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Tag: Vladimir Putin
Sergey Karaganov the Russian political scientist who heads the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, a security analytical institution, and has been Presidential Advisor to both Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Fatal Thaws’. Karaganov states “During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and, in a milder way, the United States imposed external limits on the activities of states and societies, causing longstanding conflicts among smaller countries to be “frozen”. Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in the 1990’s, those conflicts began to “unfreeze”. With interethnic tensions already on the rise, Yugoslavia was the first country to dissolve into conflict. Soon after, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, followed by fighting in Transdniestria and Chechnya. … Most threatening, however, is the possibility that the EU could collapse, triggering a third unfreezing. The EU, established to break the destructive cycle of European nationalism that had facilitated the rise of two totalitarian systems and caused two world wars, amounted to the creation of a prototype of a humane world order. After being its own – and thus the world’s – worst enemy for centuries, Europe became a beacon of peace. …At the same time, Europeans must prepare for an even more profound transformation. In order to regain economic competitiveness, European countries will have to abandon many of their social-welfare policies and reform their political institutions. Most Europeans prefer to ignore the looming challenge of radical policy reform, owing to the decline in living standards that it implies. Global leaders must encourage Europe to tackle its problems decisively by offering advice, financial support, and constructive criticism. Russia must continue to press for an Alliance of Europe – a new framework for economic and diplomatic relations among the EU, Russia, and the rest of Greater Europe – which could offer a way out of Europe’s systemic crisis. The first unfreezing had serious consequences. Now, global leaders must work to minimize the fallout of the second, and use all available means to prevent a third.”  Inspired by Sergey Karaganov, Project Syndicate ow.ly/j4BYH Image source http://karaganov.ru ow.ly/j4BHb EU could collapse triggering a third unfreezing (April 11 2013)

 

Sergey Karaganov the Russian political scientist who heads the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, a security analytical institution, and has been Presidential Advisor to both Boris Yeltsin and Vladimir Putin, has published an article on the Project Syndicate titled ‘Fatal Thaws’. Karaganov states “During the Cold War, the Soviet Union and, in a milder way, the United States imposed external limits on the activities of states and societies, causing longstanding conflicts among smaller countries to be “frozen”. Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in the 1990’s, those conflicts began to “unfreeze”. With interethnic tensions already on the rise, Yugoslavia was the first country to dissolve into conflict. Soon after, war broke out between Armenia and Azerbaijan, followed by fighting in Transdniestria and Chechnya. … Most threatening, however, is the possibility that the EU could collapse, triggering a third unfreezing. The EU, established to break the destructive cycle of European nationalism that had facilitated the rise of two totalitarian systems and caused two world wars, amounted to the creation of a prototype of a humane world order. After being its own – and thus the world’s – worst enemy for centuries, Europe became a beacon of peace. …At the same time, Europeans must prepare for an even more profound transformation. In order to regain economic competitiveness, European countries will have to abandon many of their social-welfare policies and reform their political institutions. Most Europeans prefer to ignore the looming challenge of radical policy reform, owing to the decline in living standards that it implies. Global leaders must encourage Europe to tackle its problems decisively by offering advice, financial support, and constructive criticism. Russia must continue to press for an Alliance of Europe – a new framework for economic and diplomatic relations among the EU, Russia, and the rest of Greater Europe – which could offer a way out of Europe’s systemic crisis. The first unfreezing had serious consequences. Now, global leaders must work to minimize the fallout of the second, and use all available means to prevent a third.”

 

Inspired by Sergey Karaganov, Project Syndicate ow.ly/j4BYH Image source http://karaganov.ru ow.ly/j4BHb

Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk the 55 year old Russian singer and songwriter who leads the rock band DDT, and is highly critical of the undemocratic society that has developed in Vladimir Putin's Russia. Shevchuk is the subject of an interview in an article published by Katrina vanden Heuvel and Alec Luhn in The Nation magazine titled ‘The Russian Optimist: An Interview With Opposition Rocker Yuri Shevchuk - “What will become of our country and of us?”. Shevchuk states “…The new generation is not exactly politicized. The point is that every generation lives in a given time period, but all people are different. …Everywhere I’ve spent time after concerts talking to young people. Active young people, the ones with a youthful glint in their eye. They are of course more politicized than the generation of the early 2000s and 2010s. That was a very cynical time, and young people were mostly interested in themselves. Now, in the 2010s, I think we’ve reached kind of a breaking point with the charismatic part of the young generation, progressive young people. …In the past two or three years, a lot has changed. Young people have started to ask more profound questions. They don’t want to leave the country. The slogan of the 2000s was “Get rich.” Now this has become secondary and the main question is, “What will become of our country and of us?” Overall in Russia, things are going well, in my view. Because there’s this dialogue going on, this struggle for civil liberties. Russia is emerging as a state. Well, yes, there are reactionary forces, that’s happening, too. You can look at the world through dark glasses, thinking that everything is bad, terrible. But if you do this, you’ll lose everything, the future. These progressive young people are afraid of nothing.”  Inspired by Katrina vanden Heuvel & Alec Luhn, The Nation ow.ly/hLSkD Image source Yuri Shevchuk ow.ly/hLShI New generation is not exactly politicized (February 23 2013)

 

Yuri Yulianovich Shevchuk the 55 year old Russian singer and songwriter who leads the rock band DDT, and is highly critical of the undemocratic society that has developed in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Shevchuk is the subject of an interview in an article published by Katrina vanden Heuvel and Alec Luhn in The Nation magazine titled ‘The Russian Optimist: An Interview With Opposition Rocker Yuri Shevchuk – “What will become of our country and of us?”. Shevchuk states “…The new generation is not exactly politicized. The point is that every generation lives in a given time period, but all people are different. …Everywhere I’ve spent time after concerts talking to young people. Active young people, the ones with a youthful glint in their eye. They are of course more politicized than the generation of the early 2000s and 2010s. That was a very cynical time, and young people were mostly interested in themselves. Now, in the 2010s, I think we’ve reached kind of a breaking point with the charismatic part of the young generation, progressive young people. …In the past two or three years, a lot has changed. Young people have started to ask more profound questions. They don’t want to leave the country. The slogan of the 2000s was “Get rich.” Now this has become secondary and the main question is, “What will become of our country and of us?” Overall in Russia, things are going well, in my view. Because there’s this dialogue going on, this struggle for civil liberties. Russia is emerging as a state. Well, yes, there are reactionary forces, that’s happening, too. You can look at the world through dark glasses, thinking that everything is bad, terrible. But if you do this, you’ll lose everything, the future. These progressive young people are afraid of nothing.”

 

Inspired by Katrina vanden Heuvel & Alec Luhn, The Nation ow.ly/hLSkD Image source Yuri Shevchuk ow.ly/hLShI

Dismisses allegations as weird and baseless (August 17 2012) Dismisses allegations as weird and baseless (August 17 2012)

Alexei Anatolievich Navalny the 36 year old Russian lawyer, political activist and critic of corruption in Russia, especially of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, has been charged with theft accused of organising a scheme to steal assets from a state timber company. In an Aljazeera article Navalny dismisses the allegations as “weird” and baseless is said to have been “…charged with theft, and could be handed a 10-year prison sentence as the government continues its crackdown on dissent. …The State Investigative Committee said it suspects Navalny of organising a scheme to steal assets from a state timber company. The assets are estimated to be worth about $500,000. As the committee pursues an investigation against him, Navalny has been ordered not to leave Moscow. …the anti-corruption crusader has been instrumental in rallying Russia’s young internet generation against Putin’s rule. Navalny, a lawyer, led a series of rallies in Moscow that attracted up to 100,000 people after December’s parliamentary elections were alleged to have been rigged and ahead of the March election that handed Putin a third presidential term. …The government embarked on a major crackdown on the opposition after Putin’s re-election, which was also criticised as fraudulent, arresting some activists and using legislation to try to curb its activities. …The probe against Navalny focuses on events dating to 2009 when he served as an adviser to a provincial governor in the Kirov region. Investigators allege that he colluded with the head of a state timber company and a trader to rob it. A previous probe into similar allegations was closed earlier this year for lack of evidence.”

 

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/cQLxi image source Facebook ow.ly/cQLkj

Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya the Russian journalist and human rights activist who was assassinated at the age of 48 in 2006 when shot dead in a lift of her apartment block in Central Moscow may be on the verge of having justice for her unresolved murder. Rustam Makhmudov a 37 year old Chechen fugitive suspect of the assassination, has been arrested by Russian authorities with the help of Belgian police, who were closing in on his Belgium hiding place prior to his escape to his parents home back in Chechnya. The arrest is claimed to be a break through in the long maligned investigation. Politkovskaya had won international awards for her anti-Kremlin reporting prior to her assassination, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of strong arm tactics in the conflict with Chechnya to stifle democracy. Inspired by rtenews ow.ly/5aPA0 image source Colin McPherson ow.ly/5aPsj Unacceptable crime that cannot go unpunished (June12 2011)

Anna Stepanovna Politkovskaya the Russian journalist and human rights activist who was assassinated at the age of 48 in 2006 when shot dead in a lift of her apartment block in Central Moscow may be on the verge of having justice for her unresolved murder. Rustam Makhmudov a 37 year old Chechen fugitive suspect of the assassination, has been arrested by Russian authorities with the help of Belgian police, who were closing in on his Belgium hiding place prior to his escape to his parents home back in Chechnya. The arrest is claimed to be a break through in the long maligned investigation. Politkovskaya had won international awards for her anti-Kremlin reporting prior to her assassination, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of strong arm tactics in the conflict with Chechnya to stifle democracy.

 

Inspired by rtenews ow.ly/5aPA0 image source Colin McPherson ow.ly/5aPsj

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev the 79 year old former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Shame our modern leaders aren’t very modern (February 25 2011)

Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev the 79 year old former General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the last USSR head of state until its dissolution in 1991, has criticized Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin for manipulating elections and creating a sham democracy, stating “We have everything – a parliament, courts, a president, a prime minister and so on. But it’s more of an imitation”. Gorbachev has become an outspoken critic of the current Russian regime, particularly the behavior of Putin and his protégé President Dmitry Medvedev, specifically their roll back of the 1990s democratic reforms. The UN high commissioner for human rights Navi Pillay, during a recent visit to Russia expressed similar remarks relating to the state of democracy in Russia.

 

Inspired by Miriam Elder ow.ly/41J0m image source Wikipedia ow.ly/41IZN

Vladimir Putin the 58 year old Russian prime minister has been alleged in the WikiLeaks whistle-blowing website release of US diplomatic documents to be the leader of a virtual mafia state dominated by the security forces and unmanageable corruption.  The documents describe Putin as an ‘alpha dog’ in his domination of the President Dmitry Medvedev who plays Robin to Putin’s Batman role. Putin apparently surrounds Medvedev with people he controls and has final say on significant decisions after being forced from the presidential office due to the constitutional two term limit.  Many believe that Putin’s departure from the office is only temporary and will return to the presidency at the next election.

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

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