Ian Bunn | Political & Popular Culture Arts

Timur Vermes the 45 year old German journalist and author is the subject of an article by Nathalie Versieux published on Worldcrunch titled ‘Why A New Book About Hitler Returning Has Become A German Bestseller’. Versieux states “He’s back. Adolf Hitler is back, in a book by Timur Vermes – a comedy in which Hitler returns to Berlin in the summer of 2011. The book, which has reached the top of the German bestseller list, is causing much controversy in a country that would rather forget it has been 80 years since Hitler rose to power… Timur Verme’s novel created much controversy in Germany. …“We don’t have too much Hitler,” says Vermes. “We have too many Hitler stereotypes, which are always the same – the monster that enables us to reassure ourselves. I too, for a long time accepted this vision of Hitler. But this vision is not enough. Hitler continues to have a real fascination. If so many people helped him commit his crimes, it is because they liked him. People don’t elect a nut job. They elect someone whom they are attracted to and that they admire.” …Vermes concludes: “Often, we tell ourselves that if a new Hitler came along, it would be easy to stop him. I tried to show the opposite – that even today, Hitler might be successful. Just in a different way.” Vermes’ book shows how, in 21st century Germany, a demagogue would have a chance – the ways to conquer the masses have changed, they have modernized. But the intention stays the same. One German book critic summed it up this way: “Vermes holds a mirror to German society which, despite the laughter. shows an unflattering image.”

Inspired by Nathalie Versieux, Worldcrunch ow.ly/hLQuY Image source myspass ow.ly/hLQiL

Hans Leyendecker the 63 year old German political editor and columnist at the Munich-based Süddeutsche Zeitung, has published along with Claus Hulverscheidt an article on Worldcrunch titled ‘Massive German Tax Evasion Probe, Billions Stashed In Swiss Banks’ with one estimate is that some 150 billion euros have been stashed in secret Swiss accounts. Leyendecker and Hulverscheidt states “The German prosecutor’s office in the western city of Bochum announced it had uncovered proof of massive tax evasion, with billions of undeclared euros deposited by German investors in Swiss bank accounts. The prosecutor in the state of North Rhine Westphalia analyzed the contents of a CD with data from German clients, including 750 foundations and 550 individuals. The data showed secret accounts with Swiss banking giant UBS totaling 2.9 billion euros. The foundations alone are alleged to have evaded 204 million euros in German taxes. Since 2007, the western state of North Rhine Westphalia has been buying CDs containing information about alleged tax evaders. The practice by the state’s Social Democratic Party (SPD)-led government has met with criticism from Germany’s Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, who believes it adversely affects the chances of getting a global German/Swiss tax agreement signed. Meanwhile, the SPD and Greens believe the draft agreement Schäuble has negotiated with the Swiss is too lax and are blocking its passage in federal parliament. There are no official estimates of how much “black” money Germans have in Swiss accounts, though this latest probe, one of the largest to date, offers further signs that the amounts may be enormous.”

Inspired by Worldcrunch ow.ly/g26hB image source Wikipedia ow.ly/g26cZ

Anne Gonschorek the German multimedia freelance journalist and video reporter for China Radio International has published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘China’s one-child policy conundrum’ stating that amid a soaring population of elderly Chinese, new leadership in Beijing is expected to review the decades-old policy. Gonschorek states “China’s fast-ageing population threatens a demographic disaster with too few young people to care for the elderly – a major problem that may lead to a review of the country’s contentious one-child policy. One-third of Chinese will be 60 or older by 2053, according to estimates by the National Committee on Ageing. There will be more than 200 million senior citizens in the country by the end of 2013. While the one-child policy has been recognised for limiting China’s population to 1.3 billion people, its demographic ramifications are now becoming clear. Many researchers are of the opinion that the policy has profoundly aggravated China’s ageing crisis. The China Development Research Foundation, a think-tank with close ties to China’s leaders, recently wrote a surprising report denouncing the one-child policy and calling for its abolishment. “China has paid a huge political and social cost for the policy, as it has resulted in social conflict, high administrative costs and led indirectly to a long-term gender imbalance at birth,” the report said. According to the government, the one-child policy reduced hundreds of millions of births since it came into effect in 1979 under former leader Deng Xiaoping, and helped to lift countless families out of poverty. However, the policy has now burdened a young workforce. The one-child generation must support the large, ageing population. Effectively, the one child will now have to care for two parents and four grandparents.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/fS1X0 image source theworldofchinese ow.ly/fS1Cm

Udo Kittelmann the 54 year old German curator and museum director has been announced as the first non-Russian commissioner to curate the Russian pavilion for the 2013 Venice Biennale. Stella Kesaeva the Commissioner of the Russian Pavilion announced the appointment stating “It was decided in April 2012 that the artist Vadim Zakharov would represent Russia at the Venice Biennale in 2013. The idea of inviting Udo Kittelmann as curator followed from the choice of the artist. As a result, the Russian Pavilion will be curated by a citizen of another country for the first time in its history. Udo Kittelmann is one of the most renowned curators in the art world and his appointment is an important and conscious step, reflecting our principal objective, which is to bring Russian art out of isolation and secure for it the attention that it deserves at the highest international level.” Kittelmann responded with “I am greatly honoured that Vadim Zakharov proposed me as candidate for the curatorship and that the commissioner, Stella Kesaeva, supported the idea, enabling the continuation of my long cooperation with Vadim, which dates from the 1990s. I greatly admire the contribution, which Vadim Zakharov has made to contemporary art. His work has a continuity of development and is marked by a unique outlook and independence of artistic thought. His constant role as thinker and protagonist of the Moscow Conceptualist movement from the end of the 1970s remains a hallmark of his work right up to the present. As a curator, it gives me joy to be able to present this outstanding artist to a broad public. It would be hard to find a better place for an international exhibition of Vadim’s work than the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.”

Inspired by e-flux ow.ly/fRYB3 image source Olaf Kosinsky ow.ly/fRYoe

Wolfgang Beltracchi (born Wolfgang Fischer) the 61 year old German art forger and artist who has admitted to producing hundreds of fake paintings has been sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. Beltracchi along with his wife and two other accomplices sold some of the fake paintings as original works by famous artists including Max Ernst, Heinrich Campendonk, Fernand Leger and Kees van Dongen. Police have identified 58 paintings suspected of having been forged by Beltracchi, however Beltracchi claims he has forged hundreds of paintings by over 50 artists. Beltracchi and his associates fabricated stories to provide a provenance for the fake works of art, claiming his grandparents had been art collectors in the 1920s. Beltracchi sold a fake 1927 Max Ernst painting to a dealer for €1.8 million after an appraisal had resulted in the issue a certificate of authenticity. The Galerie Cazeau-Béraudière lent it to the Max Ernst Museum for an exhibition and subsequently sold it to a collector for $7 million. Steve Martin also paid a Paris gallery Cazeau-Béraudière €700,000 for a work supposedly painted by Heinrich Campendonk in 1915, who in turn sold the painting through Christie’s to a Swiss businesswoman for €500,000. Beltracchi and his wife Helene are to serve their sentences in an open prison, as long as they maintain regular employment through a friend’s photostudio, leaving prison in the morning and returning after work. While serving his sentence Wolfgang Beltracchi is maintaining a collaboration with a photographer to produce a number of mixed-media works.

Inspired by Joshua Hammer ow.ly/eU9AQ image source Twitter ow.ly/eU9lq

Wolfgang Tillmans the 44 year old German Fine-art photographer and artist whose diverse body of work is distinguished by observation of his surroundings and an ongoing investigation of the photographic medium’s foundations. Tillmans has an exhibition at the Moderna Museet Stockholm curated by Daniel Birnbaum and Jo Widoff, and in an e-flux article described as “one of the leading artists of his generation and is constantly in the public eye, with exhibitions all over the world. The exhibition at Moderna Museet is Wolfgang Tillmans’ largest exhibition to date and brings nearly twenty years of picture-making to a new audience. …an artist who has extended the boundaries of photography and redefined the medium of photography as an artform. Wolfgang Tillmans first attracted attention at the beginning of the 1990s, with his apparently mundane pictures of subjects taken from his own surroundings. After studying in Britain, he published photographs in prominent publications such as i-D, Spex and Interview. Today, these pictures are considered trendsetting for the young generation of the 1990s, and raise questions about subcultures and sexual identities. By turning everyday situations into almost monumental images, Tillmans very strikingly captured the spirit of the times. It soon became evident that his pictures renegotiate photographic conventions and reflect contemporary currents related to culture and identity. Since then, Tillmans has continued his in-depth investigations, expanding the realm of photography and redefining the very medium as an artform. …Recently Tillmans’ art has taken a number of different directions, revolving around various issues, everything from still lifes and modern landscapes to his lifelong interest in astronomy and the night sky.”

Inspired by e-flux ow.ly/eztu6 image source Wikipedia ow.ly/eztem

Democracy versus the eurozone (June 21th 2012)

Daniel Gros the German Director of the Brussels-based Center for European Policy Studies, and former economic adviser to the European Commission, believes that only determined action by EU governments that is strongly supported by their citizens will save the common currency. Gros published an article on Aljazeera titled ‘Democracy versus the eurozone‘ in which he states “The reality is that the larger member states are more equal than the others. Of course, this is not fair, but the EU’s inability to impose its view on democratic countries might actually sometimes be for the best, given that even the Commission is fallible. The broader message from the Greek and French elections is that the attempt to impose a benevolent creditors’ dictatorship is now being met by a debtors’ revolt. Financial markets have reacted as strongly as they have because investors recognise that the “sovereign” in sovereign debt is an electorate that can simply decide not to pay. This is already the case in Greece, but the fate of the euro will be decided in the larger, systemically important countries like Italy and Spain. Only determined action by their governments, supported by their citizens, will show that they merit unreserved support from the rest of the eurozone. At this point, nothing less can save the common currency.”

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/bzDeO image source World Economic Forum ow.ly/bzD9E

Lasting peace is a “cosmopolitan right” (December 9th)

Jürgen Habermas the 82 year old German Sociologist and Philosopher renowned for his theory on the concept of ‘communicative rationality and the public sphere’, has been the subject of an article published on Die Welt by Eckhard Fuhr. Fuhr refers to Habermas as a realist. “He shows that much has already been accomplished towards achieving a ‘transnational democracy, in Europe, even if the Lisbon Treaty is a pact among states, not a constitution … Habermas uses this double perspective like 3-D glasses to take a look into Europe’s future, even as he reaches back to explore the history of democracy … an attempt to set the ground for a new European narrative that frees the continent from its 20th century experiences of war and destruction by transcending them – and looks ahead to a time when lasting peace is a “cosmopolitan right” (Kant).”

Inspired by Eckhard Fuhr http://ow.ly/7G8qy image source Wolfram Huke http://ow.ly/7G8pc

This nuclear power plant is so fantastic (November 27th)

Anselm Kiefer the 66 year old German painter and sculptor has declared in a German magazine ‘Der Spiegel’ that he wishes to purchase the Mülheim-Kärlich, a disused nuclear power plant in western Germany. Kiefer has written to the head of the utility RWE seeking permission to acquire the plant or at least the cooling towers, located along the Rhine River 10 kilometers from Koblenz. Kiefer stated in the interview, “This nuclear power station is so fantastic, wonderful. It is my Pantheon.” Although Kiefer indicated he was not yet exactly sure what he would create with the plant, he has ruled out “I would definitely not paint cows and clouds on the outside.” Kiefer although living and working in France for the past two decades, is renowned for addressing controversial issues and taboo subjects from Germany’s recent history, including themes from Nazi rule.

Inspired by Artinfo http://ow.ly/7rN1h image source apollosgirl http://ow.ly/7rNh0

Now impossible to return to its original state (November 17th)

Martin Kippenberger the deceased German artist at age 44 renowned for his prolific use of media and styles, along with his often provocative but jocular public persona, has had one of his works scrubbed clean by an overzealous cleaner at the Ostwall Museum in Dortmund Germany. The installation piece titled ‘When It Starts Dripping From the Ceiling’ consisted of a trough placed underneath a slatted wooden tower. Kippenberger had painted the inside of the trough representing dried rainwater. The female cleaner made the bucket look like new again, removing the residue. The installation valued €800,000 was on loan from a private collector to the museum. A spokesperson for the museum stated “It is now impossible to return it to its original state”. Kippenberger is regarded as one of the most talented German artists of his generation known as the German ‘enfants terribles’.

Inspired by Shane Ferro http://ow.ly/7kePh image source fansiter http://ow.ly/7kf0G

Painting will never die, just changes its nature (September 22nd)

Gerhard Richter the 79 year old German visual artist renowned for his abstract and photorealistic painted works is to be honored with an exhibition at the Tate Modern in the UK. Richter a painter of immense skill has also embraced photograph, a rarity of sorts with painters of his notoriety, undermining the concept an artist needs or has an obligation to a single medium. Richter having escaped to the west before the Berlin wall was constructed, has gained popularity throughout his career with a significant boost in 2005 from a retrospective exhibition that defined him as one of the great artists of the century, and the greatest living painter of the time. Richter has been the recipient of many and often distinguished arts awards, which has particular emphasis given the post modernist cry that painting was dead.

Inspired by Jonathon Jones http://ow.ly/6tYqf image source Hps-poll http://ow.ly/6tYpi

Roland Emmerich the 55 year old German film director renowned for his highly visual effect disaster and action films has controversially questioned Shakespeare’s authorship of his plays and sonnets in a soon to be released movie titled ‘Anonymous’. Emmerich depicts the nobleman 17^th Earl of Oxford Edward de Vere as the true author of the plays, and Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon as merely an “inarticulate buffoon”. The argument being that the Earl of Oxford needed to remain anonymous due to the highly political nature of the plays in the context of the succession struggles during the late reign of Queen Elizabeth. Emmerich is often criticized for over relying of visual effects to counter flimsy narratives and factual inaccuracies, to which Emmerich counters that he is a filmmaker providing enjoyable fictional entertainment.

Inspired by Tim Masters http://ow.ly/5DggI image source Franz Richter http://ow.ly/5Dgyn

Bernard Charles “Bernie” Ecclestone the 80 year old UK born CEO of Formula One Management often referred to as the ‘F1 Supremo’ due to his financial ownership and dominance of the formula one racing administration, has been interviewed by German criminal prosecutors over an alleged bribery scandal. The German prosecutors are investigating a $50-million bribe paid to banker Dr Gerhard Gribkowsky, a chief risk officer for the state owned BayernLB Bank that owned a stake in Formulae One that was sold to CVC Capital Partners. Gribkowsky currently in prison has declined to identify who paid the bribe, and Ecclestone released a statement after the interview denying any involvement stating “…suspicion in relation to my perceived involvement in the matter… I will be exonerated of blame for any wrongdoing.”

Inspired by Dan roan ow.ly/4FPjr image source wikipedia ow.ly/4FPls