[spectre] (fwd) Sign the Petition: Release Ai Weiwei

[heath bunting]

On Thu, 14 Apr 2011, Andreas Broeckmann wrote:

andreas broeckmann

can you explain why you are campaigning for this person ?

are you sure he not guilty of tax evasion ?

does the fact that this campaign is supported by so many elite 
organisation not make you question this campaign ?

i didn't note much interest or support in my case when i was arrested 
every time i entered or exited the united kingdom or when i was 
disappeared by the UK secret police and accused falsely of bomb threats 
at a london airport - i was facing up to 7 years in prison

this was a result of my work with borders and identity and i still live
under surveillance

in the similar manner that no one benefits from my rise through the art 
stratosphere, hence no rise or stardom, who is benefiting from Ai Weiwei 
and his hyper inflation in the attention economy ?

Ai Weiwei campaign seems a classic case of elite people protecting their 
own transgressions (tax evasion) and profiting from disaster capitalism 
rather than universal human rights and human rights workers, such as 
artists

would there be an international campaign by elite institutions to support 
a independent artist, such as myself ?

this seems a very similar situation to julian assange. instead of 
the social network supporting a member of the blood rank, we should be 
supporting social justice and human rights and those that work using such 
methods

Ai Weiwei is clearly a member of the international blood rank posing a 
social networker - an astroturfer

this strikes me a co-option of the social network for the purposes and 
values of the elite

hope you can answer some of these questions

hope you are well

heath bunting

> On April 3, internationally acclaimed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was detained 
> at the Beijing airport while en route to Hong Kong, and his papers and 
> computers were seized from his studio compound.
> Sign now! we need to reach 100,000 signatures!
> http://www.change.org/petitions/call-for-the-release-of-ai-weiwei#?opt_new=f&opt_fb=t
>
> 'The members of the international arts community express their concern for 
> Ai's freedom and disappointment in China's reluctance to live up to its 
> promise to nurture creativity and independent thought, the keys to "soft 
> power" and cultural influence.
>
> The initiative has been taken working closely with Jerome Cohen, the leading 
> Chinese human rights lawyer who is working on Weiwei's case, and who believes 
> that this action could be effective.
> To support the petition you can link it on your website, on Facebook and 
> Twitter sites, in order to quickly reach millions of people.'
>
> We need to reach 100,000 signatures.
>
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