Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Ricky Dene Gervais the 51 year old English comedian, actor and producer who achieved mainstream success with his television series ‘The Office’, according to Jordan Zakarin for the Hollywood Reporter “…it’s safe to say that he likes to get on people’s nerves, or at the very least, push their buttons. It’s a large part of his comedy, pushing that socially acceptable envelope and insisting people learn to take the joke.” Zakarin states “A committed Atheist, Gervais often muses on his disbelief in god through the social media platform [Twitter]. That doesn’t always sit well with his followers, who instead of deciding to unfollow him, respond back with great frustration and often, attacks. …He no longer retweets the name of his opponents — he doesn’t want to give them publicity — but does respond, quite aggressively, to their attacks. One thing to know about Gervais: he doesn’t back down. Especially because refusing to do so only helps build his brand. Win-win. Here is a sampling… 30 Sep 12 “Why do you always mock the Bibble asshole!!??” I can’t believe my luck with this tweet. Hahaha 1 Oct 12 “Atheism is narcissistic” And what’s the term for believing that the same God who ignored the holocaust will help you win an award? 1 Oct 12 “stop going on about religion and tweet some jokes” Fuck you. Pay me. 4 Oct 12  The Earth is 6,000 years old. Please RT to raise ignorance and confusion amongst the gullible. 5 Oct 12 “so what do you think being dead feels like?” You know what it felt like for the billions of years before you were born? Exactly like that. 5 Oct 12 Opinions don’t affect facts. But facts should affect opinions, and do, if you’re rational. 5 Oct 12  Complaining about what someone tweets about is like calling up the numbers in classified ads and shouting “But I don’t want piano lessons!” 5 Oct 12 I love how people walk round with crucifixes, skullcaps, pointy hats, funny beards and then say “you shoud keep your atheism to yourself.” 5 Oct 12 I get many tweets from Christians saying I should keep my beliefs to myself, but I never see them tweeting that to other Christians. Weird”

Inspired by Jordan Zakarin ow.ly/exFQg image source Thomas Atilla Lewis ow.ly/exFBj

Kara Santos the Filipino writer and photographer published an article on IPS News titled ‘Filipino Netizens Reject Cybercrime Act’ claiming “A newly enacted cybercrime law in the Philippines has raised fears that not only online media but also ordinary netizens could be persecuted for exercising their freedom of expression”. Santos states “Media groups have expressed concern that the law poses a threat to press freedom and limits freedom of expression in the country. Bloggers and social media practitioners also point out that the new law allows the government to shut down websites without due process, and makes Internet users liable for simply clicking the ‘like’ button on Facebook or re-tweeting something on Twitter. …the law also broadens the coverage of libel as a content-related offense that can be committed by just about anybody using a computer. …Many Filipinos are disturbed by the fact that the man allegedly responsible for this last-minute change, which lumps online libel with cybersex and child pornography, is notorious for plagiarising blogs, and recently elicited a spate of criticism from active netizens. …investigative journalist and blogger Raissa Robles claims that Senator Vicente Sotto III pushed for the insertion into the law at the eleventh hour “Historically, in the Philippines, it is the rich and the powerful who use libel as a weapon to suppress criticisms about them. Before the Internet came along, it was easier for the rich and the powerful to control criticisms. All they needed to do was buy a stake in newspapers, TV and radio. Or sue them. Now they have realised that the Web is beyond their control.”

Inspired by IPS News ow.ly/emsMy image source Facebook ow.ly/emsGS

Yelling the death of Twitter on Twitter is humorous (February 12th)

Jillian C. York the US Director of International Freedom of Expression at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, has released an article on Aljazeera discussing what she claims to be “hysterics” surrounding the recent announcement by Twitter of its changes to the way it handles content takedowns. York states “Suddenly, netizens were calling for a Twitter boycott… and proclaiming the death of the platform… on Twitter, of course. While a Twitter boycott is unlikely to have any real effect… and yelling about the death of Twitter on Twitter is just, well, humorous… What the company had announced was that they’d built in the capability to censor content per country. And to do so only in response to official requests, though you wouldn’t know that was the case from the hysterics. …The truth is, Twitter has indeed instituted a method whereby they can – upon receipt of a “valid and applicable legal request” – take down tweets. The company also states that they will only respond “reactively”; in other words, to content that has already been posted. There is a safety feature built in: Users can change their location if they think the one Twitter has listed based on their IP address is wrong.”

Inspired by Jillian C York http://ow.ly/8SzQb image source http://ow.ly/8SA1E

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, known by her stage name Lady Gaga, the 25 year old US pop singer songwriter diva has become the first person with more than 10 million Twitter followers on the micro blogging service. Lady Gaga’s response on Twitter to her followers was “10 Million Monsters! I’m speechless, we did it! It’s an illness how I love you”. The monster being a reference to her enormously successful world tour named “The Monster Ball tour”. Justin Bieber another pop singer closely follows Gaga with nearly 9.7mil followers on Twitter, and President Obama third with 8mil. Britney Spears another pop singer follows next with 7.8mil and US television personality Kim Kardashian close fifth with 7.5mil. Gaga has the number one spot on the Forbes annual list of most powerful celebrities.

Inspired by Edwin Kee http://ow.ly/51wPI image source http://ow.ly/51xjk

Shaquille Rashaun O’Neal the 39 year old 2.16 metre tall, 147 kg US basketball player nicknamed “Shaq” has announced his retirement from his 19 year career. O’Neal renowned for his use of height, weight and strength to overpower his NBA opponents announced his retirement on Twitter before informing his current club the Boston Celtics. O’Neal has also had a successful off court career as a rap singer and reality television star, having released four rap albums, his first ‘Shaq Diesel’ went platinum. O’Neil has undertaken a PhD in Leadership and Education with a dissertation topic of “The Duality of Humor and Aggression in Leadership Styles”. O’Neal tweeted his retirement along with a link to a video, stating “im retiring.” In the video he says “We did it. Nineteen years, baby”.

Inspired by Stephen Spencer Davis ow.ly/5aOX4 image source Twitter ow.ly/5aOLt

Anthony David Weiner the 46 year old US New York congressional Representative finally admitted sending sexually explicit photographs of himself to young female Twitter “followers” after having denied having done so for nearly two weeks. A ‘crutch’ image came to light after being received by a 21 year old college student, prompting Weiner to claim the image was not posted by him and that his Twitter account had been hacked, although he could not say “with certitude” the photograph was not of him. Weiner tearfully apologized for having sent explicit photographs over an extended period before and since his 2010 marriage that was officiated over by former president Bill Clinton, to Hillary Clinton’s personal aide Huma Abedin. Weiner stated he does not intent to resign his congressional seat.

Inspired by Ryan J Reilly ow.ly/5aMMQ image source Wikipedia ow.ly/5aMZj

Jes Fry a UK Detective Chief Inspector from Norfolk Police claims that Twitter gossip is hampering major police investigations. Speaking out following the conclusion of a murder trial in which the accused Michael Tucker a 50 year old was convicted of murdering his 28 year old partner and hiding her body in a freezer, Fry claimed that widespread speculation on Twitter about the circumstances of the killing had hampered the investigation, and that people should ‘think twice’ before gossiping on social network sites about crimes. “I would just urge members of the public to exercise caution when talking about a major crime like this. It is the same as gossip down the pub except amplified by thousands of times”. Rumors erroneously included the victim had been decapitated, and had influenced witnesses versions of events.

Inspired by Press Gazette ow.ly/55Qt1 image source BBC ow.ly/55Qrf

Giles Coren the 41 year old British food critic is at risk of being held in contempt of the UK High Court after referencing an Anonymised privacy injunction know as a Super-injunction on his Twitter stream postings, “god, ANOTHER injunction tonight. another footballer. and SUCH a boring one. fucking shit midfielder… he’s yet another very ugly married man who’s been carrying on with a gold-digging flopsie he should have seen coming a MILE away…”. The Premier League footballer Coren referred to was granted the super- injunction over his extra-marital affair with a reality TV celebrity, claiming that publishing details how he had been unfaithful to his wife could provoke the cruel chants of supporters. Lawyers acting for the footballer have begun proceedings against Twitter, likening people breaking injunctions on the site to “burglars”.

Inspired by Nick Collins ow.ly/55OuB image source treehugger.com ow.ly/55OkY

Jemima Marcelle Khan the 36 year old UK writer and campaigner and former wife of retired Pakistai cricketer Imran Khan has been named on Twitter as having taken out a super-injunction to curtail publication of intimate photographs of her with television personality Jeremy Clarkson. Khan denies having taken out any such injunction, and claims to have received “vile hate tweets” from her Twitter followers. “OMG- Rumour that I have a super injunction preventing publication of “intimate” photos of me and Jeremy Clarkson. NOT TRUE!,” Clarkson and his wife Francie have both come out to support Khan, denying the existence of photographs or any injunction. Khan has expressed concern for her children at the potential for bullying at school, particularly her 14 year old son who is “painfully shy and hates any fuss”.

Inspired by Steven Swinford ow.ly/4Vl7R image source webparkz ow.ly/4Vlec

Timothy John “Tim” Berners-Lee, also known as “TimBL”, the 55 year old UK computer scientist credited with the invention of the World Wide Web, and still currently a director of the consortium W3C which oversees the web’s continued development through setting of technical standards for the www. Berners-Lee as one of the advocates for Net Neutrality as a kind of network ‘human right’ free of control or monitoring by ISP’s or government, however now in a turn of events, he has come out against the micro-blogging platform Twitter. Berners-Lee in a speech at the W3C, now seeks a system design that would curtail the expression of extreme views, providing a more reasoned online discourse away from the dominance of extreme views that polarize debates on the likes of Twitter.

Inspired by Rory Cellan-Jones ow.ly/4FPCQ image source Veni Markovski ow.ly/4FPIV

Jack Dorsey the 34 year old the software guru and co-creator of Twitter is returning to the Twitter fold that he co-founded to take charge of product development as Executive Chairman. Dorsey was the company’s first CEO, overseeing its startup through two funding rounds with venture capitalists before stepping down to make way for co-founder Evan Williams. Dorsey’s return coincides with Twitters 5th birthday, and now has its third CEO in Dick Costolo.  Dorsey’s new role was rumored to have initially been for Williams who still remains on the Twitter board of directors, signals a power struggle is ensuing at the company as it grapples with extraordinary growth and heated clashes with third party developers over API changes.

Inspired by Ray Singel ow.ly/4po5w image source Twitter ow.ly/4pnVT

Rebecca Black the 13 year old American pop singer released a music video titled ‘Friday’ via YouTube that went viral with tens of millions views, achieving consistently high trending for weeks on Twitter, and described by critics as the “worst song ever”. Her success prompt another trending celebrity who also achieved instant success with one million followers on twitter within 24 hours – Charlie Sheen – to post on Twitter, “Rebecca Black, we don’t hate you because you’re famous. You’re famous because we hate you.” Black has now hired a publicist and a manager to liaise with songwriters and record labels as she enters into negotiations for a record deal, and has confirmed the recording of a second song titled ‘LOL’.

Inspired by Emma Barnett ow.ly/4pnKf image source Twitter ow.ly/4pnJw

Isaac “Biz” Stone the 37 year old co-founder of Twitter and its Creative Director is now to join the Huffington Post team following its acquisition by AOL. Stone’s role at AOL will be to provide strategic advice on the social impacts of new media primarily to the Huffington Post along with other AOL interests. Stone has previously published books about blogging, and been involved in several blog startups before his venture into the creation of the micro-blogging world of Twitter. Stone’s arrival at AOL, while still maintaining his Directorship at Twitter, is on the eve of a 20% cut to AOL’s workforce as it re-orientates from the declining revenues of its dial up internet access business to alternative new media formats with new potential advertising revenue streams.

Inspired by Dominic Rushe ow.ly/4kuFi image source Joi Ito ow.ly/4kuRb

Snorre Serigstad Valen the 26 year old Norwegian pianist, singer and politician nominated the whistle-blower and anti-secrecy website Wikileaks for the 2011 Nobel peace prize, an award conferred by a committee of five people chosen by the Norwegian Parliament. This unique nomination of an internet website that utilizes social media tools such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to disseminate state secrets acknowledges the bringing about of immense change to the political landscape, as tyrannical regimes that have traditionally held power over conventional media sources are now unable to control the freedom of the internet. The Norwegian Nobel Committee accepts nominations from many sources including University professors and presidents, former committee members and advisors, former recipients of the award, and in Valen’s case members of national assemblies and governments.

Inspired by Wojciech Moskwa ow.ly/3Psf6 image source Wikipedia ow.ly/3Psdg

Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak the 72 year old President of the Arab Republic of Egypt who assumed the Presidency in 1981 following the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat, himself surviving six assassination attempts, defended in a televised address his use of security forces to control thousands of Egyptian protestors who had gathered and battled lines of riot police. Mubarak claimed in the address that it was his job was to protect the nation from chaos, however the initially peaceful chanting of the protestors turned violent with the state closure of Facebook and Twitter. These closures were closely followed by the whole of the internet the mobile phone network, and finally the house arrest of Mohamed ElBaradei the opposition figurehead.

Inspired by Nic Robertson, Frederik Pleitgen, Salma Abdelaziz ow.ly/3MqrC image source Wikipedia ow.ly/3MqAf

Stephen John Fry the 53 year old comedian actor and writer, remembered for his early role as Melchett in the BBC television series Blackadder and a breath taking continuity of entertainment work has taken out the inaugural YouGov Award 2010 Best TV Personality. Described by YouGov as an “all-round clever man”, Fry nudged out other nominees including Michael McIntyre, to achieve a 21% vote as the favorite TV personality of the year. Fry carry’s significant influence on the social networking site Twitter with an excess of two million followers, driving traffic to his web site in such volumes that occasionally is sufficient to crash the site. Fry is known to use his influence to support various causes and highlight contemporary issues.

Inspired by Dan Wakerley ow.ly/3EAhP Image source ow.ly/3EAi2

The page does not display personal details (November 9th)

Queen Elizabeth II the British monarch has joined the social network Facebook with a page that allows users to view and receive feeds from her home page messages with news on the Royals and events from her diary.  No one is permitted to become the Queen’s facebook direct friend however and can only receive the informational feeds.  On the release of the page the number of people who clicked the like button to the site went viral with 130 thousand people on single day of the release.  The Facebook page complements the Queen’s other social network sites including Youtube, Flickr and Twitter.

Political Arts | Ian Bunn Visual Artist

My digital art work is essentially politics and art. It’s about iconic people, places and events of our day.  Recorded visually through daily compilations of manipulated digital images, posted online and disseminated via online media and social networks. The works are diaristic in nature that metaphorically record a spectator’s experience of the contemporary digital age.  The resulting work intentionally has a painterly aesthetic acknowledging my historical painting practice.

Adapting Pop Art’s notion of mass media imagery into a context of the contemporary digital age, the work draws on a myriad points of reference. Utilizing fractured images to provide an allusion to the digital noise pounding away daily into our sub consciousness.  The work is essentially popular culture arts, diverging from the traditional Pop Art notion of a pronounced repetition of a consumer icon, instead this work focuses on the deluge of contemporary digital content. The compilation of the fragmented imagery is vividly distractive, not unlike cable surfing or a jaunt through Times Square.

This digital photo manipulation art work is premised on the basis that Pop art in its beginnings, freeze-framed what consumers of popular culture experienced into iconic visual abstractions. With the advent of the techno age, visual information circulates in such quantities, so rapidly and exponentially, that to comprehend a fraction of it all becomes a kind of production process in itself.  Hence this work considers fragmented elements of Popular Culture through an artistic and conceptual exploration of specific people and events of the day.

www.ianbunn.com