subject: Xu Bing Soft Fascist By Charlie Finch [print this page] All you need to know about the deadening effect of the Chinese Communist fascist state on artistic freedom is to read the just
published interview with Xu Bing, a show of whose work has just closed at the Morgan Library, on Artinfo.com.
Responding to the typically lame and party-oriented questions that Artinfo always asks ("What's your favorite restaurant?" instead of
"What happened to Ai Weiwei in prison?"), Xu responds with the kind of self-satisfied, opaque arrogance that only a coddled
vice-president of the official Chinese Art Academy, which he is, would dare to proffer as a backasswards defense of the ChiCom
situation.
For starters Bingo blames the current reality of Chinese state-controlled culture on its own people: "They can't tell if it is up or
down." He then goes on to name his favorite artist: "myself" and the show he most recently visited, his own exhibition in Virginia!
Bingle is so circumspect, except for his own self-regard, that he refuses to name his favorite restaurant, although he offers that he
goes to a bar after attending his own openings.
In typical bureaucratese, Bingalo describes his powerful state-approved post as "a fine arts position, not an administrative
position," and then launches into a patronizing explanation of his 9/11 piece, made from the dust at Ground Zero, citing author
Andrew Solomon with approval.Responding to the typically lame and party-oriented questions that Artinfo always asks ("What's your
favorite restaurant?" instead of "What happened to Ai Weiwei in prison?"), Xu responds with the kind of self-satisfied, opaque
arrogance that only a coddled vice-president of the official Chinese Art Academy, which he is, would dare to proffer as a
backasswards defense of the ChiCom situation. Responding to the typically lame and party-oriented questions that Artinfo always asks
("What's your favorite restaurant?" instead of "What happened to Ai Weiwei in prison?"), Xu responds with the kind of self-satisfied,
opaque arrogance that only a coddled vice-president of the official Chinese Art Academy, which he is, would dare to proffer as a
backasswards defense of the ChiCom situation.
All you need to know about the deadening effect of the Chinese Communist fascist state on artistic freedom is to read the just
published interview with Xu Bing, a show of whose work has just closed at the Morgan Library, on Artinfo.com.I detest Artinfo and its
ridiculous puffy-faced, China-genuflecting owner Louise Blouin, but go to Artinfo, for a few seconds, not just to see the risible
photos of Blouin honoring wealthy fatso Carlos Slim at the cheesy Metropolitan Club, but to see what a terrifying drivelhead that Xu
Bing has become under Chinese Communist dominance. Then come back to Artnet, where we aim for truth instead of sucking up to the
