ai weiwei released on bail (see previous post, art & society 2)

since i'm working extremely hard to finish a fair chunk of mathematical research, i haven't been able to write on this blog.

but this good news of course must be added: ai weiwei has been released on bail, although he may still face civil charges.

news sources say that the attention given to this case by western media and protesters have pressured the chinese authorities to release ai weiwei. many others who like him are critical of the authorities are however still detained under equally vague charges and with doubtful legality.

(read more in the l.a. times, and the l.a. times).


ai weiwei, china map

ai weiwei arrested in china (art & society 1)

one of my favourite modern artists, ai weiwei, was arrested this week in his home country china. he has been charged with economic crime, according to the LA Times. however, it is very very likely that this is just a form of censoring by the chinese government. ai weiwei has been arrested before, on trumped up charges, even leading to hospitalization.

sometimes i am just so fed up with the world.

ai weiwei is a very talented artist, and a very talented technical craftsman as well. he combines these talents to comment on our society, and sometimes this is especially about his home country china. his art is always respectful in every way, but it does have a message. that is one of the very important functions of art, imnsho.

i hereby wish to give my support to ai weiwei, and to all other artists and like who are hounded by governments, authorities or other organizations for speaking out for those values that are the very essence of a better humanity.

and shame on all those bureaucrats and power-hungry people who wish to muzzle the freedom of speech and other (artistic or not) expression in order to force their world vision on others, and in order to maintain their power positions.

(to be continued)

fukushima: our problems hoisted on future generations

the cleaning up of the millions of gallons of radioactive water at fukushima (which are a waste result of the attempts to cool the daiichi nuclear plant with water to prevent meltdown) could take decades, according to expert opinions reported in the LA Times, if it can be resolved at all.

these news items have a tendency to be understated, because the nature of news is like an extreme version of the nature of fashion, and seldom does public attention linger on any one issue if there are no `dramatic' turns of events.

but since we were discussing these topics on this blog, i felt i should mention this hoisting of our problems on future generations. the cleaning of this nuclear wastewater is actually but a minor issue compared to the nuclear waste that we are creating all over the world, for which we have no long-term solution either.

so, as an artist, perhaps you can see how serious i am on this issue when i say: forget about art, but do not forget about the next generations. who gave us the right to pollute the world in an irreversible manner for eons to come?

what can art be and do? (shale gas development in the cévennes 2)

as a follow-up to the previous post, just let me post this link to a very informative news article on shale gas development in the cévennes on french news online.

in the recent posts, environmental issues feature prominently. one could ask if an art blog is the best place for these concerns, but i'm inclined to allow it (...;-)). first of all, one can't cut up the world in subjects and expect to never have to redefine or rethink categories. second, a real and important issue for me is the role of art in society. and a major role imnsho is to raise awareness about fundamental issues that society faces.

so, although this is not primarily meant as a protest blog, from time to time i will post on issues which i hold to be fundamental in arriving at a better society and world.

and this just begs the question: how many famous works of art are about environmental protection??

protest song against shale gas development in the cévennes

(in french, by my brother kees waaldijk, a gifted musician who obviously shares my environmental concerns...)



the cévennes form a beautiful natural region and national park in southern France, near avignon and nîmes. shale gas development is being increasingly criticized for its environmental impact and health hazards.


in the cévennes (photo by havang).

nuclear energy & earthquake japan

i am very sorry to see my very recent admonishments about the dangers of nuclear energy viz. natural disasters proved true by the completely dreadful earthquake which occurred last week in japan. i hope the people there will manage to contain the damage, and overcome this terrible adversity.

i also hope this will finally set people thinking about our completely irresponsible way of creating nuclear pollution for ages and ages to come.

when will we learn that we should not burden the next generations with our problems? when are we going to say: the buck stops here?

visits to this blog : thank you google & blogger!

yesterday was a strange day...you might remember that just a month ago i proudly posted that my blog had had 100,000 visits...in total, over its lifespan of almost 3 yrs.

however, yesterday i had over 60,000 visits (and today so far another 15,000) on one day. all due to the fact that google celebrated the birthday of constantin brâncuşi (19 february 1876). and yes, i posted a few nice photographs of brâncuşi's work that i took in the centre georges pompidou on this blog. these photos rank highly in google image search...(and now things go back to normal, since google's celebration is over)

although i know these effects are typical of the modern web-based society, it still is strange for me to witness it up close. because in real life, as an artist i'm somewhat of a recluse. anyway, thank you google and blogger, for providing people like me with the opportunity to reach many others, outside of commercial and/or hierarchical channels.