Usually I have no patience for the modern artiste who insists he’s creating Great Art. Don’t know if anybody remembers the Meehan Streak cartoon that the Taipei Times used to run, but it used to have a running gag with two critics in a gallery: one slavishly worshipful, the other blithely contemptuous.
I’m not ashamed to say, that contemptuous guy is me.
Well, I may not know art, but I know what I like:
A US-based Taiwanese artist was questioned briefly by the FBI on Dec. 10 after he projected giant images of [the flag of Taiwan’s main independence party] and a Republic of China (ROC) flag on the side of China’s New York consulate and the UN’s headquarters.
Momma Bear to Poppa Bear, Momma Bear to Poppa Bear, we have a code 5-18 violation. Repeat: we have a code 5-18 violation. Yeah, that’s right. Illegal display of Taiwanese regalia on UN premises. I know, when will they ever learn? What’s that, come again? The Chinese ambassador is advising we not take any chances? If we see the perp, shoot to kill? But we’re not supposed to hit any "valuable transplantable organs"?
(UN images from the artist Yang Chin-chih’s website.)
That last shot’s great, with UN security guards hurriedly investigating this latest affront to the International Order. Kinda like gang members one night realizing the bat-signal’s being shined onto the side of their hideout…
(Image from the Polar Blair’s Den.)
Now, if you or me pulled something like this off, our explanation to the FBI would probably be something to the effect that we were trying to send some kind of message to China. (Real message being: Up yours!)
But a true genius is a bit more creative than that. A true genius is a guy who thinks of an explanation so audacious in its absurdity that the rest of us can only shake our heads in admiration:
[the artist’s website claims he] "attempts to express the twisted relationships between nation states — in this particular instance, between Taiwan and those nations that directly or indirectly oppose its independence. It is the artist’s hope that by calling attention to these thorny global issues, an effort will be made to resolve them peacefully." [Emphasis added]
Yeah, I’m sure Yang Chin-chih changed a LOT of hearts in Beijing <eyeroll>. But bravo, anyways. And Happy New Year, Communist China.
i-3