose documentary Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is now in production, with release planned for later this year:

International outcry mounts for Ai Weiwei's release

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's whereabouts are still unknown after Chinese police detained him as he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong several days ago. Now artists and international governments are calling for his release, even though Chinese authorities have not yet acknowledged they have him in custody. The artist, known for criticism of corruption in Chinese government and law enforcement, has gained international notoriety for his art as well as his vocal dissent, often transmitted via Twitter. A Twitter petition, fittingly, has been started calling for his release, as governments and artists have decried the detention:

Markus Ederer, the European Union's ambassador in China:

"[We are] concerned by the increasing use of arbitrary detention against human rights defenders, lawyers and activists in China. We call on the Chinese authorities to refrain from using arbitrary detention under any circumstances."

U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner:

"We are deeply concerned by the trend of forced disappearances, extra-legal detentions, arrests and convictions of rights activists for exercising their internationally recognized human rights. The detention of artist and activist Ai Weiwei is inconsistent with the fundamental freedom and human rights of all Chinese citizens. We urge the Chinese government to release him immediately."

British Foreign Secretary William Hague:

“I am very concerned by reports that Ai Weiwei has been detained by the Chinese authorities. I call on the Chinese government to urgently clarify Ai’s situation and wellbeing, and hope he will be released immediately. The UK remains committed to engagement with China on human rights. I am absolutely clear that the development of independent civil society and application of human rights under the rule of law are essential prerequisites for China’s long-term prosperity and stability.”

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle:

“I appeal to the Chinese government to urgently provide clarification, and I expect Ai Weiwei to be released immediately.”

Gary Hilty, director of Lisson Gallery in London, which represents Ai there:

We are extremely alarmed by the detention of Ai Weiwei and his colleagues and are greatly concerned for his safety. Ai Weiwei is one of the leading cultural figures of his generation and consistently displays great courage in placing himself at risk to affect social change through his art. He serves as an example for legitimate social criticism and free expression both in China and internationally. Lisson Gallery has a long history of working with political artists and we strongly condemn any form of artistic suppression. We continue to support Ai Weiwei and are fully committed to staging his first solo exhibition at the gallery, opening 13 May 2011.

Nato Thompson, Creative Time chief curator, on Facebook:

People of the world have the right to speak truth to power. Free Ai Wei Wei!

Daina Augaitis, chief curator of the Vancouver Art Gallery, urging Ottawa to call for Ai's release:

"It's terrible. We need to speak out about it. We need to demand his release -as the French and German governments have already done."

The Slought Foundation in Philadelphia:

Slought Foundation urges the Chinese government to respect Ai Weiwei's health and to insure his safety, and to release him immediately. His detainment and disappearance is a great tragedy and devastating blow to the international community. Ai Weiwei is an artist that feels a great love and compassion for China and her people, and we urge the Chinese government to recognize this fact and allow him and his family the freedom if not to speak freely, then to at least leave.

We strongly encourage you to raise your voice and to contact your elected representatives, government contacts, and civic institutions, to advocate for official statements requesting updates on his health and location, and for positions to be issued on his behalf as well as all of those that have been detained in recent weeks.

We also encourage the cultural institutions, universities, and governments in our extended community to join us in taking a principled, public, and collective stand in support of his release, and to keep pressing for ongoing media coverage of his detention in the days ahead.

Update 04.08.11: Creative Time:

We are alarmed by the detention of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, and by any action that threatens the right of the artist to speak and work freely. Creative Time firmly believes that artists and citizens alike are entitled to free expression in China and around the world. We rely on artists to envision and shape a more just and equitable global community. Ai Weiwei is an internationally regarded figure whose work encourages us, as a society, to sympathetically address the plight of the disadvantaged and oppressed. His incarceration is shameful and we are greatly concerned for his safety. We call for his immediate release by Chinese authorities.

Video: Ai Weiwei at TED

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who is still missing after police detained him as he attempted to board a flight to Hong Kong, was invited to speak at the TED conference last month, but couldn't make the event in person. He sent a video, outlining his work and the kind of restrictions on free expression he faces every day.

Rocky statue yarnbombed in Philly

The famed Rocky Balboa statue outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art was yarnbombed on Saturday: "Go see the art."

Via RKJD.

How to leave GoDaddy.com

I could say that, like many others, the gory video of GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons killing an elephant is why I just transferred a domain name away from the company, but it's also the outfit's rampantly sexist ads and its vehement support of rightwing Republicans. Over the last three election cycles, Parsons and GoDaddy.com donated more than $200,000, mostly to Republicans.

GOOD has easy instructions on how to dump GoDaddy.

Ron English does piece on Mexico/US border wall

Animal NY has the story:

On April 1st, Ron English hit up the concrete portion of the Texas-Mexico separation wall. He says he’s the first street artist to do so and there were two border patrol vehicles within 60 feet....