Chinese student wrote “socialist values” in red Chinese letters in Brick Lane, was threatened by passers-by
Located in the Red Brick Lane (Brick Lane) in the East End of London, England, it is one of the most famous street graffiti exhibition areas in the world. According to Chinese social media, on August 5th Chinese students studying art in the UK painted the two walls of Brick Lane, the core values of socialism was written: “Prosperity, Democracy, Civilization, Harmony, Freedom, Equality, Justice, Rule of Law, Patriotism, Dedication, Integrity, and Friendliness” in 24 large red chinese characters, which sparked discussions not only in London, but also on the Internet in mainland China.
Some netizens praised “returning to China in one second” and “cultural export to the UK”; however, many netizens also criticized “strengthening China’s negative image”. Some netizens criticized the works of these Chinese students as “not graffiti at all”.
The Chinese student “Yique” said that the graffiti is the work of himself and his friends. He emphasized that the area is a free graffiti area. “The work has no political meaning”.
“Yique” even said that he loves his country China very much. In response to some netizens accusing him of covering up many graffiti works, he said, “This may be the price of freedom.” Two other Chinese students said that he was “threatened by some passersby watching and abusing” when graffiti.
Regarding the white graffiti wall, the act of writing “socialist core values” caused discussions among mainland netizens. Critics believe that “perfectly strengthen the negative impression of Chinese people”.
What attracted the attention of many people is that the entire wall was painted white to cover many classic graffiti works in the original Brick Lane. There are also some graffiti works in order to commemorate the deceased artist and keep some of his works as a tribute. Many graffiti artists will deliberately avoid them when creating.
The Chinese student “Yique” pointed out that the computer, hard disk and camera of himself and his friends were stolen during the creation period, which was unexpected, “but it became the best material to echo the work, Perhaps creation is the price of freedom…” He even pointed out, “If you think it is really sorry to cover other people’s works, then maybe it is the price of freedom.”
Some netizens said that the author did not respect other people’s graffiti works. Some netizens even found that one of the original works was to commemorate a deceased graffiti writer, and his posthumous works were also on the wall. Since then, no one has covered other graffiti works. And in China, many netizens discussed the incident, pointing out that many Chinese students came to check in, and most of the comments criticized the behavior of “Yique”, thinking that this move would make the UK hates Chinese.
“Yique” has an introduction on his personal website, stating that his real name is HanZheng Wang, and he is an artist and curator. He calls himself a “trouble maker” (the original text of the website is troublie), and refers to himself as a critic, satirist and nihilist, whose research is mainly based on classical Marxism and the Frankfurt School.
A comment on the facebook left about the “art”: “There is a line in Graffiti that should not be crossed. There is the respect for the art, the signature mark of each artist that one does not cover. One can compliment another’s by adding to it, even overlaying in parts. To cover indiscriminately an entire wall, is to negate the work of others. This individual responsible has completely misunderstood the concept of free speech, artistic intent, respectful artistic dialogue, and the right of peaceful protest. This person responsible has blatantly shown his ignorance of all of the above.” https://www.facebook.com/groups/198525417203898/posts/2220455608344192/?comment_id=2220610921661994¬if_id=1691347391748489¬if_t=group_comment
The “art” development the next day:
