The five-panel painting untitled 2016 (freedom cannot be simulated, south china morning post, september 26-27-28-29-30, 2014) (2016) focuses on the first days of the “Umbrella Revolution,” sparked by student demonstrations in Hong Kong against the nation’s electoral system. The phrase “FREEDOM CANNOT BE SIMULATED” – which was coined by Polish poet Stanislaw Jerzy Lec and appropriated by East German protesters in the former GDR - has become a trademark of Tiravanija’s work completed in Helvetica uppercase typeface, and spans the five canvases here in red and black oil paint. The phrase may have first been taken up by Rirkrit in a 2003-4 work, Demonstration no. 2.The unprecedented scale of the work creates a large and continuous surface for viewers to glimpse the headlines and commentary printed in the South China Morning Post as the Umbrella Revolution unfolded. The political content embedded in these now-significant dates however is left to compete with the large colour advertisements that dot the newspaper and are a source of revenue for any broadsheet publication, rendering the reading of the work up-close a jumble of tensely mixed signals.