Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Clive Goodman the 53 year old former royal editor and reporter for the Murdoch News International owned 168 year old News of the World (NotW), has again come under scrutiny following the publication of a 2007 letter from him to News International that phone hacking was widely discussed at meetings of senior editorial staff. Goodman had been imprisoned in 2007 for four months pleading guilty to illegally intercepting phone messages. The letter was sent as part of his claim for damages against NotW for wrongful dismissal, and he was subsequently paid a substantial sum by NotW in settlements. Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch now face further embarrassing new allegations of cover-up after the publication of the letter, and dishonesty in their evidence to the UK parliament committee hearing.

Inspired by Reid Epstein http://ow.ly/69bqR image source gizmodo http://ow.ly/69bQL

Yevgenii Nikolaevich Prilepin the 36 year old Russian writer and political dissident known as Zahar Prilepin has been the subject of an article published by Owen Matthews, who describes Priepin’s writing as “dark and violent, yet it shines with a Tolstoy-like faith in the Russian people”. Priepin a former military commander of the brutal OMON unit was subjected to howls of protest following remarks at a literary festival in France when he matter-of-factly stated “All I can say is that the Russian soldier has a natural talent for fighting and he’s ready to demonstrate that skill in any European country you like”. Priepin now heads the local branch of the banned National Bolshevik Party, is an admirer of the assassinated investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, and despises the “thieves” in the Kremlin particularly Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Inspired by Owen Matthews http://ow.ly/69b0I image source Serj Nickel http://ow.ly/69bc9

Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu the 62 year old French actor and Academy Award nominee created an incident on board an Air France-KLM subsidiary airline CityJet, when he urinated onto the floor of the plane. Depardieu was visibly under the effects of alcohol, stood up while the plane was taxiing for its short flight from Paris to Dublin. When challenged to return to his seat he declared “I want to piss, I want to piss”. Requested by the stewardess to remain seated for approximately 15 minutes till take off and cruising altitude was reached, Depardieu responded by immediately urinating onto the floor, then sat back down. The flight was subsequently delayed as it returned to the parking area for cleaning. No action has been taken against him by the airline company.

Inspired by France24 http://ow.ly/69aGK image source Georges Biard http://ow.ly/69aDj

Marat Alexandrovich Gelman the 50 year old owner and director of Guelman’s Contemporary Art Gallery has opened a new art centre in the historic Russian city of Tver, a Stalin era terminal on the Volga river outside of Moscow. The centre named TverCA follows Gelman’s transformation of the industrial city Perm in the Ural mountain region into an art destination place, with plans to open similar centres in many other regions throughout Russia. The TverCA centre opened with a controversial exhibition titled ‘Russia for All’ by Dmitry Gutov and Viktor Bondarenko, depicting names of famous Russian/Soviet historical figures in a graffiti style along with their ethnic origins. Although intended to be a statement against nationalism, critics claim the inclusion of the ethnic origin only further foments nationalism.

Inspired by Sophia Kishkovsky http://ow.ly/65hsL image source Peoples History http://ow.ly/65hN6

Owen Lemire Kato a 23 year old US Florida resident has been arrested popping his pimples in a public place outside of a McDonald’s restaurant in Cape Coral. Reaching behind to pop pimples on his back over a 10 minute period, customers finally had enough and demanded that he leave the restaurant. One of the customers, an off duty police officer requested his name and date of birth, to which Kato gave false details then attempted to abscond. Arrested a short distance from the store after being tackled by other police he acknowledged his correct details and that a warrant was in existence for his arrest. Found with a syringe in his pocket he was charged with possession of drug equipment, resisting arrest, and providing false details to police.

Inspired by Gawker http://ow.ly/65heC image source Lee County Sheriff http://ow.ly/65hoR

Norman Cornish the 91 year old UK artist who worked 33 years from the age of 14 in four coal mines before developing a career as a painter, has a retrospective exhibition at the Northumbria University Gallery of his early drawings through to his latest 2011 work. Learning to paint at art classes ran by a cultural settlement, Cornish is quoted as saying “I didn’t have a lot of time, but I had to paint… it’s an itch that you have to scratch”, becoming a full time painter at the age of 47 after suffering back pains. Renowned for his depiction of otherwise ordinary day to day imagery of life within his narrow confines, often reminiscing times gone by without motor vehicles, people wearing hats and scarves, and interaction on the streets.

Inspired by Ian Youngs http://ow.ly/65gWW image source Journallive http://ow.ly/65h6K

William Joseph “Bill” Bratton the 63 year old US law enforcement officer considered an expert on gang culture, appointed as an advisor on law enforcement by the UK government, has angered British police following the Prime Minister David Cameron’s planned 20 percent cut to the police budgets. Bratton initially applied for the Metropolitan Police Commissioner’s position but was blocked on the grounds the Commissioner must be a British national. Police smarting over criticisms of their initial response to the UK riots believe the cuts will hamper their future efforts to maintain law and order. Hugh Orde the president of the Association of Chief Police Officers has been outspoken, stating “I am not sure I want to learn about gangs from an area of America that has 400 of them”.

Inspired by Jessica de Grazia http://ow.ly/65gPN image source Wikipedia http://ow.ly/65gKD

Ellen F. Steinberg known as Annie M. Sprinkle the 57 year old US performance artist and former prostitute actress renowned as the “prostitute and porn star turned sex educator and artist” has embarked on a new work with her partner Elizabeth Stephens, launching an art movement manifesto titled ‘Exosex’. The work fuses Steinberg’s fetishistic interests of taboo human sexuality with environmental themes, creating ‘Sexecology’ as a new discipline with Ecosexual themes since her marriage to the Earth and taking it as her lover to explore places where sexology and ecology intersect. Themes include ‘The Ecstasy of Gardening’, ‘Anal Ecology’ and ‘Greening the sex industry’. Steinberg’s work since the age of 17 has been about sexuality with an unusual political and spiritual bent, taking on the name ‘Annie’ when first starting in pornography.

Inspired by Ben Davis http://ow.ly/65g5e image source Wikipedia http://ow.ly/65gq9

Steven Klein the 46 year old US photographer based in New York renowned for his provocatively erotic photographs of celebrities, has a new exhibition of his work “USAnatomy” at the fifth Iguatemi Photo Series held at the São Paulo Brazilian Museum of Sculpture (MuBE). Klien’s work has appeared regularly in fashion magazines for Calvin Klein and Alexander McQueen. The Iguatemi Photo Series are photographic installations with the “aim to present the public with photography that goes beyond journalistic witnessing, beyond the iconographic register of classic photography, and beyond its value as a medium to show its importance as a contemporary cultural expression”. The exhibition comprises 60 selected images, ranging from large scale pieces to Polaroid shots, and include many celebrity set shots in his signature highly sexualized conceptual style.

Inspired by artinfo.com http://ow.ly/65fMv image source Joe Corrigan http://ow.ly/65fHJ

John Rizzo who served as the US acting general counsel for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), is being pursued by UK and Pakistan human rights lawyers seeking an arrest warrant after he admitted approving drone attacks inside Pakistan. Rizzo has acknowledged that a list of targeted people had been prepared, and the predator drone was the weapon of choice. Although not at war with Pakistan, Rizzo personally approved monthly attacks within Pakistan on selected targets, a breach of international law. The assassination of the targets with indiscriminate drone weaponry creates extensive collateral damage and deaths to civilian women and children. The use of drones has increased fourfold under the Obama administration with estimates in excess of 2000 having been killed in Pakistan alone since 2004, clearly an ongoing crime against humanity.

Inspired by Raja Mujtaba http://ow.ly/65fmM image source opinion-maker http://ow.ly/65fim

Fabrice Stroun the 42 year old Swiss based independent curator has been announced by the board of the Kunsthalle Bern as the new Director effective from January 1^st 2012. As an independent curator Stroun had organized numerous exhibitions at various major institutions, and published various catalogues including monographs and anthologies. Stroun who is a lecturer at the Geneva Haute Ecole d’Art et de Design, has been a reciptrient of the Swiss Art Award as art mediator. Wolf von Weiler the President of Kunsthalle Bern welcomed the appointment, stating “The appointment reflects … commitment to … Switzerland’s foremost institution of contemporary art and its international standing. Fabrice Stroun brings with him a wealth of expertise, both as a curator and as an art editor, at a key point in the evolution of Kunsthalle Bern.”

Inspired by artdaily http://ow.ly/63foZ image source theartnewspaper http://ow.ly/63fil

Frank Shepard Fairey the 41 year old US LA based street artist renowned for his 2008 US presidential election poster ‘Hope’ of Barack Obama has been physically attacked after the opening of his exhibition at a Dutch Copenhagen gallery, resulting in a black eye and bruised ribs. Leftwing anarchists have been enraged following his involvement with a controversial mural referring to Fairey as an “Obama illuminati”. The mural commemorated the controversial demolition of a youth house that had become symbolic of the tensions between the fringe leftwing community and the establishment. Thought to be an establishment propagandist piece, the mural was vandalized by protestors with graffiti slogans “no peace” and “go home, Yankee hipster”. Fairey declined to report the incidents to police stating he was not a huge fan of the cops.

Inspired by thedailybeast http://ow.ly/63efw image source Wikipedia http://ow.ly/63eF3

Nafissatou Diallo the 32 year old New York hotel maid who alleges French politician Dominique Strauss-Kahn had raped her, has launched a civil lawsuit against him. In the lawsuit Diallo seeks ‘unspecified damages’ with the complaint reading “Believing he was immune from the laws of this country, defendant Strauss-Kahn intentionally, brutally and violently sexually assaulted Ms. Diallo and in the process humiliated, degraded, violated and robbed Ms. Diallo of her dignity as a woman”. Diallo a refugee from Guinea, painted by Strauss-Kahn’s defense as a prostitute under the influence of her criminal boyfriend, is attempting to correct the media portrayal and reclaim her image and integrity. However her credibility revival is hampered by a comment, “Don’t worry, this guy has a lot of money. I know what I’m doing”.

Inspired by Josh Voorhees http://ow.ly/63dAx image source myvistingcard http://ow.ly/63dNC

Ryan Kavanaugh the 36 year old US film producer of more than 30 movies, founder and CEO of Relativity Media, and Hollywood rising star has been the subject of an article researched and written by Matthew Garrahan for Slate. Garrahan states that Kavanaugh who had raised via Wall Street firms billions of dollars to fix the broken entertainment industry, had invested into 100 plus movies released via Sony and Universal Pictures, and managed to make many enemies in the industry as a result. Kavanaugh had undertaken a high stake legal battle with Citibank over their attempt to change the terms of a contract with Sony Pictures that Relativity had negotiated. The fallout from the legal suit was damaging to Kavanaugh as many banks would no longer do business with him.

Inspired by Matthew Garrahan http://ow.ly/5ZACy image source deadline http://ow.ly/5ZBtZ

Frank Lindh, the father of 30 year old John Phillip Walker Lindh the US citizen captured as an enemy combatant during the US invasion of Afghanistan and serving a 20 year prison sentence as a result of his participation with the Taliban, has published an article calling for his son’s release from prison. Lindh describes his son’s gentle nature and conversion to Islam at the age of 16 as an intellectual path. For three years from the age of 17 John travelled the middle east on a quest of learning cultures and language, eventually taking him to Afghanistan fighting with the Taliban against the Northern Alliance. John has not been accused of any terrorism activities but had become the focus of “a petty prosecution” in the aftermath of the 7/11 atrocities.

Inspired by Frank Lindh http://ow.ly/5ZA6y image source Lindt Family http://ow.ly/5ZA4S

Zefrey Throwell the New York based intervention artist has shocked Wall Street traders and visitors with his performance piece titled ‘Ocularpation’ where 50 performers stripped naked and mimed various Wall Street related professions. The objective of the performance where the naked participants acted out roles of janitors, businessmen, secretaries etc was to draw attention to the plight of those who had lost their savings as a result of the economic crash from this very mysterious American street. The work was inspired from Throwell’s personal experience with his mother having lost her retirement savings from the stock crash, and was force to return to the work force. Cheated of her golden years, she was depressed then furious that the system that Wall Street represented was still intact and thriving.

Inspired by Karen Zraick http://ow.ly/5ZzvC image source artnet http://ow.ly/5ZzuX

Peter Reginald Frederick Hall the 80 year old UK theatre director and founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company has decried again the state of public funding and subsidies to arts in the UK. In a recent interview with Horatia Harrod, Hall stated “I don’t think we quite know who we are. But as far as the arts are concerned, there’ll always be trouble, because that’s what the art is there for. It’s to ask big questions, and suggest big answers. I’ve lost faith in various projects, various political suggestions, but I’ve never lost faith in that”. Hall at the age of 29 founded the Royal Shakespeare Company serving as the artistic director, and has been a passionate defender of the public subsidies to the arts in the UK for over 50 years.

Inspired by Horatia Harrod http://ow.ly/5ZyXR image source trialx http://ow.ly/5ZyXg

Described it as a protest by prank (August 14 2011)Jonathan May-Bowles the 26 year old comedian left-wing blogger known as Jonnie Marbles who had been convicted and sentenced to six weeks imprisonment for the throwing of shaving foam at News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch in the UK parliament, has had his sentence reduced by a third. District judge Daphne Wickham told May-Bowles at the appeal, “Your counsel has sought to persuade us that this was something of a slapstick event, a custard pie throwing … used in all sorts of comedy situations … That might be funny or have an element of comedy about it in a different situation, but not in this situation … It is impossible to imagine that he [May-Bowles] did this without knowing that it would attract huge, probably worldwide, publicity”.

Inspired by Alex Alvarez http://ow.ly/5XCAT image source thedailybeast http://ow.ly/5XCG1

Georgina Adam the UK Freelance journalist who writes about the art market and museums has published an article on the world of art advisers and their rise over the past decade from an educative role to now one that often stands between the collector and the dealer. Adams states that dealers now rarely have direct contact with the collector, the art advisor generally seeking out the potential purchase of the best work at the best price for the principal. In order to maintain the integrity of the art piece, some dealers will not sell to unknown persons, preferring to deal with advisors of repute to whom they know and trust to place works in notable collections. The down side of the advisor’s intrusion however is homogenization of collections with specific artists.

Inspired by Georgina Adam http://ow.ly/5XBwW image source twitter http://ow.ly/5XBIh

Susan Adele Greenfield the 61 year old UK Baroness and neuroscientist who specializes in the physiology of the brain pertaining to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, has expressed concerns that digital technology may be having negative impacts on early development of children’s brains. Greenfield suggests that social networking sites in particular may be having an impact that we will not become aware of for several decades, pointing to the fact the human brain can change and the environment is capable of doing so. Criticized in some academic circles for her lack of clinical research to support her contention, Greenfield’s likens her critics to “like the people who denied that smoking caused cancer”. Greenfield says she is not criticizing the technologies themselves, but rather how and the extent to which technologies are used.

Inspired by Frank Swain http://ow.ly/5XBep image source University of Oxford http://ow.ly/5XBdg

Jake Davis the 18 year old hacktivist known as Topiary and Gardenslayer has been arrested by UK police in the isolated Scotland Shetland Islands as a core leader of the hacktivist group Lulz Security (LulzSec). LulzSec are an important sub-group of ‘Anonymous Operations’ in their support for WikLeaks and maintaining internet freedom, and behind various attacks online over a 50 day hacking spree which included government websites throughout the middle east, FBI, CIA, Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, Sony etc. Davis ran the popular LulzSec twitter feed that described himself ‘Topiary’ as a “simple prankster turned swank garden hedge”. The twitter site has been sweeped clean of its feed with only one remaining “You cannot arrest an idea”. Davis has been charged with five offences including unauthorised computer access and conspiracy.

Inspired by Michael Santo http://ow.ly/5XAKu image source Anthony Devlin http://ow.ly/5XAEk

Walter F known as “OZ” a 61 year old artist spray painter from Hamburg Germany has been sentenced to fourteen months imprisonment by a local court for vandalism. Not his first stint of imprisonment for his art, OZ has already served an accumulated eight years of imprisonment to date over the past two decades since his first conviction in 1992. None of these convictions and prison terms have swayed OZ from his art which comprises primarily smiley faces and the letters OZ sprayed 120000 times to the walls of buildings, services boxes and access covers. OZ has no intention of stopping when released, believing the authorities are “cleanliness Nazis” intent on keeping him from the happiness he experiences from the spraying activities. His work has been featured in the Sprühling coffee table book.

Inspired by Martina Goy http://ow.ly/5XA4h image source hatcherscene http://ow.ly/5XzXK

Donald Henry Rumsfeld the 79 year old former Secretary of Defense of the US lost a Federal Court ruling that enables a former US military contractor to sue him personally for damages relating to allegations the contractor was illegally imprisoned and tortured over a nine month period in Iraq. The civilian contractor a 50 year old former Army veteran, with skills in five languages had worked as a translator for the Marines collecting intelligence, claims he had been secretly abducted without justification by the US military, and held without his family’s knowledge. Although never charged with any crime, the military suspected he was passing classified information to insurgent forces assisting to bring other insurgents into the country. Rumsfeld’s defense argued that he cannot be sued personally for official conduct.

Inspired by Nedra Pickler http://ow.ly/5XzwO image source Robert Ward http://ow.ly/5XzCZ

John Hoyland the 76 year old UK abstract painter whose Color Field paintings defined as lyrical abstraction that were closely aligned with Post-Painterly Abstraction, has died. Hoyland was influenced by the American abstract painters Mark Rothko and Barnet Newman following a visit to New York. His resulting works in the 1960s was characterized by simple shapes, bright colours and a flat picture surface. During the 1970s his paintings evolved to become more textured in their surface appearance. He had a long career as a highly influential teacher with many Art Colleges while still maintain a prolific schedule of exhibitions. Hoyland was appointed Professor of the Royal Academy Schools in 1999, exhibited at the London Waddington Galleries, and his works are held in many public and private collections including the Tate.

Inspired by the artnewspaper.com http://ow.ly/5Xz9J image source Nick Smith http://ow.ly/5Xz8J

Ralph Esmerian the 71 year old jeweler to the stars and chairman of the American Folk Art Museum, has been sentenced to six years of imprisonment and a $20m fine, following his arrest by the US postal inspectors and conviction for lying and looting to “maintain his personal and financial status”. Esmerian has been accused of obtaining $210m in loans through multiple pledging of his assets, and the sell-off of those assets once the loans were in place. As the hole Esmerian had dug for himself got bigger, his attempts to satisfy suspicious lenders became more elaborate as he sold gems for fractions of their value in order to repurchase earlier hocked gems, eventually filing his jewelry business for bankruptcy protection as his elaborate scheme dramatically unfolded.

Inspired by Brook Mason http://ow.ly/5TYCJ image source overall.com http://ow.ly/5TYVQ

Frédéric Lefebvre the 47 year old French Secretary of State with responsibilities for tourism has created some bemusement within the industry as he adds credibility to the fabled stories of French rudeness. Lefebvre is concerned the myth of the French shop keeper as a sneering grouch depicts the French unfavorably. Lefebvre stated he “would like to make a strong effort to improve the sense of welcoming in France”, and is keen to promote an alternative perception that there is more to French tourism than the Eiffel Tower. While tourist numbers to France are the highest in the world, the duration of visitor stays are quite short resulting in lower sales per visit. The Ministry is advocating a new marketing strategy with smiles abundant, promoting provincial cities, regions and festivals.

Inspired by france24.com http://ow.ly/5TXHx image source La diag http://ow.ly/5TXCx

Mahnaz Mohammadi the 36 year old Iranian filmmaker has been secretly arrested In Tehran by unidentified security forces. Mohammadi a prominent women’s rights activist is being held incommunicado without warrant, legal or family access. Mohammadi directed an award winning short documentary ‘Women without shadows’ depicting the women living in an Iranian state run shelter for the homeless. The film has been in high demand at several international film festivals, and she was due to appear at the Cannes festival in May until her passport was seized preventing her appearance. This is Mohammadi’s third arrest by the regime in the past four years, the first involved a peaceful protest at a Teheran court, and the second while in attendance at cemetery to lay a wreath on the grave of sniper victim.

Inspired by Saeed Dehghan ow.ly/5TX1v image source Maryamsinaiee ow.ly/5TWUX

Anonymous the secretive collective of hackers formed in 2003 to initiate Civil disobedience spread through the internet has come under intense law enforcement response in the US with an FBI investigation resulting in 16 people arrested. The arrests follow a spate of online attacks bringing down Web sites of governments and corporations deemed by the collective to be aiding the persecution of WikiLeaks. Anonymous uses a program called the ‘Low Orbit Ion Cannon’ to overwhelm a victim’s Web site with large packets of data. Anonymous has no leader or controlling committee, relying on the collective power of its participants acting in concert to an agreed agenda. The collective operates under the motto “ We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.”

Inspired by Ryan J Reilly http://ow.ly/5RYR8 image source Vincent Diamante http://ow.ly/5RYXs

Lucian Michael Freud the renowned UK painter who recently died at the age 88 and primarily known for his figurative portrait paintings of thick impasted paints has been rumored to have fathered as many as 40 children. Although this figure is believed to be greatly exaggerated, Freud’s passion for painting was not, often choosing his subjects from people in his life including lovers, children, family and friends. This autobiographical approach to his work was often all consuming as he spent thousands of hours on specific pieces, beginning with a charcoal drawing on canvas, then built up with paints heavily applied to the a small area depicting the subjects head, then body, back to the head and working outwards from there – always leaving a small section without paint until completion.

Inspired by Gregory Katz http://ow.ly/5RYst image source upscalehype.com http://ow.ly/5RYqy

Kyle McDonald the 25 year old US artist is being investigated by the US Secret Service over his latest art work that involved studying faces of unsuspecting people looking at a computer, that has been posted onto peoplestaringatcomputers.tumblr.com. McDonald’s suspected breach of the US law relates to his secret installation of custom spyware applications onto Mac computers at two Apple retail stores, that enabled the iSight built-in webcam to snap a photo every minute and upload any detected faces to his site. Secret Service agents tipped off by Apple Corp raided McDonald’s studio seizing his computers, drives and peripherals as evidence of a computer crime under the US Code. McDonald an artist working at the coal face of technology has sort assistance from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Inspired by Ben Davis http://ow.ly/5RWSz image source Twitter http://ow.ly/5RWLN

Anders Behring Breivik the 32 year old Norwegian right wing extremist responsible for the dual terrorist attacks in Norway with the bombing of a government building and the mass shootings of youths as young as 14 years at a Labour Party camp, killing a total of 77 people. Breivik in his 1516 page manifesto titled ‘2083: A European Declaration of Independence’ claimed membership to an “international Christian military order” in the tradition of the Knights Templar, established as an “anti-Jihad crusader organization” to fight against “Islamic suppression”. Breivik claims the order was established by nine members from across Europe who met April 2002 in London, and now has up to 80 “ordinate knights” set up in cells expecting to take political and military control of Europe by 2083.

Inspired by france24 http://ow.ly/5RWwX image source Wikipedia http://ow.ly/5RWsh