(I guess I’m gradually learning ways of the provocateur)
Ok, so he invites guys over as well. and getting naked is not the whole point. But recently, a post appeared concerning “流氓燕” (“Rogue Yan”), the most prominent of the four women who appear with Ai in nude photograph below. The image has now acquired the title “One Tiger with 8 Breasts”
「一虎八奶图」是流氓燕第一次去艾未未北京家中拜访时拍摄的。当天她和友人同行，在艾家遇上其馀三名女网友，其中两人是女大学生。由于艾经常邀请来访者来他家共同拍摄裸照，她在友人的提议下，决定与艾来一次合照，三名女网友也勇于参与，她觉得「这是新生代女性力量」。
This blog post describes Yan’s first visit to Ai’s studio, and the decision to undress with him for the camera. This, as referenced in my previous post, is a long-standing practice for Ai, and one that continues. In this case, in addition to Liumang Yan, there are two “college girls” (on left of image), and all described as “online friends” 网友. Somewhat extraordinary (to me, at least), is Yan’s contention that this action constitutes the expression the power of the “new woman” (新生代女性力量).
Image from ___
How one man surrounded by 4 naked women is either new or an expression of their power precisely somehow eludes me as a concept, but good enough for the blogosphere. Regardless, two observations about the image: 1. this is a patently chaste activity, one which also (and unlike the New York photo perhaps) provides a good illustration of the beauty of the human form in all its peculiar particularity. Next, and to the surprise of those who have labored at somewhat incredible length about the “meaning” of the image (Liumang Yan as brocade-wearing symbol of bourgeoise, glasses-wearing college student as intellectual class, Ai, in center 中央, covering his “real purpose,” etc), I’d say this looks like a few people who took off their clothes and snapped a photo, much in the tradition that Ai has established over the past going on 30 years. A companion image moreover catches the atmosphere of the shoot:
Only this one (of lowest quality and badly edited) shows a degree of challenge in its nudity:
Liumang Yan’s expression in this image is a good backdrop to her very emphatic support for Ai in all of his endeavors. At the moment, of course, we’re all just hoping he will be released soon.
