Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 11. Huaming. Photo by author, 2010
were all built by peasants.”
46
One of the peasants whose work is highlighted
in the exhibit is named Wu Yulu. He built several talking robots, robot rats,
a robot infant, artist robots that dripped paint on canvas, and a robot Damian
Hirst, which created art out of colored dots. With just fi ve years of o' cial
schooling, Wu Yulu has been mocked for years by other peasants for his
robot obsession, but he expressed great pride at being included in the
exhibit: “It's hugely signifi cant. I'm representing peasants at this exhibition.
I'm winning glory for peasants. It seems like peasants have been a bit
neglected in the o' cial Expo.”
47
In highlighting the voices and perspectives
of peasants, Cai's critique of the expo slogan foregrounded just how con-
tested this idea of “betterment” and progress is on the ground, and showed
that these terms and ideas are not objective facts to be measured. Rather,
