What of that seemingly non sequitur title? In October 2010, the son of a high-ranking police official hit two students at Hebei University in central China with his car, killing one. As the 22-year-old drove away from campus security, he reportedly warned them, "Go ahead, sue me. My father is Li Gang!" Government officials tried to suppress the incident, and the driver initially escaped without any punishment. But social media transformed "My father is Li Gang!" from a privileged young man's defiant rebuke into a mocking joke and rallying cry against official corruption and abuse of power. If, say, your roommate complains that you drank all his milk, you reply, "My father is Li Gang!" The social meme became so widespread and infamous that the driver was sentenced to six years in jail earlier this year.
Piece together the symbols and the installation's intriguing ambiguity recedes and it becomes a blunt political cartoon.
Read Greg Cook's blog at gregcookland.com/journal.
Topics:
Museum And Gallery
, Brown University, Brown University, Art, More 
, Brown University, Brown University, Art, David Winton Bell Gallery, installation, Less 
