Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Helen Elizabeth Clark the 63 year old former Prime Minister of New Zealand and current Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has published an article on the IPS News Service titled ‘The BRICS and the Rising South’. Clark states “…Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, known as the BRICS …will examine proposals to create their own BRICS development bank. The readiness of the BRICS countries to offer their own new international development initiatives and policy ideas is a clear manifestation of the changing global development landscape examined in UNDP’s newly released 2013 Human Development Report, “The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World”. This dramatic change in global dynamics, however, goes well beyond the BRICS. More than forty developing countries are estimated to have made unusually rapid human development strides in recent decades, according to the Report. Together, they represent most of the world’s population and a growing proportion of its trade and economic output. The progress of these fast mover countries measured in human development terms has accelerated markedly in the past decade. These geographically, culturally, and politically varied countries share a keen sense of pragmatism and a commitment to people, as seen through investments in education, health care, and social protection, and their engagement with the global economy. Neither rigid command economies nor laissez-faire free marketeers, they are guided by what works in their own national circumstances. …A greater voice for the South also means greater responsibility, with shared accountability for solving problems and sustaining progress. A more engaged, successful South, meanwhile, helps the North, through its economic dynamism and collaboration on global challenges. As the 2013 Human Development Report says, the South still needs the North, but, increasingly, the North also needs the South.”

Inspired by Helen Clark, IPS News ow.ly/k4oC7 Image source Wikipedia ow.ly/k4ok2

Law of the markets which imposes austerity (December 20th)

Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin the 58 year old French former Prime Minister and career diplomat regarded as a Jacques Chirac’s protégé, has announced his intention to run in the 2012 French presidential election. de Villepin will be up against the current President Nicolas Sarkozy, a bitter rival following his acquittal by a French appeals court where de Villepin had been accused of smearing Sarkozy. In making his announcement de Villepin expressed his concern with “France humiliated by the law of the markets which imposes more and austerity … I have confidence in the ability of the French people to discern what is in the public interest and to what point, more than ever, national unity is required of us all. I believe one needs more courage than that.” de Villepin is a former member of Sarkozy’s UMP party, resigning to publish his own political manifesto.

Inspired by France24 http://ow.ly/82L3O image source Marie-Lan Nguyen http://ow.ly/82KXw

I was exceedingly kind to you for a long time (July 18th)

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.
www.ianbunn.com

Emotional and intellectual malaise lasted years (July 16th)

My work digital art is essentially political art, or rather 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.
www.ianbunn.com