The City: Beijing - A Place to Despair 北京 - 一个令人哀叹与绝望的噩梦般的城市

Beijing Celebrates 60 Years of Communism 北京中共党朝六十年

For a man imprisoned and conditionally released, neither neighbors nor strangers nor Beijing’s officials nor courts can be trusted., Chien-Chi Chang / Magnum Photos 陈凯博客： www.kaichenblog.blogspot.com The City: Beijing - A Place to Despair 北京 - 一个令人哀叹与绝望的噩梦般的城市 Aug 28, 2011 10:00 AM EDT Ai Weiwei 艾未未 Ai Weiwei finds China’s capital is a prison where people go mad. Beijing is two cities. One is of power and of money. People don’t care who their neighbors are; they don’t trust you. The other city is one of desperation. I see people on public buses, and I see their eyes, and I see they hold no hope. They can’t even imagine that they’ll be able to buy a house. They come from very poor villages where they’ve never seen electricity or toilet paper. Every year millions come to Beijing to build its bridges, roads, and houses. Each year they build a Beijing equal to the size of the city in 1949. They are Beijing’s slaves. They squat in illegal structures, which Beijing destroys as it keeps expanding. Who owns houses? Those who belong to the government, the coal bosses, the heads of big enterprises. They come to Beijing to give gifts—and the restaurants and karaoke parlors and saunas are very rich as a result. Beijing tells foreigners that they can understand the city, that we have the same sort of buildings: the Bird’s Nest, the CCTV tower. Officials who wear a suit and tie like you say we are the same and we can do business. But they deny us basic rights. You will see migrants’ schools closed. You will see hospitals where they give patients stitches—and when they find the patients don’t have any money, they pull the stitches out. It’s a city of violence. The worst thing about Beijing is that you can never trust the judicial system. Without trust, you cannot identify anything; it’s like a sandstorm. You don’t see yourself as part of the city—there are no places that you relate to, that you love to go. No corner, no area touched by a certain kind of light. You have no memory of any material, texture, shape. Everything is constantly changing, according to somebody else’s will, somebody else’s power. To properly design Beijing, you’d have to let the city have space for different interests, so that people can coexist, so that there is a full body to society. A city is a place that can offer maximum freedom. Otherwise it’s incomplete. I feel sorry to say I have no favorite place in Beijing. I have no intention of going anywhere in the city. The places are so simple. You don’t want to look at a person walking past because you know exactly what’s on his mind. No curiosity. And no one will even argue with you. None of my art represents Beijing. The Bird’s Nest—I never think about it. After the Olympics, the common folks don’t talk about it because the Olympics did not bring joy to the people. There are positives to Beijing. People still give birth to babies. There are a few nice parks. Last week I walked in one, and a few people came up to me and gave me a thumbs up or patted me on the shoulder. Why do they have to do that in such a secretive way? No one is willing to speak out. What are they waiting for? They always tell me, “Weiwei, leave the nation, please.” Or “Live longer and watch them die.” Either leave, or be patient and watch how they die. I really don’t know what I’m going to do. My ordeal made me understand that on this fabric, there are many hidden spots where they put people without identity. With no name, just a number. They don’t care where you go, what crime you committed. They see you or they don’t see you, it doesn’t make the slightest difference. There are thousands of spots like that. Only your family is crying out that you’re missing. But you can’t get answers from the street communities or officials, or even at the highest levels, the court or the police or the head of the nation. My wife has been writing these kinds of petitions every day, making phone calls to the police station every day. Where is my husband? Just tell me where my husband is. There is no paper, no information. The strongest character of those spaces is that they’re completely cut off from your memory or anything you’re familiar with. You’re in total isolation. And you don’t know how long you’re going to be there, but you truly believe they can do anything to you. There’s no way to even question it. You’re not protected by anything. Why am I here? Your mind is very uncertain of time. You become like mad. It’s very hard for anyone. Even for people who have strong beliefs. This city is not about other people or buildings or streets but about your mental structure. If we remember what Kafka writes about his Castle, we get a sense of it. Cities really are mental conditions. Beijing is a nightmare. A constant nightmare. Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long. Ai is an artist based in Beijing. For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at 1c. ---------------------------------------------------------- 北京是两座城 - 杀人越权与杀人越货 作者:艾未未 翻译:BC@BC 2011-08-30 18:57:32 北京是两座城。一座是钱权之城。人们不在乎邻居是谁；他们不信任你。另一座是绝望之城。我在公交上见到过一些人，我看着他们的眼睛，里面没有任何希望。这些人根本无法想象自己能买得起房子。他们来自赤贫的农村，不知电和手纸为何物。 每年，数百万民工涌进北京，建造桥梁、道路和房屋。每年兴建的建筑面积都相当于四九年时的整个儿北京城。他们是北京的奴隶，栖身于违章建筑，那是不断扩张的北京所要拆除的部分。建成的房子属于谁？属于政府、属于煤老板、属于大公司头头。那些人来北京送礼－－因此饭店、卡拉OK和桑拿大发其财。 北京跟外国人说，你们能理解这座城，因为我们有同式样的建筑：鸟巢和央视大楼。跟你一样穿西装打领带的官员说，我们是一样的，我们可以做生意。但是他们不给人们最基本的权力。你会见到民工子弟学校被关。在医院里，你看到他们给伤者缝合完伤口，又把缝线扯开－－因为发现病人交不起钱。这是一座暴力的城市。 北京最糟糕的部分在于，你永远不能信任这里的司法系统。没有信任，你什么也无法辨别；就像在沙尘暴里。你自己也不是这城市的一部分，你跟哪里都没有关系，哪里你也不喜欢去。那种特别的光，照不到北京的任何一处，哪怕是一个角落。你对于任何的物质、质地或者是形状都无法保有记忆。因为每个东西都在不停地变，因着某人的意志，因着某人的权力。 想要恰当地设计北京，应该要让这城市留出不同兴趣的空间，人们才能共同居住，这样才是一个完整的社会。城市是能够提供最大自由度的地方。否则的话，它就不完整。 我很遗憾地说，北京没有一块我喜欢的地方。这城里我哪儿也不想去。哪里都那么乏味。没兴趣看路过的人，因为他们脑子里在想什么一清二楚。没什么可好奇的。甚至都不会有人跟你争论。 我的作品，没有一件是代表北京的。鸟巢－－我从来不去想。奥运之后，大家也不想谈它，因为奥运会没给人带来任何乐趣。 当然北京也有好事儿。人们生小孩儿。有几个公园还不赖。上礼拜我就走进那么一个，有些人围过来，对我竖大拇哥或者拍拍我的肩膀。他们干吗非得这么偷偷摸摸的？没人敢说出来。他们在等什么呢？他们总是跟我说：“离开这国家吧，拜托了。”或者“好好活长一点儿，看着他们死”之类。要么离开，要么耐心点儿等着看他们怎么完蛋。我还真不知道我会怎么办。 我所经历的那次考验，让我明白了在这个系统里头，有很多的暗处来关押那些没有身份的人。没有名字，只有一个号码。他们不在乎你去哪里，也不在乎你犯了什么罪。他们看着你或者不看着你，其实没什么不同。像那样的地方有几千个。只有你家人会哭喊你失踪了，但是无论从街道社区或者官员，甚至最高层以及法院、警察甚或国家首脑那里，你都不会得到任何答复。我妻子每天都在写这类请愿书，每天给警察局打电话。我丈夫在哪里？只要告诉我我丈夫在哪里。可从来没有哪怕是一片纸，一丁点儿的消息。 那些暗处最厉害的地方在于，把你和你的记忆以及你熟悉的任何东西隔绝开来。你完全是孤立无援的。你根本不知道你会在那里呆多久，但你非常清楚他们想对你做什么都行。想质疑是不可能的。你根本没有任何保护。我为什么在这里？你脑子里甚至连时间都搞不清楚。你都快疯了。对任何人来说，这都很难扛得住，即使是有很坚定信仰的人也受不了。 这城市，无关他人无关建筑无关街道，而关乎每个人的心理构架。如果我们记得卡夫卡所写的《城堡》，我们就能明白这座城。城市，其实是心理状态。北京是一个噩梦，是永远不会醒来的梦魇。 英文原文：The City: Beijing http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/08/28/ai-weiwei-on-beijing-s-nightmare-city.html －－原载：《译言》，2011-08-30 http://article.yeeyan.org/view/229654/215438