The Art of Truth - Adventure, Silence and Action

A few days ago, I saw an article about "Shut up for 720 hours" by Brother Nut on Matters, but I didn't pay any attention. Later, when I saw the "self-reporting experiment", I realized that he was doing a performance art project, and probably understood his style. After reading Felton's interview, I became intrigued by the Nut Brothers and their art projects, so I contacted him to learn about the progress of the action. This article is written by his invitation, hoping to resonate with readers.

The Truth at Risk Award is for journalists who dare to reveal the truth during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Brother Nut didn't have enough money for the bonus, so he launched the "shut up for 720 hours" action - of course, this is an art project in itself. From June 1 to July 1, he insisted on not speaking for 30 consecutive days, Trying to build a deep spiritual connection with supporters and jointly raise prizes -- crowdfunding prizes seems to be quite artistic.

The inspiration for the project stemmed from the long-standing strict speech censorship environment, and the factor that prompted the Nut Brothers to decide to launch the project was the incident of Wang Xiaoni's "inappropriate remarks" being reported. This is not an isolated project. The self-reporting experiment, reporting the Global Times, one-click reporting artifacts, criticizing graphite documents, and unpopular words all belong to the same round of actions.

Select some pictures here, and briefly comment to show the wonderful points of the event.

Eighteen prohibitions, this is a word with rich meanings. Domestic cultural taboos are diverse, pornography, crime, suicide, and even hair coloring, love, LGBT, etc., are all things that are not suitable for minors to understand. Because the taboo has no clear boundaries, the use of "infringing on the physical and mental health of young people" as an excuse to clear out dissident reports has occurred from time to time, and the scope and influence are expanding.

Spider-Man is a superhero. Although he is generally an excellent citizen who abides by the law and upholds justice, he is, after all, a person who is not controlled by the government and has the power to make waves in society. Can not be trusted. Besides, he is an American and naturally has a questionable position, and he must shut up in China.

Aliens are not supposed to be governed by the laws of the earth. However, it is said that the recently implemented national security law in Hong Kong has a very broad scope of application and objects. There is reason to believe that even aliens will be held accountable for violating the National Security Law. Therefore, it is reasonable for aliens to choose to shut up.

Censorship and deletion of posts on the Internet are not uncommon. Tencent represents part of the main body that implements the ban, that is, capital. Capital is controlled by the government and has to serve political needs. At the same time, it is a complicit of the government and actively violates the rights and interests of users for its own interests. For example, when WeChat handles user communications, it not only organizes, analyzes, and bans politically sensitive content, but also collects user preferences, habits, and identities that are closely related to commercial interests. Tencent's interests and the government's interests, at least from There is mutual satisfaction in the invasion of privacy.

"Can't break free" is my favorite idea. The plot and imagery here are symbolic of the Nutty Brothers trying to break out of the blockade and getting stopped after a bit of progress.

In reality, many people who wish to express their opinions freely will try to break free, such as testing and impacting the bottom line of censorship, studying abroad or immigrating to foreign countries. Those who break through the bottom line of censorship are easily warned or even lost contact for unknown reasons. Immigrants usually need talent and money, and those who meet the conditions are destined to be in the minority. Moreover, the phenomenon of tightening and undermining freedom of speech is gradually increasing and expanding in other countries. In the future, the hope of resisting and escaping will probably become more and more elusive, and it will become a common experience for the world.

This artistic action covers a wide range of reasons for "shut up", with rich expressions, and the overall look and feel is good. Actions have the effect of touching people's hearts, building spiritual connections, and helping to spread the word about the project and raise bonuses. Whatever the effect, at least the design is good.

Brother Nut was finally supported by 73 people and raised a bonus of about 20,000 yuan, which is far from his goal, but considering that everyone's life is not easy during this time, it is very rare that someone is willing to give generously. The results are now gratifying and gratifying.

The winner of the Truth Adventure Award is Gong Jingqi. She is a reporter with courage and feelings. She published "The Whistler" not long ago, so she was suppressed.

The quality of this report is very high, and once it was published, it attracted widespread attention. The original text was quickly deleted. Many readers spontaneously reprinted and backed up, and they were also constantly banned. However, netizens did not give up on this. In addition to regular reprints, they used different word processing methods, and even translated the articles into ancient and foreign language versions to avoid censorship, forming an online spectacle.

However, after a few months, it seems that people no longer care about these things. Praising the government is still the main theme, and the voices of questioning and criticism continue to be suppressed. Many netizens have also joined the ranks of attacking dissidents, and the network environment has returned to a quiet and harmonious environment.

Gong Jingqi's experience and the memory of the Internet can be regarded as echoing the concepts of "adventure" and "shut up".

The art project has been introduced here. The following is a personal reflection on the project.

June 1st and July 1st, these two dates seem to contain metaphors. June 1 is Children's Day. Children usually symbolize hope and courage. Discourses such as "Tong Yan Wu Ji" and "The Emperor's New Clothes" also reflect the notion that ordinary people regard children as "expressors of truth". July 1 is the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and it has the meaning of pursuing and destroying freedom at the same time. Politics and freedom of speech are inherently inseparable, and the CCP is often not seen as a political party that defends freedom of speech, but a model for combating freedom of speech. The current anniversary of the founding of the party may also be the anniversary of silence. In addition, July 1 is also the first day of the implementation of the National Security Law. The coincidence of the time seems like a black humor.

June 1st to July 1st is the journey from fearlessness to fear, turning hope into illusion.

The Nut Brothers lifted the restriction of silence after the action, and the space for speech in reality continues to narrow. However, future expectations are not necessarily pessimistic.

When reading the project introduction, I was attracted by Solzhenitsyn's words:

A single word of truth can weigh more than the whole world.

This sentence not only speaks of the power of the truth, but also hints at the government's fear of the truth. Although in life and in the news, ordinary people are forced to silence due to threats and oppression, and people's fear of the government is more obvious, but from the influence of the news and the government's oppressive behavior, we can also detect the government's fear.

The fear and distrust of the government and the people are not unilateral, they are intertwined and mutually reinforcing. A government that controls power and violence will inevitably ask the people to shut up, and the resentment and resistance of the people cannot be eradicated. It is difficult to make accurate predictions about the future situation.

Speaking of the artistic actions of the Nut Brothers, the "Truth Adventure Award" is not well-known, and the results only seem to be helpful to the winners. He chose themes that fit the times, but the National Security Law was passed and implemented during the operation, apparently unforeseen when he launched the operation. This time art played a smaller role and did not catch up with life, but art still had its power and necessity of existence.

Brother Nut mentioned in the interview that specific actions are used to disintegrate specific evils. Art actions curated on specific issues can mobilize the public's attention and willingness to participate, thereby creating the possibility of changing reality.

For example, after he launched the "Salt Project" to reveal the water pollution in Xiaohaotu Township to the public, the local government took some measures to protect the groundwater and improve the quality of water for residents. Of course, there are also unsatisfactory actions, such as the "Shenzhen Doll Project", which failed to benefit most urban village residents, and eventually many people were forced to move out of Shenzhen.

The role of artistic action is limited, but in general, it is better to be involved in action than to sit on the sidelines. Action itself is a struggle, which can bring hope of dissolving the predicament.

From the perspective of social development, although art will not be the only and fundamental cause of change, art has the role of consolation and mobilization, and can provide invisible help. In many important social movements, art is indispensable component.

Furthermore, art is sometimes a mirror image of reality, or even a better route to reality than reality. The special form of expression will create a psychological distance, allowing people to temporarily put down the burden of emotions and concepts to think about problems and get closer to reality.

To sum up, the "Truth Adventure Award" is an art project with ideological, artistic value and social significance, and Brother Nut is an interesting, enthusiastic and potential art actor.