May 26 – July 9, 2011
Gallery 1:
KENNETH TIN-KIN HUNG
The Travelogue of Dr. Brain Damages
ARTIST STATEMENT:
In response to increasingly pervasive and draconian online
censorship in China, The Travelogue of Dr. Brain Damages examines the role of
Kuso
culture (惡搞文化/ dtournement)
and its impact on Chinese internet.
The Chinese title 腦殘遊記
is a homophonic wordplay to 老殘遊記 (The Travels of Lao Can), a late Qing
dynasty novel that fiercely attacks the injustices, corruptions and exposed the
hypocrisy of government officials at the time. In an era that internet as a
tool for both freedom and suppression, the project questions whether internet
in China is an effective tool for social changes by adapting and remixing
Chinese netizens meme languages with Western icons.
BACKGROUND:
According to The China Internet Network
Information Center (CNNIC), as of December 2010, China has the highest numbers
of internet users in the world totaling 457 millions, which account as only
34.3% of the countrys population.
Since 2002, online independent media and
tabloids have played an important role in political discourse within Chinese
society. Many Chinese intellectuals have used the Internet to discuss the
possible evolution of Chinese politics.
With the soaring growth of internet users
in recent years, Internet becomes the major platform for Chinese citizens in
exposing corrupt officials scandals (most famously 我爸是李刚!
((My Dad Is Li Gang!))
incident), discussing current events and commenting on government policies.
In response to the rise of internet
freedom, the Chinese government escalates its effort to neutralize critical
online opinion. Chinas Internet censorship is regarded by many as the most
pervasive and sophisticated in the world. According to a Harvard study, at
least 18,000 websites are blocked from within the country.
The first major online censorship
measurement is the 金盾工程
(Golden Shield Project)
which started in 1998 and began operations in November 2003. Known in the
Western world as The Great Firewall of China, the project aims to block
content by preventing IP addresses from being routed through and consists of
standard firewalls and proxy servers at the Internet gateways.
In 2005, see the beginning of 五毛党
(50 Cents Party).
Officially designated as Internet commentators, 50 Cents Party are people
hired by the Chinese Government to post comments favorable towards the
government policies to skew the public opinion on various Internet message
boards. They operate on domestic websites, bulletin board systems, and
chatrooms. Their role is to steer the discussion away from anti-party
articulations, politically sensitive or unacceptable content and advance the
party line of the Communist Party.
In 2009 comes another draconian
censorship project- the 绿坝花季护航
(Green Dam Youth Escort).
Green Dam Youth Escort is content-control software for Microsoft Windows
operating systems developed in the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). Originally
under a directive from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
(MIIT) to take effect on 1 July 2009, it was to be mandatory to have either the
software pre-installed, or have the setup files on an accompanying compact disc,
for all new personal computers sold in mainland China, including those imported
from abroad. However, because the proposed policy proved deeply unpopular,
mandatory pre-installation has been delayed to an undetermined date. In
response, Internet citizens have created a manga-style Moe anthropomorphism
named 绿坝娘
(Green Dam Girl) to parody the pervasive policy.
Also in early 2009, another project
namely 整治互联网低俗之风专项行动
(Correct Internet Vulgar Content Special Operation) is implemented by the
authorities. As the title of the campaign suggested, more than 1911 websites
that included vulgar languages and pornographic materials are ordered to shut
down and performed self-censorship. Among the websites being
accused of vulgar are the four biggest
Chinese websites- Sina, Sohu, Baidu and Tencent, as well as foreign websites
including Google and MSN. Chinese profane languages including 操你媽
(Fuck your Mother) are ordered to be removed entirely from the Chinese
internet.
In response to the campaign, Chinese
netizens invented 百度十大神兽
(The Baidu 10 Mythical
Creatures). The internet meme initially began as a
series of vandalized contributions to Baidu Baike (Chinese version of
Wikipedia), through the creation of humorous articles describing a series of
fictional creatures, with each animal with names vaguely referring to Chinese
profanities (utilizing homophones and characters using different tones). The
most notable one is 草泥马
Grass Mud Horse
which share a similar pronunciation of 操你媽
(Fuck Your Mother). Almost overnight, Chinese internet users started
substituting the profanities with the mythical creatures and a widespread
internet meme phenomenon was born. Grass Mud Horse has since become the icon of
citizens resistance to censorship.
In February 2011, inspired by and named
after the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia, anonymous call for a 中國茉莉花革命
(Chinese Jasmine
Revolution) in Chinas major cities was made
online, first on the Boxun.com website, run by overseas dissidents, and
then on Twitter. The initial call for protest began on 19 February 2011 when 12
to 13 cities were suggested. The Boxun.com appeal called for protests to take
place each weekend, arguing that sustained action will show the Chinese
government that its people expect accountability and transparency that doesnt
exist under the current one-party system.
In response to the Jasmine Revolution,
worlds largest mobile phone operator China Mobile
and state-owned China Unicom blocked the word jasmine. Searches for
jasmine were also blocked on Chinas largest microblog, Sina Weibo, and
status updates with the word on Chinese social networking site Renren were met
with an error message and a warning to refrain from postings with political,
sensitive or other inappropriate content.
Since the word Jasmine was forbidden in
the Chinese blogosphere, millions of netizens used the term 兩會
(Two Conferences) instead, a widely used expression in the official news
originally pointing to the two conferences Fourth Session of the Eleventh
National Peoples Congress and Fourth Session of the Eleventh CPPCC
happening in March in Beijing.
Since late February, about 35 human
rights activists and lawyers were arrested or detained by authorities, five
people were charged with inciting subversion of state power, and up to 200
people are subject to reinforced supervision or house arrest. Among them are
leading Sichuan human rights activist 陈卫
(Chen Wei),
Tiananmen Square protest student leader 丁矛
(Ding Mao),
well-known blogger 冉云飞
(Ran Yunfei),
and 滕彪
(Teng Biao)
of 公盟
(Open Constitution
Initiative OCI).
The highest-profile arrest is Ai WeiWei, who was taken into police custody on 3
April in Beijing. In April, 2011, hackers attack online petition platform
Change.org in the wake of a campaign calling for the release of Chinese artist
and activist Ai WeiWei. The petition has attracted more than 130,000
signatures, including many from leading museums such as the Guggenheim, MoMA
and Tate Modern.
POPULAR CHINESE INTERNET TERMS:
To understand the symbols used in this
project please visit ChinaDigitalTime.org and ChinaSmack.com for a detailed list of common
Chinese-language internet terms, expressions, acronyms, or slang.
INSTALLATION:
On the wall of the installation behind
the framed works, the message 不翻长城非好汉
was written with bright red paint. The original Chinese quote is 不到长城非好汉
by Mao ZeDong meaning If you fail to reach the Great Wall, you are not a true
Real Man. One character was changed and now it means If you fail to leap over
the Great FireWall of China, you are not a true Real Man. The calligraphy
style is a reminiscence of the 拆
(Demolish) and the utilitarian look of hand drawn no parking or dont spit
warning signs in the old neighborhoods within major Chinese cities.
The installation consists of 10 framed
digital prints, a 6 minutes long HD video and a ping-pong table sculpture.
WORKS:
The works in the series is divided into two different
categories and serves different purposes:
Documentary and Social Commentary-
The works in this category are meant to document and comment on the historical
progress of Chinese internet censorship and its resistance.
Testing the Water- The works in
this category are meant to be distributed virally in Chineses internet realm,
thus includes more Tongue-in-cheek Chinese wordplays that aims to generate
responses.
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Chinese Contradicted Patriot
Wine A pun
on the Chinese iconic national liquor 茅台酒
(MouTai),
the revised content of the 矛盾酒
(MouDun) consisted of the following messages in Chinese (follow by English
translation): 纯茉莉花酿制-
Fermented and brewed by Pure Jasmine 爱国度:
120% Vol- Level of Patriotism: 120% Vol 净含量:
5000 Yrs- Content: 5000 Years Ma de in China- Ma de is the Romanization for 妈的
which literally means mothers and is short for f**k your mother. The
term is roughly equivalent to damn, or f**k in English. 神州天朝马勒戈壁市某山寨酒厂-
神州
(China), 妈的 (The Celestial Empire- an
ancient name for China. Recently, netizens have used the term sarcastically
to refer to China under the current government. Oftentimes the term is used
to suggest that Chinas leaders are self-important and have a China-centric
view of the world.), 马勒戈壁 (The Mahler Gobi is the fictional home of the Grass-Mud
Horse. In Chinese, mǎ l gē
b sounds the same as your mothers f**ing cunt (妈了个屄),
某山寨酒厂
(some imitation/ knock-off distillery) 敏感瓷加倍过滤-
敏感瓷
(sensitive porcelain)
sounds the same in Chinese as sensitive words (敏感词).
Sensitive words in China are names of politicians, religious movements
(like Falun Gong), events like (The thirty-fifth of May), and subversive
online terms (like Grass-Mud Horse). 加倍过滤
means extreme distilled (filtered). The phrase means the sensitive words are
being extremely filtered. 不管红酒白酒,喝得醉的就是好酒–
A pun on Deng XiaoPing famous Black Cat White Cat quotation: Whether the
wine is red or white makes no difference. As long as it gets you drunk, it is
a good wine.
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Leap Over the GFW Cigarette Loosely
based on the design of popular 中华
(Chung Hwa) cigarette brand in China, the new brand name 翻墙 meaning to
Leap Over the Great Firewall of China. It is produced by 功夫网驰名商标出品
(Kung Fu Net
Famous Trademark- In Chinese, the first letter of each word in kung fu net
are GFW. GFW is an abbreviation of The Great Firewall of China. Thus the
kung fu net is the internet as it exists after it has been kung fu-ed by the
Chinese government.) The slogan of the cigarette is 纵横天朝
自由奔放
(Roam in The Celestial Empire
with openness and freedom). The side of the package contains the following Chinese
message: 内含三聚氰胺,宜让领导先吸。未经自我审查,
饱满醇逸,手感舒适。吸后海阔天空,高瞻远瞩,
让您热情洒脱地实事求是,开胸验肺,布鸣真象。
It has not been 自我审查
(Self Censored). Full bodied taste with great hand feel. After smoking the
sky and ocean open up, and one can climb high and see very far away. Let you passionately perform the followings: 实事求是
Seek Truth From Facts
(a historically established expression and a key element of Maoism, first
quoted by Mao Zedong during a speech at the Sixth National Congress of the
Chinese Communist Party in 1938, in reference to pragmatism. Beginning in
1978, it was further promoted by Deng Xiaoping as a central ideology of
Socialism with Chinese characteristics, and applied to economic and political
reforms thereafter.) 开胸验肺
Thoracotomy
(Open chest to inspect lungs) This medical procedure was immortalized in
internet discourse after Zhang Haichao underwent the procedure to prove that
he had lung cancer after spending two years petitioning the government. After
an outpouring of online support, Zhang was awarded 615,000 RMB in workers
compensation. 布鸣真象
(Dont understand the
actual situation)
has a similar pronunciation of 不明真相.
This stock phrase is often used by Chinese government and official media to
describe participants in mass incidents such as riots and protests. The
phrase is controversial because it suggests that those who participant in
mass incidents do so not because of any real grievances, but because they
have been duped by a small number of those with ulterior motives. |
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Ais asshole is full of Chrysanthemums Semen A pun on
another iconic Chinese products 菊花精-
a chrysanthemums extracts powder that can be dissolved with water into a
healthy drink. Chrysanthemums also has a double meaning of Anus among
Chinese netizens. The title is a pun of 滿城盡帶黃金甲
(Curse of the Golden
Flower). The logo contains a graphic of Ai
WeiWei behind bars. The brand name is 花蚕牌-
which refer to one of Baidu mythical creatures 菊花蚕
(Chrysanthemum
Silkworms). It is produced by 满肛红食品集团公司 (Bloody Anus Food
Company); 满肛红 is a pun on 满江红 (All are Red in the River), a poem written by
legendary Song Dynasty general and Chinese national hero 岳飞 (Yue Fei) who has evolved into the standard
model of loyalty in Chinese culture. On the side of the box
says:
本产品以优质纯天然光腚肿菊制作而成。
每天深情俯身吞服三到四大杯的菊花精,
对被临时性墙奸后恢复精力有莫大脾益。
饮用方便,营养丰富,漂颜面及抗衰老。 This product is made with natural 光腚肿菊 (a pun on 广电总局 (The Radio Film and
Television Administration) meaning Bare-Bottomed Swollen Anus. Everyday with deep
feeling, bowed and swallow 3 to 4 cups of Chrysanthemums Semen will give
great advantages after 临时性墙奸 (Temporary Rape by Great Firewall of
China). Convenient to use, full with nutrients, bleach your face and
anti-aging. |
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After Maorilyn Maoroe got
biatchslaped by flying hotdogs in Mahler Gobi desert, Grass Mud Horse invites
her for a beer pong game Maorilyn
Maoroe is hanging out with 草泥马
(Grass Mud Horse)-
the icon of Chinese netizenss resistance to censorship in China. She is not
as tall as Grass Mud Horse so she had to stand on top of a Campbell soup can
(homage to Andy Warhol) that says 蒜你狠豆你玩
(Vicious Garlic, Play
with Beans). On her hand holds a ping-pong paddle
with a YouTube logo and two made up Chinese characters combining components
of other characters 五毛党中央
meaning 50 Cents party
blocks the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. While the 谷鸽
(Valley Dove)
is resting on Grass Mud Horses head, a group of Chinese children
appropriated from Cultural Revolution era poster is escorting a giant peach
with words 马勒戈壁
(Mahler Gobi Desert) on it. One of them is holding 50 Cents Grass Mud Horse
money, another is holding the Grass Mud Horse I.D. card, and the leader is
waving a Chinese flag with symbols of 河蟹
(River Crab)
on it. In the
background 李宇春
春哥
(Li Yuchun)
and her follower is standing on the Chinese Pavilion worshipping the Maorilyn
while 卧槽泥马
(laying Grass Mud Horse) with an Afro and Hu JinTao is watching from inside a
Baroque picture frame. |
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Sichuan Style Red Braised
Tofu-Dreg with River Crab Behind
the Great Firewall of
China, 河蟹
(River Crab)
controlled by 绿坝娘
(Green Dam Girl)
is slow braised in a wok with 豆腐渣
(Tofu-Dreg)
from the school rubble during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. While wearing 三个代表
(Three Represents)-
Jiang Zemins signature ideological creation, one of its claw is squeezing
Chinese artist Ai WeiWei. Standing behind are the The Super Maorio Brothers- Maorio and Deng XiaoPing.
Mairio is holding a baseball bat approved by the Pedo Bear. On the Great Firewall of China (GFW) are graffiti of the
followings: 我爸是李刚!
(My Dad is Li Gang!),
拆哪
(Demolish it!)
and the logo of Beijing punk rock band 脑浊乐队 Brain Failure.
In front of the GFW sits a Google map icon and a Five Crabs Chinese flag. On the
upper right a Chinese scroll banner with Maos calligraphy saying 为人民币服务
(Serve the Renminbi)- a parody of Mao Zedongs famous
exhortation to serve the people. The scroll is signed by a combined Chinese
characters meaning 鸡巴屁民
(penis and fart people). |
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Ai God is Catching Ghost In this
thangka, Chinese artist and activist Ai WeiWei is casted as 馬頭明王/馬頭觀音
(Hayagriva)- a representation of an angry Guan Yin
in Chinese Buddhism. He is holding the following weapons with his six arms:
An iPhone Facing Time with Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo,
a Twitter bird, a Lightsaber, a Chinese calligraphy brush, a Scales of
Justice and a laptop with
草泥马 (Grass Mud Horse) graphics on
the screen. The
head of Grass Mud Horse is blocking the center of his crotch, echoing the
artists work《草泥马挡中央,要保持高度一致哦
》which
convey the message F*ck Your Mother,
Party Central Committee! |
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Justice Bao faces the Red Sun everyday 包拯
(Bao Zheng),
the Song dynasty judge who is respected as the symbol of justice in China is
holding a Great Firewall
brand laptop with with the 河蟹社会,三个戴表
(River Crab Society,
Three Wearing Watches) as the screen image. On his Beijing Opera mask painted face one can find an @
sign (symbolizes internet) wrapped around by the white moon shape (symbolize
incorruptible/ justice). His mouth is gagged by a red cross and his eyes are
replaced by two combined Chinese Characters 河蟹 (River
Crab). On his hat is number 9413 which is homophonic in Chinese as Nine
out of ten will die. Only one will survive. On his uniform are three combined Chinese characters- 草泥马
(Grass Mud Horse), 腦殘
(Brain Damage) and 食屎
(Eat Feces). In front of his feet is a empty Nobel Peace Prize award
winners chair. Instead of 刘晓波
(Liu Xiaobo),
a crab with sickle and hammer is occupying it. A boy with a face of a Grass
Mud Horse is riding a giant Koi fish in the foreground. Behind
him hung a black plate with golden words stating 给力围观
(work extra hard to surround gaze). On the back left column in black embossed
words states 天朝屁民
(Fart People of the Celestial Empire). On the right column says 牛逼蛇神 (cool snake gods), a pun of the infamous term 牛鬼蛇神- derogatory description of counter-revolutionary during the
ten years Cultural Revolution in China. |
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French-Croatian Squid chewing Double
Rubble 法克鱿
(French-Croatian Squid)
which pronounced in Mandarin is homophonic to Fa Ke Yu or Fuck You is
chewing a bubblegum called Dubble Rubble. Inside the inflation are symbol of
RMB, ginger, garlic and green peas. The French-Croatian Squid
has a body wearing 中山装 Zhongshan
suit (Mao Suit in the West).
On the suit are painted graffiti of 拆 (demolish).
In the foreground is the Shanghai skyline,
with two construction cranes lifting a Louis Vuitton and a Chanel handbags as
construction materials. A billboard that depicts Deng XiaoPing with a
pompadour along with the popular Chinese meme 神马都是浮云 is sitting behind the
skyline. Yoda is seen as a 蜗居 (Snail
Dwelling) with Chinese performance artist 梁克刚 as 房奴 (Mortgage Slave). |
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PokeMao PokeMao is peacefully holding a Jasmine
flower. In the background is Chairman Maos famous quote 革命无罪,
造反有理
(There is no crime to revolt, There is reason to rebel). |
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Masturbating
in DaDaism style 达菲鸡
(Intelligent Fragrant
Chicken)
a homophone with 打飞机
Dǎ Fēi
Jī, slang for masturbation while
literally meaning hit the airplane) is seen here in DaDaism style,
hitting a Green Dam Girl
airplane after successfully shot down a Google jet. There are three
distinctively different female internet celebrities in this picture- riding
the chicken is 罗玉凤
(凤姐)
(Luo YuFeng)
who first gained national attention in November 2009, after passing out
flyers in Shanghai seeking a marriageable boyfriend with excessive
requirements. On the lower right corner is 汤加丽
(Tang Jiali),
a dancer and artist. She is the first woman to sell books of nude artistic
photographs of herself. The third woman is 苍井空
(Sora Aoi),
an immensely popular Japanese porn star whose fans start distributing
software allowing them to bypass the The Great Firewall
of China after her Twitter account was blocked.
In the foreground is MaoDonalds and Mao DMC. Other graphic elements included
Spunks Not Dead a pun on punk band The Exploiteds
album, Keith Haring
style baby graffiti with a chicken penis head, inside saying 啃德鸡巴 (Edible Penis)- a pun on the Chinese name of KFC
Fried Chicken, Popular Chinese meme 贾君鹏,你妈妈喊你回家打飞机。 and 哥打的不是飞机,是寂寞。 and China paramount leader 胡锦涛 (Hu JinTao) PRC logo in KFC style.
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Hello Deng XiaoPing, you are very open! single channel HD video, color
+ sound 邓小平
(Deng XiaoPing),
who served as the Paramount leader of the Peoples Republic of China from
1978 to 1992, was generally credited with developing China into one of the
fastest growing economies in the world for over 30 years and raising the
standard of living of hundreds of millions of Chinese. He is considered the
architect of a new brand of socialist thinking, having developed Socialism
with Chinese characteristics and led Chinese economic reform through a
synthesis of theories that became known as the socialist market economy.
Deng opened China to foreign investment, the global market, and limited
private competition. Deng enjoyed immense popularity in modern day China. In 小平您好, 您好开放!,
Deng is casted as 34 different influential and iconic Western musicians along
with the Father of Chinese Rock 崔健
(Cui Jian). Here are the Western musicians list in
alphabetical order: Angus Young (AC/DC), Axl Rose (Guns n Roses), Beatles,
Billie Holiday, Bob Marley, Bono, Bootsy Collins, Cher, David Bowie, Dee
Snider (Twisted Sister), Dolly Parton, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Flava Flav
(Public Enemy), Gene Simmons (Kiss), George Clinton (Parliament and
Funkadelic), James Brown, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison (the
Doors), Joe Strummer (The Clash), Kurt Cobain (Nirvana), Little Richard,
Madonna, Marilyn Manson, Michael Jackson, Ramones, Ray Charles, Run DMC, Sid
Vicious (Sex Pistol), Snoop Dog, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, and Willie
Nelson. The background music is a disco version of patriotic Chinese
song 血染的风采
(Blood-stained Glory).
Originally used to commemorate those who died during Sino-Vietnamese War, the
song instead became popular for its commemoration of those who died during the Tiananmen Square
protests of 1989. Below is the English translation of the lyrics: Perhaps Ill bid farewell and never to return, can you
comprehend? Do you understand?
Perhaps I will fall and never to rise
again. Do you still want to wait forever?
If its to be like this,
dont you be sad, the flag of the Republic has our blood-stained
glory.
If its to be like this, dont you be sad, the flag of the
Republic has our blood-stained glory. Perhaps my eyes will shut and never open again, will you
understand my sunken emotions?
Perhaps I will sleep forever, never able
to wake up. Will you believe that I have been transformed into
mountains?
If its to be like this, dont you be sad, the soil of the
Republic contains the love we have given.
If its to be like this,
dont you be sad, the soil of the Republic contains the love we have given. If its to be like this, dont
you be sad, the flag of the Republic has our blood-stained glory.
If
its to be like this, dont you be sad, the flag of the Republic has our
blood-stained glory. Blood-stained Glory. |
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Ping Ping no Pong 2011 A ping pong table with a cut out
hole in the shape of River Crab on one panel. Great Firewall of
China as the net to divide the two sides. |