|
"It's the difference between a windy and a windless season." Ai Weiwei Tonight I spontaneously opened my Max/Msp patch, a customized sound software, flipped open a random page (104/105) of the book Ai Weiwei's Blog, Writings, Interviews, and Digital Rants, 2006-2009. and picked up words, phrasing them into that software patch. I recorded the whole piece live. I did not edit or treat the recording except implement it into a video I shot afterwards outside. July 2nd 2011 Dear Ai Weiwei, I read you love silence. I love silence too. I moved 3 years ago from Berlin to a northern island in Finland. It has been rewarding in so many ways. Writing this at midnight, I look at sparse pine woods, my little daughter is sleeping, we have white nights, it is not getting dark at this time of the year. The wind is getting stronger today. I was in London last month and found your book Ai Weiwei's Blog in the Whitechapel Gallery bookstore. You still been in prison and even I don't pray or believe in gods, I sent a strong call out to some imaginary powerful goddesses to make them free you. Now you are somewhat safe I hope. I know you are the Lady Gaga of the art world and I would not care about that fact. But, I love your blog, it is such a basic human piece of honesty and personal care, it makes me hold my breath in thankfulness. I grew up in East Germany and my destiny could have been easily like yours. Scanning through the news these days, I am reminded. I makes me think of how the wall kind of accidentally went down without blood shed. An error of history ? A peaceful revolution ? And how long does it take to heal ? Not only heal from the form of socialism we lived in, but also heal from the monsters sucking the land dry after. Now looking at your country and all the financial and strategic power it holds and look at places like Libya, Syria, Yemen. Who are all those men with all these guns in their hands ? When I look at the weapons displayed in media every day, I wish somebody would go, collect them and throw them at the pretty properties of the people who made all the money producing them. This is such a mess. We have to gain much more confidence to get this place sorted out! ICC issues arrest warrant for Gaddafi, righly so, but why not one to George W. Bush too ? Where is he actually, flyfishing ? But I am running off topic. China holds so much precious cultural depth in poetry, calligraphy, medicine. Do you read the texts of I Ching, The Book Of Changes ? What do you think about it ? I flip through the pages occassionally, it calms me down. yesterday I thought of you and 64. Wei Chi came up. The sound of wind is so close to the sound of breathing. Listening to the wild wind today, I recorded another piece purely with my voice and the same technic as above, imitating wind. I send you, your family, friends and colleagues the finest net of protection, peace and freedom, we all deserve and so many lack. I am safe and very happy and I feel so strong for you here with my wind. Perseverance! furthers! Yours poetess, agf  |