Thursday, August 21, 2008
A little bit of New York City in Beijing, and they don't appreciate it.
NYC graffiti activist is arrested in Beijing
A New York City artist who planned to use laser beams to flash “Free Tibet” on buildings in downtown Beijing was detained yesterday, according to a colleague and a pro-Tibet group.
James Powderly, co-founder of Graffiti Research Lab in New York, was detained before dawn as he prepared to use a handheld green laser to project messages on prominent structures in Beijing, according to Students for a Free Tibet.
Powderly’s colleague, Nathan Dorjee, said ...“He was going to project a message that said, ‘Free Tibet,’ and some other messages that would have been three-stories high in different locations in Beijing” ...
Brooklyn-based artist Paul Notzold, who brought a similar project to Beijing two years ago ... told Metro, “It’s definitely taking a risk with all of your equipment, but they got their message across just by getting caught,” adding, “If New York was hosting an Olympics and someone decided to do ‘Bush sucks’ on the Empire State Building, I think the exact same thing would happen.” [Metro NYC]
