A Hazy Day in China
Note: printing the source image will reveal Tank Man.
June 4th is a hazy day in China. What should be a day of remembrance of a student protest and the ensuing massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989, has instead become the largest day of censorship on China's internet. It is a day that never happened.
Commemorating the events of June 4th, 1989, is forbidden in China and can lead to imprisonment. Reposting images from the protest can lead to being detained. "Tank Man" – the iconic photo of defiance is censored on China's internet and social media.
Creative ways to bypass censorship have emerged over the years in an attempt to keep the memory of Tank Man alive. This work is part of that tradition.
Over 100,000 text characters have been set in a way to create a red haze. Printing the source SVG image will set the characters correctly to reveal Tank Man. (Print preview will also display Tank Man)
Use caution printing this image in China, despite the fact that Tank Man and June 4th never happened.