Disturbing: A whole bunch of Chinese artists who have been living and working in makeshift live/work spaces on the fringes of Beijing were just beaten and evicted by dudes in masks, according to the New York Times. Apparently the masked artist-haters work for some developer who is trying to capitalize on the real estate boom here…the boom that is going to bust shortly, we reckon. Here’s another article, reporting the same thing.
Ai Weiwei, one of the artists involved in the protest.
This artist Ai Weiwei already has a battle scar (see above) on his head, which he received during a random beating by the Chinese government last year. Adding to the disturbing-ness: the artists who got beaten up had actually signed long-term leases on these spaces, and had invested significantly into renovating these properties to make them liveable. And to cap the stack, the artists then rallied and marched towards Beijing to protest, and were subsequently stopped by police long before they could actually make it into the city. So, China really offers all the worst elements of both communist oppression and capitalist exploitation, which is awesome, considering that they are going to be running the planet shortly.
Which reminds me, I just saw New Hope City, a rock opera/play by the band Pass Kontrol. It set up your standard dystopian future, a la Brave New World/1984/Blade Runner/Total Recall/Aliens/Avatar/Matrix, in which one gigantic corporation makes life easy by suppressing all creativity and real perception. All the artists and other people who don’t fit into the corporate system in New Hope City end up on the outskirts of the city in a kind of shanty town full of creatives. They enjoyed their lives there, but they were constantly under threat of being attacked by masked representatives of the overlord corporation running the city.
It actually ended up being a lot of fun, as the guys in the band were definitely having fun within this loose framework. Here’s a review. When I saw it, I was kinda like, eh, it’s fun, but I dunno how original…good promo for the band though. But this China story is basically the same story, but in real life, wtf. So, I take back my original half-dismissal. You should see New Hope City. For sure. It’s playing one more weekend, 2/25-2/27 at the Bushwick Starr. Tix here.
