a discussion with myself

Today at www.Juxtapoz.com, a wonderfully contemporary and constantly flowing body of art and artist i came across this article: Ai Weiwei an avant garde artist living in communist China is being held under house arrest because of his "social activism" Shanghai had even erected a huge gallery for him, then right before completion demanded it be torn down. It is sad when an artist is silenced it is horrifying when its the government.
This guy seriously filled a huge room full of hand crafted porcelain sun flower seeds. I mean who does that? He's crazy and i love it, anyways, I dont mean to preach, and everyone already knows everything that im about to say, but it needs to be drilled into our heads once more it seems.
What do we do? What do you do? How should we, being individuals react to such news? What can we do? What can we say? How do we help?
We live in a self absorbed world where the freedom of speech is becoming a tangled mess. We busy ourselves with outrageous addictions and indulgences, we busy ourselves with the pursuit of money and possessions to the point of numb blindness.
I am outraged, by the lack of empathy and the lack to activism by the people that i know and the people that i see every single day. We live life like the tomorrows are a promise and the food we eat is oozing from some never ending geyser of resources. We turn blind eye to the signs we are given, that our utopic bubbles are nothing but facade.
So, i found this website: API  and this one Art threat

we all know that art can make and break social norms. Just look at what Shepard Fairey's Obama did for the last election

 

Or what would happen if anybody publicly dictated and published the image of Muhammad as a political reference.

Art speaks, for itself and for demographics, or just an individual.

So many people don't think they have it in them to create something beautiful and i hear everyday "oh, but im not an artist" POPICOCK!
You are and you just don't know it, do you know how many pieces of art sell that look like a colorblind, fingerless, sick with gout four year old drew them (no offense to sufferers of any of the above)

 

Yeah i get it, it was challenging art, it was sooo important...and its also a pre-manufactured pisser with some dudes name on it. 

 My point is bad art is still art

so do something, anything and put it someplace public, leave it there. Graffiti up the city, beautify the suburbs, whatever you do, make a difference doing it.
I never want to see the day that an artist that i know is held captive for expression.