Tik M Solomon YU

Assisted with simple digital imaging technology, Over the Firewall is a painting installation in which my interpretation of a Chinese blogger and the exhibition audiences are simultaneously presented as content and context.  The paintings come from that blogger’s more than 2000 posted images, which I inverted before I painted.  I want to highlight the layered and intertwining relationships between subject, image and spectator in the age of digital media particularly under China’s severe official surveillance.  In August 2009, Chinese government finally ceased to mandate computers sold in China to be pre-installed with the content-control software for Windows, Green Dam Youth Escort.  The software was officially aimed at restricting online pornography, but was feared to be used for social and political surveillance and censorship.  The failure to launch such official firewall obviously would not deter the government from controlling the web space.  On the other hand, netizens would neither give up their desire to express themselves nor to access other’s information, they just get more creative.

配予簡單的數碼影像技術，繪畫裝置 《翻牆》把我演釋的一名國內博客和現場賞畫的觀眾，同時並置成作品的情景和處景。作品中的繪畫全部源自該名博客過二千幅上載公開分享的照相圖像。我希望透過作品，帶出在中國官方嚴格監控下的數碼媒體時代中，主體、圖像和觀者之間的關係是多層次又相互交織的。2009年8月，中國政府終於不再強制在中國銷售的微軟電腦預裝可控制內容的軟件《綠壩 — 花季護航》。按官方宣稱，該軟件旨在限制色情網絡，但令人擔心的是它會否被用作社會及政治監控和審查上。政府強推官方防火牆失敗，顯然不會就此停止網絡監控。同樣，網民也不會放棄自我表達和收取信息的慾望，他們只會變得更有創意。