“What is the time?” Performance, 2nd DaDao Live Art Festival, Beijing,2004
The earth has been changing more than it normally would if she does it by herself without human interventions. It was not so bad in the beginning but the interventions have gone beyond certain limits of tolerance by mother earth. Mostly due to capitalists with power and greed to profit in larger and faster manner. It is up to us to take pro-active measures to prevent this from not only destroy the earth we live in but quite inevitably it leads to our self-destruction. I am not a dreamer so far fetch to see this happening. That the evidences are clear and we need to work together. However there are many possible ways. Just as many ways to detract from the question are even more destructive propositions that offer to address these issues but in fact leading us further astray. There is a need to take heed of the fallacious list of so called pragmatic solutions such as: 1) support the status quo and all will be okay, rock the boat and that is certainty of our own demise. 2) nuclear power is fastest way and new is clean and manageable 3) The military is most important to safeguard peace and security.
1) Democratic systems of representations are easily shaken out of its earlier intentions whenever it leads to centralization of power. It often seems when society get on in general terms of development, the creeping tendency of the centralization of power goes on unabated as the citizens are busy working on improving their own lot and circumstances. Our human heart has always been a battleground for good and evil. I need to keep check of myself all the time and I believe so does the status quo, no matter how innocent or idealistic they were in the beginning but the temptation of evil forces are at work all the time especially when we least expect of it.
2) There is still not a single good solution to take care of nuclear wastes even though they do have ways to hide them temporary. The problem is the more nuclear energy is produced and used the more radioactive wastes is accumulated and we have to deal with. I read time and again how negligent we have been and just one mistake may lead to great sufferings we never imagined could happen. One such example is the shocking news about how some ships were discovered by chance that had been sunken in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and were actually loaded full of nuclear wastes that presumably were taken up by some crook companies to be gotten rid off without proper idea where and how it was to be done and must have conveniently sunk the ship thinking no one will know since the radioactive wastes are all casted in concrete and will take years or centuries before they might cause harm. It had the nonchalant “so who cares?” attitude and as long as it does not happen in our life time. So the logic of safety in the newer designs of nuclear production is only as far as within our life time. But what about the time of our children’s children?
3) As I had said many times before the fact that we had two world wars and the guidance of traditions, religions, and wisdom of the minds who inspired us to its current sophistication and cultural manifestations, need us still maintain our barbaric animal instinct to kill that who is different from our own in order to protect our right to see the continuation of our traditions, our way of life? If there is a God/Allah or whatever name we shall call this higher consciousness, “ultimate reality” (as William James very well name it in comparative studies), surely human beings were put on this earth to celebrate the glory of life through the many diversities of language, culture and manifestations of a global ritual that is regularly set to the rhythm of the daily, monthly, annually animated natural cycles of the stars, moon and the sun through peaceful exchanges country to country, culture to culture, and languages to languages. not by the nozzle or barrel of a gun in the megalomaniac’s intention but by love that was the reason we were put here from the beginning in the singing, dancing, graceful manifestation of a consciousness seeking harmony and understanding as one heart beating joyously next to another without need for power to control the other by fear inducing actions and other destructive means.
I was introduced to artists from other lands first as a child. It was a large book amongst a pile of other books left to us when my father passed away. It was a colourful book of children’s drawings that was the main source of joy whenever I flipped through it. Somehow I still feel a thrill whenever I get a chance to talk about it. I imagine it must have been a kind of catalogue of an exhibition of children’s drawings from all over the world. Whenever I participate in international art events I often find that artists are naturally inclined to talk in very critical extremes and I realize that they often give a picture not so pleasant when we compare them to what we hear and read about in the mass media. It is not just a matter of self-victimizing in order to gain sympathy but an underlying worry as most of them are sensitive people who care about their society that they are more harsh than expected.
Added to that we want others to know the discrepancies we offer is not to put ourselves down but to share the knowledge first hand and remind others that we all live in a complex world that needs mutual respect and understanding. To be a good friend is to understand their pains and sufferings too and not only to celebrate joys and successes.
Republic Of Daydreams 