Social awareness « Harnessed Energy

All Eyes on Ai Weiwei

Posted on December 12, 2013 Updated on December 12, 2013

Ai Weiwei has many titles. Not only is he an artist, photographer, blogger, political activist, and architect; he is most notable for his criticism and resentment against the Chinese government and their views on human rights and democracy, according to Wiki-Ai Weiwei. He strives to install leadership, individualism, and freedom of speech amongst the Chinese citizens.

Courtesy of www.huckmagazine.com — Courtesy of http://www.huckmagazine.com

“Blogs and the Internet are great inventions for our time, because they give regular people an opportunity to change public opinion.”-Ai Weiwei

“There are no outdoor sports as graceful as throwing stones at a dictatorship.”- Ai Weiwei

“Freedom is a pretty strange thing. Once you’ve experienced it, it remains in your heart, and no one can take it away. Then, as an individual, you can be more powerful than a whole country.”-Ai Weiwei

Chinese authority discontinued Weiwei’s blog on May 29, 2009 because he posted episodes of police surveilling him. He had also published the name of each child that died during the Sichuan earthquake. Since he took to Twitter in 2009, he’s gained over 200,000 followers, and is constantly engaging with them through mentions, retweets, and informing them on present events, according to Complex: Art & Design.

Courtesy of www.phaidon.com — Courtesy of http://www.phaidon.com

August 12, 2009, Weiwei was beat until bleeding in his Chengdu hotel room by local police. Afterward he was taken to Munich University Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage and posted this picture. Due to his injury he was unable to stand as a witness for his friend and activist, Tan Zuoren, according to Complex.

Alison Klayman is a journalist and filmmaker, whose first film was the award winning documentary, Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry. Klayman met Weiwei in 2008 at his art gallery opening, “Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983-1993” according to her site, and since then they’ve built on their friendship.

“I think he was very curious of what I was going to do, but he could see my approach was likely to yield something good. I was just a first-time filmmaker, so I think he had a lot of trust.”-Klayman

Gian Ghomeshi is a broadcaster, writer, musician, and the host of the talk show, Q, according to Wikipedia. Ghomeshi has been able to interview Weiwei a few times, and by that he’s became more informed about his everyday life, his motivation to remain creative, the meanings behind his works, and what have been the key points in building his art and philosophy.

Spiegel is an online magazine that knows in-depth information about Weiwei, like what he’s allergic to, pollen from willow trees, why and when he shaves his cats, and what makes him a “thorn in the side of the Chinese government.” After having a sit-down interview with Weiwei, I noted that the magazine was most interested in where around the world he’s showcasing his work, and how those works influence his daily life and activism. They still asked him the simple question, “How have you been lately?”

Big Think is a site that digs deeper into topics that are current, important, and relevant in today’s culture. Big Think has seven themes which it conducts its reporting around, New World Order, Earth and Beyond,21st Century Living, Going Mental, Extreme Biology, Power and Influence, and Inventing the Future.”Every article and video on bigthink.com and on our learning platforms is based on an emerging “big idea” that is significant, widely relevant, and actionable,” says its site. Big Think has written numerous stories on Weiwei, like Ai Weiwei: The Internet vs. The Chinese Government, Ai Weiwei: I’m Not an Activist, Ai Weiwei: The Price of China’s Success, and many more.

The World Policy Institute “develops and champions innovative policies that require a progressive and global point of view,” according to its site. If you’d like to know the ways Weiwei thinks social media can help spread democracy in China, what needs to be changed in China for it to become a more democratic nation, and how his activism can help shape the nations government, read this insightful interview.

University of Toronto’s article, AI WEIWEI: ART, ACTIVISM, AND THE POLITICS OF CRITICISM, informs you about the leader’s role in activism, his perception on social responsibility, and his famous art works and projects. The article says, “Many other artists currently working in China are exceptionally critical of the state, and of China’s tumultuous past, yet Ai’s work strikes a particularly poignant and also tremendously sensitive chord.”

This entry was posted in Social awareness, Uncategorized.

F.A.T. Lab’s Contribution to Creative Culture Online

Posted on November 14, 2013 Updated on November 21, 2013

Hello bloggers, for this post I will be noting an established leader of CCO (creative culture online).

F.A.T. Lab.

“What is there to be afraid of when we’re all in this together? When we all feel empowered, in control, able to participate in and guide culture? There is only fear when we feel disempowered, when we lack understanding,when we are censored, when we lack input or control and are instead being controlled.”

-F.A.T. Lab participent, Kyle McDonald

Courtesy of http://fffff.at/chat/

#F.A.T. Lab is more than a “research and development lab,” it’s an organization that is in favor of strengthening the public domain through captivating technology, & media intake. It stands for free art and technology. The “Fat Network” consist of artists like musicians, scientists, Bornas, engineers, and even lawyers. It supports open licenses which means they exclude secrecy, and engage in open entrepreneurship along with copyright monopolies and patents, as stated in the About of its website.

Courtesy of http://fffff.at/author/aram/

They conduct projects like, the “Obama Google Glass Prism Mask.” During a protest in Tiergarten district, Berlin, they wore a cut out-portrait of Obama “sporting” Google Glass :which was made by Prism.”Obama was impressed by its cutting edge features…Throughout the day he was spotted in different historic locations of the city. The press was all excited about getting the first pictures of Obama with Google Glass.” When they say they saw Obama throughout the day, they actually mean they saw F.A.T. Lab members lol. They even have a link on their website where you can make your own Obama prism glass mask.

Another one of their projects is called “Liberator Variations,” which confronts an interesting case of owning an unregulated 3d printed weapon, or living in a society where guns are completely banned. This project is a combination of CCO and a dose of reality.

Courtesy of http://fffff.at/liberator-variations/

“On May 6, 2013 a small pro-weapons organization called Defense Distributed shared a useless plastic gun called “The Liberator”, available for anyone to download and potentially harm themselves with. Assuming they have access to both ammunition and a very expensive 3d printer.A few days and 100k+ downloads later, the US Department of State got scared enough to order Defense Distributed to take down the file. Enthusiasts promptly moved the file to a torrent, tracked by The Pirate Bay, making it harder to regulate and creating significantly more publicity. Pirate Bay users could only maintain interest for approximately 4 pages of comments…The government’s reaction, and most peoples’ reaction to the Liberator, seemed primarily driven by fear. The fear of an undetectably lethal society, where forbidden objects can no longer be regulated. Where “society” itself breaks down, because access to 3d printers somehow tear up the social contract that keeps us at a distance from the objects that we can use to harm each other.” To find out F.A.T. Lab’s view on this topic, check out “Liberator Variations.” Also follow F.A.T. Lab on Twitter!

Thank you for reading this week’s post on CCO, for my next post I will be interviewing another leader of creative culture online. Stay tuned so you can hear this director’s explanation as to what called him to indulge in and contribute to CCO, what he partakes in, and what he would recommend to someone just beginning to engage in CCO.

This entry was posted in Social awareness.

It comes to no surprise that Miley Cyrus has been taunted on Twitter, forcing her to defend herself causing hostility. It does come as a surprise however that artist like Ciara, Taylor Swift, and Drake have also been caught in a Twitter feud.

Here are five Twitter feuds Okano notes in her post. http://music.yahoo.com/photos/9-juicy-twitter-feuds-of-music-starring-kendrick-katy-and-more-1376704891-slideshow/

1. Amanda Bynes vs. Drake- Amanda Bynes has been acting very corky lately, from posting bizarre pictures of herself on the internet, to lashing out at celebrities for no apparent reason via Twitter; rapper Drake was one of them. First Bynes (@AmandaBynes) tweeted, “Drake has ugly downward facing eyes,” she continued on saying “He’s ugly and I won’t stop making fun of his ugly face!…” She even took it as far as insulting his mother! “The only person uglier than @drake is his mom.” Several weeks later Drake finally responded in an interview for XXL Magazine, he said, “I don’t even know who that is doing that or what that’s about. If that is her, I guess it’s a little weird and disturbing.” It’s obvious Drake knows he’s handsome, and his mom is beautiful.

2. Rihanna vs. Ciara- During an E! interview with Ciara, she noted that her most recent encounter with Rihanna wasn’t the most friendly one. “She wasn’t the nicest… it wasn’t the best run-in,” she said. When Rihanna (@rihanna) heard about Ciara’s comment, she decided to throw harsh shade at her on Twitter, tweeting “I’m sorry Ci, did i 4get to tip u? #howrudeofme” what a solid first punch. Ciara (@ciara) fired back saying, “Trust me Rihanna u don’t want to see me on or off the stage.” Fans stayed glued to Twitter as the bickering continued. Finally, Rihanna decided to bring the feud to an end, “Ciara baby, I love u girl! U hurt my feelings real bad on TV! I’m heartbroken! That’s why I retaliated this way! So sorry! #letsmakeup,” she tweeted. Ciara tweeted back lightheartedly, “Ri u know its always been love since day 1! Doing shows/everything. You threw me off in that party. Apology accepted. Lets talk in person.” Both sassy, beautiful, and talented, maybe these superstars just have too much in common.

3. Taylor Swift vs. Hallie Mathers (Alleged)- When Taylor Swift and One Direction’s, Harry Styles, began dating, opinions varied about the couple. One Styles fan that was completely outraged was Eminem’s alleged 16-year-old daughter, Hallie Mathers (@halliejade_x). Utterly disappointed in Styles for choosing Swift to be his girlfriend, Mathers tweeted angrily at Swift. “If @taylorswift13 is really dating the love of my life @harry_styles I will not be happy!” She continued, “Dear @taylorswift13, please stop whoring around with every guy you see. We all know you’re doing it so you can make another album.” Media and fans were confused, wondering how could Eminem’s daughter be so mean? Soon the fire was put out when a rep from Eminem’s camp told E! @halliejade_x was a mere impostor. The phony account vanished, but it hasn’t stopped others on Twitter from criticizing Swift about the many boyfriends she’s had.

4. Katy Perry vs. Chief Keef- Katy Perry is a pop princess, and Chief Keef is a gangsta rapper. They produce two very different types of music. One day Perry heard Keef’s hit song, “Hate Bein’ Sober,” and was quit disgusted. The “Roar” songstress took her thoughts to Twitter (@katyperry), “Just heard a song on the radio called “I hate being sober” and now I have serious doubt for the world.” Keef would without a doubt buzz back at Perry, tweeting “I’ll smack the s–t out of her,” (@chiefkeef). Shortly after Perry responded to Keef with a formal apology, “Mr. Keef! I’m sorry if I offended you. I heard a lot of people guesting on the song & I didn’t even know it was you in particular. Actually…” Keef accepted her apology, and was much nicer tweeting this time around, “Oh I’m Sorry Too Then,” he said. Even though they’re at two ends of the musical spectrum, they can still be friends.

5.Twitter vs. Kendrick Lamar- Kendrick Lamar recently featured on Big Sean’s song, “Control.” In Kendrick’s verse he spawns up enough guts to diss a few very respected rappers, such as Mac Miller, Drake, A$AP Rocky, and more. Once the song was leaked onto the web the song immediately became a trending topic. Some tweeted impressed by Lamar’s courage, others tweeted angrily saying his verse was very disrespectful. Soon the hashtag #RappersKendrickDidntMention began trending, bringing laughter to the twittersphere.