【新闻周刊】艾未未觉得北京是个大号监狱，北京人都疯了

drph

Ai Weiwei finds China’s capital is a prison where people go mad
http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/08/28/ai-weiwei-on-beijing-s-nightmare-city.html
Aug 28, 2011 10:00 AM EDT
Ai Weiwei
Beijing is two cities. One is of power and of money. People don’t care who their neighbors are; they don’t trust you. The other city is one of desperation. I see people on public buses, and I see their eyes, and I see they hold no hope. They can’t even imagine that they’ll be able to buy a house. They come from very poor villages where they’ve never seen electricity or toilet paper.
Every year millions come to Beijing to build its bridges, roads, and houses. Each year they build a Beijing equal to the size of the city in 1949. They are Beijing’s slaves. They squat in illegal structures, which Beijing destroys as it keeps expanding. Who owns houses? Those who belong to the government, the coal bosses, the heads of big enterprises. They come to Beijing to give gifts—and the restaurants and karaoke parlors and saunas are very rich as a result.
Beijing tells foreigners that they can understand the city, that we have the same sort of buildings: the Bird’s Nest, the CCTV tower. Officials who wear a suit and tie like you say we are the same and we can do business. But they deny us basic rights. You will see migrants’ schools closed. You will see hospitals where they give patients stitches—and when they find the patients don’t have any money, they pull the stitches out. It’s a city of violence.

For a man imprisoned and conditionally released, neither neighbors nor strangers nor Beijing’s offi ...

For a man imprisoned and conditionally released, neither neighbors nor strangers nor Beijing’s officials nor courts can be trusted., Chien-Chi Chang / Magnum Photos.
The worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system. Without trust, you cannot identify anything; it’s like a sandstorm. You don’t see yourself as part of the city—there are no places that you relate to, that you love to go. No corner, no area touched by a certain kind of light. You have no memory of any material, texture, shape. Everything is constantly changing, according to somebody else’s will, somebody else’s power.
To properly design Beijing, you’d have to let the city have space for different interests, so that people can coexist, so that there is a full body to society. A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete.
I feel sorry to say I have no favorite place in Beijing. I have no intention of going anywhere in the city. The places are so simple. You don’t want to look at a person walking past because you know exactly what’s on his mind. No curiosity. And no one will even argue with you.
None of my art represents Beijing. The Bird’s Nest—I never think about it. After the Olympics, the common folks don’t talk about it because the Olympics did not bring joy to the people.
There are positives to Beijing. People still give birth to babies. There are a few nice parks. Last week I walked in one, and a few people came up to me and gave me a thumbs up or patted me on the shoulder. Why do they have to do that in such a secretive way? No one is willing to speak out. What are they waiting for? They always tell me, “Weiwei, leave the nation, please.” Or “Live longer and watch them die.” Either leave, or be patient and watch how they die. I really don’t know what I’m going to do.
My ordeal made me understand that on this fabric, there are many hidden spots where they put people without identity. With no name, just a number. They don’t care where you go, what crime you committed. They see you or they don’t see you, it doesn’t make the slightest difference. There are thousands of spots like that. Only your family is crying out that you’re missing. But you can’t get answers from the street communities or officials, or even at the highest levels, the court or the police or the head of the nation. My wife has been writing these kinds of petitions every day, making phone calls to the police station every day. Where is my husband? Just tell me where my husband is. There is no paper, no information.
The strongest character of those spaces is that they’re completely cut off from your memory or anything you’re familiar with. You’re in total isolation. And you don’t know how long you’re going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There’s no way to even question it. You’re not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad. It’s very hard for anyone. Even for people who have strong beliefs.
This city is not about other people or buildings or streets but about your mental structure. If we remember what Kafka writes about his Castle, we get a sense of it. Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare.
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COMMENTS

BoonTeeTan
1 Hour Ago
If someone looks at everything through a deeply tinted glass, everything seems dark.

What a slanted and nightmarish view! If Beijing is a nightmare, there are countless such nightmares in the growing cities all over the continents, especially in the developing world. (btt1943)
• Reply
Warburg
3 Hours Ago
I can't believe that the DB doesn't have moderators so that readers aren't subjected to a deluge of this kind of spam.
• Reply
Mallory Howard
4 Hours Ago
i cant believe this!! me and my sister just got two i-pads for $42.77 each and a $50 amazon card for $9. the stores want to keep this a secret and they dont tell you. go here PennyOrder.com
• Reply
Chenzo
8 Hours Ago
Sounds like the Republican Party's dream for America's future.
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DotsonLolita
9 Hours Ago
i cant believe this!! me and my sister just got two i-pads for $42.77 each and a $50 amazon card for $9. the stores want to keep this a secret and they dont tell you. go here MetaCent. com
• Reply
boilinabag
12 Hours Ago
when i visited Beijing, i first was amazed by how much has been built up. then i met many young student grads [with engineering degrees!] , they showed me how they are living in underground bunkers with many in one room, and very dirty conditions. it appears all that glitters in red china, isnt gold.... the mass migration into cities, and the looming under employment crisis, is going to be much larger than anyone thinks.....  

1.5 billion people cannot live with western ideals, and another 1.5 in india, isnt tenable for much longer...
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exoevolution
12 Hours Ago
The Beijing city model (the few super rich with the mass underclass) coming to your American city soon.
• Reply
regbs
8 Hours Ago
Sorry to tell you, but it's your Leftist fantasy that starved millions and created this disaster. Compare Taiwan the PRC; ROK & PRK; FRG & GDR. The Left has had more than half a century to see the murderous nightmare its love of coercion has created. Instead of concession, it's mad persistence at what's failed time and time again for no better reason than fitting in with the in-crowd. This is a legacy of your beloved imposed social justice. Capitalist citizens aren't moving in droves to your nightmare. Mao created this underclass. The PRC's position on (hate)speech and one-party rule no doubt mimics the majority of DB readership.
AtomicZepellinMan
6 Hours Ago
When did liberalism become synonymous with coercion? Liber = Free. You are confusing Communism (a very conservative ideology) with a modern political theory that includes trade-unionism, social freedoms and Keynesian economics. If you don't understand the difference, pick up a history book.
millli
15 Hours Ago
Didn't Obama say China is an example for us to follow? Oh, no!
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Steeevyo
16 Hours Ago
Wei Wei ... as usual only talking about himself.

But i have to say Beijing is not portrayed in a proper light. Of course there are some truths to what he says but he distorts them to create a negative image to people who have never even been here before. I dont know any person who lived here for more than a year who did not grow deeply attached to this city and it's people. Be they the peasants or the new rich. It is a bit like hatin' on New York.
• Reply
robiro
12 Hours Ago
in new your you wont get arrested for freely expressing your dissent to the ny municipality....i guess the point is there....and not in the affectionate feeling of passerbyes that live there couple of year before leaving back for their countries
truthwillout
3 Hours Ago
Wei Wei is speaking as he finds, his comments are speaking of surface issues and undertones, realities you are unaware of it seems. Why? do you not want to hear cold hard facts and truths, the CCP is afraid of the truth, are you?

Charlat
20 Hours Ago
I don't really want to use the word. But I feel the author is a "fen Qing" when I read the article.If you have conficts or outrage with the GOVERNMENT or the PARTY, don't make the topic up to the city or the country. Please understand the difference. There is still millions of people have kindness and dreams. Rememder the bullet train crash? People on the internet tried their best to help those victims.  
Last I want to say what the effective people should do is not to destroy their citizens' dreams, but to keep and protect .  
• Reply
roin
18 Hours Ago
I don't really want to use the word either, but I feel you are a "WU MAO" when I read...
1 more (expand)
truthwillout
3 Hours Ago
of course there are good people in China, who wish good for people, however the CCP has not taught good, the victims of the their twisted ideology is fundamentally all Chinese people. 5000 years of Chinese culture and civilisation to be destroyed in 60 years, shameful and sad. Shen Zhou is no more....

bingbing
Yesterday
You have succeeded in putting into words the thoughts and feelings many passively absorb and experience but cannot articulate. Your artwork and courage continue to be an inspiration and vehicle of hope for the downtrodden and oppressed.
• Reply
rbwfla
Yesterday
Finally: a true Picture of what is an evil country...and as they grow they will quietly do more and more to influence the World BE Alert!
• Reply
Herman Vinson
Yesterday
i cant believe this!! me and my sister just got two i-pads for $42.77 each and a $50 amazon card for $9. the stores want to keep this a secret and they dont tell you. go here PennyOrder.com
• Reply
Curiouser
Yesterday
"I see they hold no hope. They can’t even imagine that they’ll be able to buy a house." It'll be interesting to see if their brand of Capitalism being rammed down the throats of more than a billion people sticks. We're seeing the American Dream snuffed by jumbo banks and corruption. The Chinese don't even have a dream - that we know of. Other than to copy the American Dream. We accidentally outsourced our dream.
• Reply
kygirlsetty
Yesterday
so sad
• Reply

drph

权限不够，传不了那么大的图，只能牺牲质量了