“美国队选手è²å°”普斯在男å4×200米自由泳接力é¢å¥–仪å¼åŽå±•ç¤ºé‡‘牌，美国队在这个项目ä¸ä»¥6分58秒56çš„æˆç»©æ‰“ç ´ä¸–ç•Œçºªå½•ï¼Œå¹¶å¤ºå¾—é‡‘ç‰Œã€‚è¿™æ˜¯è²å°”普斯继男å400米个人混åˆæ³³ã€ç”·å4×100米自由泳接力ã€ç”·å200米自由泳和男å200ç±³è¶æ³³ä¹‹åŽï¼Œæ”¶èŽ·çš„第五枚北京奥è¿ä¼šé‡‘牌.” We have no clue what any of this copy says that accompanied the above image, not being proficient in Chinese, but judging by this Plum Island mutated rendering of American gold medal winning super-citizen and international athlete fucker Michael Phelps, it can’t be good. Stop hating guys! You’re still way ahead in the medal count and did just win the coveted bronze in the well respected sport of table tennis, leave our nationally treasured superheros out of it. |Jinghua|
Not only do Chinese authority figures hate L.A.S.E.R. and LED-lit art pieces during the Olympics, but they also frown upon more subtle works too. According to the Wall Street Journal, the above painting, “Birds Nest, in the Style of Cubism,” by Zhang Hong is being sent back to where it came from, New York, after being rejected by customs officials for its unflattering depiction of Beijing’s Olympic stadium and pro-Tibetan propaganda. And it’s not like the painting was going to be displayed in public per se, it was part of an exhibit at the Germany Embassy. Artist Zhang Hong moved to New York in 1982 after leaving China to study art in the US. |WSJ|
Despite the detainment of G.R.L.’s intrepid activist James Powderly, the group’s technology continues to cause problems for Chinese authorities. Five Americans were taken into custody yesterday for unfurling a “Free Tibet” banner in Beijing’s Olympic Park that was made out of “LED throwies,” small illuminating devices that were designed by Powderly and fellow G.R.L. founder Evan Roth. According to Free Tibet, the American activists “were detained by security personnel after displaying the banner for about 20 seconds at 11:48 pm August 19th. Their whereabouts are unknown.” Still no word from Powderly either, who’s now been held for about 48 hours. Here’s a photo gallery of the unveiling and a bonus video of the short-lived, but impactful display below.
Finally, some real Olympic drama. Hacktivist James Powderly, co-founder of the Graffiti Research Lab (G.R.L.), was detained by Beijing authorities while readying a specially planned Tibetan protest project using the infamous L.A.S.E.R. stencil. After being disinvited to Beijing’s National Media Art Museum, the engineer-artist decided to go China anyway and promote a free Tibet. He was reportedly picked up around 3AM this morning our time and according to FreeTibet, “his current whereabouts remain unknown.” |FreeTibet|
This laser graffiti image above is from Hong Kong. Photo: F.A.T
Ok so the Olympics are now in full swing—they mostly suck we know —but there have been a few entertaining moments, no? There was water polo titty, comedic Spanish racism, elbow popping, age scandals and now the real excitement begins: track cycling. Yup, the fast paced, fixed gear only, cycling competition taking place on the sleek newly built 250 meter Laoshan Velodrome began today at 4:30am (4:30pm Civil Rights Abuse Time). Hopefully NBC will give the action packed sporting event some quality airtime—usually cycling ranks just a hair above soccer in terms of American viewership. But even if they balk, it’s the age of YouTube and those clips should start rolling in, especially when there’s crashes—and there always are! In fact, if more people knew about the potential for high drama and fantastic collisions, even the NASCAR demo would tune in.
When he’s not busy building Chino-Obama lightboxes and promoting the Democratic candidate for president, San Francisco based artist, Eddie, is taking shots at Nike via Olympic imagery. He recently created this Molotov cocktail homage to the sneaker brand to highlight their commitment to exploiting cheap labor. It’s the tagline that the street postering artist specifically takes issue with: “If you’re gonna take the ‘Just Do It’ phrase seriously, than it should also be applied to standing up for human rights, against totalitarianism, things we consider revolutionary. That is self-empowerment. I could go on for hours about the dichotomy of it all, but I think most viewers get the point.” Agreed, but do they care?
So by now you may have heard about Hungarian weightlifter Janos Baranyai’s elbow snapping. But did you notice (33 second mark) how quick and organized the Chinese Olympics officials were in shielding the audience from the excruciating spectacle using big Beijing branded signs? They totally learned that maneuver from the Ringling Bros. |Deadspin|
This is a mural featuring an image of what is supposed to be a monstrous Yao Ming towering over the Beijing Olympics from a Chinese restaurant in San Antonio, Texas. Sure it doesn’t really resemble him except that he’s tall, holding a basketball, and is Chinese looking, but what else do you expect from a city that is only 1.6% Asian? Photo: Sa Steve
So as you may have heard the Empire State Building is lighting up in honor of the Olympics. The illumination began last week and every night until August 24th, the landmark skyscraper will use its massive multicolored lighting scheme to showcase the many flag colors for each of the nations taking part in the games including Georgia—assuming its still around—on the building’s respective sides. So far, countries like France, India, Russia, Poland, and Japan have all had their shine and there’s still another 48 to go. With the city’s melting pot status and to make it easy for foreign nationals and ethnic New Yorkers who identify strongly with their homelands, ANIMAL put together a handy visual guide of flag groupings based on their schedule after the jump.
Photo: cdnewswolf
Even the Empire State Building is getting in on the Olympic hype: “For 16 nights beginning tonight, the building will honor the top 66 countries (based on the number of athletes on each national team) using colored plastic gels over 182 floodlights. It will be the first time the skyscraper will have separate color schemes on each side.” |USAToday|
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