I can’t reply to your latest comment — there’s no reply button — so I’ll put my response here:

I agree that the country’s struggling artists could use a boost from high-profile creatives and it’s a question that you should raise with future interview subjects:

“If Ai Weiwei were to offer an endorsement or other forms of support, would you accept?”

My instincts say no — “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” and all.

Why willingly associate yourself with a lightning rod? The independent music scene is wobbly enough already without guilt by association from outspoken political activists (numerous live music venues in Shanghai were reportedly raided by SWAT teams over the weekend, for example) and a heavily-publicized endorsement and the resulting media coverage may result in intensified scrutiny from the authorities — especially in this current political climate when Party flacks are still jockeying for primo positions in the new administration.

And on a broader level, I’m sure not if endorsements from domestic celebs would do any good, anyways, unless they came with the strong financial support and dedicated commitment that is necessary to sustain a grassroots organic network designed to support a robust creative community.

What the scene *really* needs are GONGOs, the “government organized non-governmental organizations” that helped usher in this country’s fledgling environmental NGOs a generation ago, but that’s food for another discussion.

I agree that the country’s struggling artists could use a boost from high-profile creatives and it’s a question that you should raise with future interview subjects:

“If Ai Weiwei were to offer an endorsement or other forms of support, would you accept?”

My instincts say no — “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” and all.

Why willingly associate yourself with a lightning rod? The independent music scene is wobbly enough already without guilt by association from outspoken political activists (numerous live music venues in Shanghai were reportedly raided by SWAT teams over the weekend, for example) and a heavily-publicized endorsement and the resulting media coverage may result in intensified scrutiny from the authorities — especially in this current political climate when Party flacks are still jockeying for primo positions in the new administration.

And on a broader level, I’m sure not if endorsements from domestic celebs would do any good, anyways, unless they came with the strong financial support and dedicated commitment that is necessary to sustain a grassroots organic network designed to support a robust creative community.

What the scene *really* needs are GONGOs, the “government organized non-governmental organizations” that helped usher in this country’s fledgling environmental NGOs a generation ago, but that’s food for another discussion.

Where’s the latest 3 Shots episode? I miss railing on laowais who think they’re the bomb.

Wow, have you met him? Oh, and it’s “boundaries.”

Pls do not forget what he was imprisoned / kidnapped for, he was trying to document and count all the children killed during the wenchuan earthquake, and if memory serves he ended up getting illegally detained like a bunch of rights lawyers, all around the same time and clearly part of a campaign to send a message to the community. Although again his family connections provide some protections, not much maybe, but some, so he is better treated in some ways than many. But afaik he still has a bunch of cameras surrounding his house so better treated is not particularly well treated.

For someone who “doesn’t listen to music” as Ai said, I think it’s an enormously inconsiderate disservice to the thousands of serious musicians in China who are continuously shadowed under Ai’s domineering celebrity. The song basically starts unlistenable and then gets worse. He is a terrible singer (not even a singer, just a man singing), and even the song’s production sounds thin and cheap. The lyrics are juvenile and just abstract enough for any critic to be afraid to say anything for fear of “not getting it.”

What I find interesting is how no one has pointed out how odd it is that a supposed dissident artist who has been in jail – the song being about him being in jail, no less – is allowed to produce an album.

Another interesting thing is that the song sounds excessively “Chinese” or “Oriental.” This can be great if done well – PK14 being an excellent example of the lead singer using Chinese styles and cadence in a pure rock format – but here it sounds like a Beijing Opera melody was simply injected in, or “phoned in” as Feola put it. Again, the western press that fawns over everything Ai does will probably profess to enjoy and praise the singing as something exotic – while having zero understanding of Chinese rock music – when in reality there are many other bands that sound equally “Chinese” while still being listenable, original and beautiful.

The Aimperor wears no headphones!

The thing is Ai gots the best media appeal. He knows English so he can tweet, he’s a dissident who’s been to jail, and he has foreign contacts. Not saying he’s not a good artist, but saying English is a pretty big freakin’ deal for a Chinese artist if you’re gonna schmooze with western critics. Once read an article where a Chinese art critic complained about an article he read by a western counterpart who called a certain artist the leader of the Chinese Avant-Garde when his greatest skill is speaking English really well and pretending his work is a profound declaration against the totalitarian system of the state.

Maybe you could get him to do a an episode of 3 Shots?