2008

Apr

THE TRAGEDY OF THE POET NAMED "NOBODY"

Annensky is regarded as one of Russia’s greatest poets whose translations were works of art as...

Inokentii Federovich Annensky 1855-1909 His first poetry was...

A Gas Butterfly

Tell me what’s happening to me? Why is my heart beating so fervently? why has this...

“He had published several books of poetry but they had been...”
— Po-mz.com

THE FIRST ARTIST ON THE MOON

Alan Bean went to the moon as part of the Apollo 12 mission. He was the only astronaut to go there...

That’s How It Felt To Be On The Moon by Alan...

Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon are a...

“I want to create paintings that record mankind’s first...”
— Alan Bean

Alan Bean, artist, in front of one of his paintings of...

About Alan Bean

Alan Bean, space Artist, Apollo XII astronaut and Skylab II commander. Born in 1932 in Wheeler,...

This is a photograph of Alan Bean on the moon holding up a...

Rock ‘n’ Roll by Alan Bean Bean’s drawings...

Giant Leap by Alan Bean Look closely at this painting. Bean...

The Hammer by Alan Bean Bean has caught the feeling many of...

How Alan Bean got to join Commander Pete...

“The most experienced astronaut was designated commander, in charge of all aspects of the...

The Fantasy by Alan Bean. We were excited. We were going to...

iTUNES NOW LARGEST RETAILER OF MUSIC

Back in 2002 Newsweek put Steve Jobs with one of the first...

CENSORSHIP SPECIAL: BANNING YOUTUBE

YouTube is a video sharing site. Because of YouTube...

Countries That Have Permanently And...

IRAN Iran considers much of Western culture decadent and immoral and “protects” its...

The red colored countries/state have banned YouTube...

“Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (www.pta.gov.pk) has...”
— Statement that was seen when...

Countries That Temporarily Banned...

BRAZIL A Brazilian model was caught (and videoed) having sex on a beach. As a result YouTube was...

Students at Mt Lawley Senior High School, Australia. The...

Countries With Partial Bans And Threats...

AUSTRALIA Australia needs to hang its head in shame. In a long list of repressive regimes and third...

China attempted to control the news of dissent in Tibet...

WHEN PHOTOGRAPHY IS ART

In the digital world the photograph is king. Long live the king. This beautiful collection is one of...

Masters Of Fine Art Photography Web Site

Hiroshi Watanabe

Imogen Cunningham

A NOW AND THEN LOOK AT CENSORSHIP

Censorship is on the rise everywhere. Recently Chinese authorities drew attention to the way they...

A scene from the Life Of Brian in which a group of religious...

Banned Films

There are many films that are very provocative in the way they challenge moral values, but looking...

Censorship in the Islamic world is far reaching. This issue...

In Victorian Britain it was not permitted to depict images...

Thomas Bowdler was so offended by the language and concepts...

Although we associate book burning with repressive...

Mar

LEST WE FORGET

70 years ago Hitler annexed Austria and within hours artists of all kinds who were Jewish or married...

In the 1930’s Austrian cultural life enjoyed the work...

“The directorate is obliged to inform you that you are...”
— This is the termination letter...

Hitler addresses a crowd of 200,000 who came out to greet...

“There is unbelievable jubilation in Austria. We ourselves...”
— Göring

It is easy to assume that the Nazi takeover of Austria was...

WHEN ARTISTS TAKE CHARGE

The Real Refuses exhibition is on again in Sydney.

This is the 12th Real Refuses exhibition. Started in 1997 by...

From the traditionally refined…

… to the grunge.

The winner of the People’s Choice award was the...

Artists hanginging their own work. The Real Refuses has...

The real refuses has always been more than just the art on...

Alternative Media Group publisher Lawrence Gibbons made the...

THE BEAUTIFUL ARTS OF THE PEACEFUL...

This modern Navajo rug will have played an important twin...

“All dreams spin out from the same web.”
— Hopi proverb

Jacob Koopee making traditional Hopi pottery by firing it in...

“The one who tells the stories rules the world.”
— Hopi proverb

This photograph of a Hopi man was taken in about 1905. The...

“Don’t be afraid to cry. It will free your mind of...”
— Hopi proverb

This Navajo blanket was made in the 19th century.

“One finger cannot lift a pebble.”
— Hopi proverb

This beautiful Navajo rug was woven about 1920. These rugs...

“Wisdom comes only when you stop looking for it and start...”
— Hopi Proverb

This is Winnie Henry with a traditional Navajo loom.

“The rain falls on the just and the unjust.”
— Hopi Proverb

THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL

Oscar Wilde wrote many things more famous than this poem yet few things he wrote compare with or...

“And all men kill the thing they love, ….By all let this be...”
— Oscar Wilde from The Ballad Of...

“The moaning wind went wandering round ….The weeping...”
— Oscar Wilde from The Ballad Of...

Oscar Wilde caused his own downfall when he sued for libel...

When The Ballad Of Reading Gaol was first published Wilde...

“Right in we went, with soul intent ….On Death and Dread and...”
— Oscar Wilde, from The Ballad...

H.M. Prison at Reading. Its most famous inmate was Oscar...

“I know not whether laws be right, Or whether laws be...”
— Oscar Wilde, from The Ballad...

VANDALISM AND THE MERMAID

Hans Christian Anderson wrote The Little Mermaid in 1836. The sculpture was unveiled in 1913 in...

It seems inconceivable that anyone would wish to harm such...

Some examples of the vandalism that has occurred: 1964 -...

Story Of The Little Mermaid

The Little Mermaid lives with her sisters on the bottom of the sea. One day she sees a handsome...

The Little Mermaid was paid for by brewer Carl Jacobsen,...

THE REAL COLORS OF ANCIENT GREEK AND...

Grave stele of Paramythion, Greek, about 380-370 BC On the...

Michelangelo supervised the excavation of the Laocoon and he...

“Peplos” Kore, Geek, about 530 BC The version on...

Trojan Archer from the Temple of Aphaia on Aegena, Greek,...

Portrait Of Caligula, Roman, about 39-41 AD Portrait busts...

Reclining Lion, Greek, about 550 BC

Head Of A Youth, Roman, 1st century AD Painting of...

“Alexander” Sarcophagus, Greek, about 320...

Torso Of A Warrior, Greek, about 470 BC. The color patterns...

STREET PHOTOGRAPHY UNDER THREAT

Media has produced a population fearful of terrorism and pedophilia and it is taking a toll on the...

Matching Red And Yellow by Fong Lam, Singapore, 2006 Street...

Ambush by Artem Zhitenev, Moscow, 2007

Metro Passenger by Urban75, Paris 2003 This photograph is a...

Westminster by Damian Chobak, London, 2008

Bondi Junction Supermarket by Andrew Nemeth, Sydney,...

Kiss by Allan Wilson, Paris, 2004

Street Children Reaching For a Fish by Tatiana Cardeal,...

Mother And Child by Akira Sudoh, Tokyo, 2003

Photography of Jeff Mermelstein, recording...

HOW CULTURE EVOLVES IN RESPONSE TO...

The Indie music phenomenon can be traced to the spirit of the Punk movement in the 1970’s but...

Mia Rose is one of the new generation of musicians who have...

Buy Indie Music is the sort of independant music...

After a long and successful career with the major record...

THE PHOTOGRAPHER WHO FIRST MADE...

Alfred Stieglitz was not the first great photographer but he wasn’t content to just take...

The Street by Alfred Stieglitz, 1903 (design for a poster)

O’Keefe And Steiglitz photographed by Arnold Newman in...

Urinal, by Alfred Stieglitz, 1917 When Duchamp exhibited a...

The Glow Of Night, by Alfred Steiglitz, 1897

The Equivalent, by Alfred Stieglitz, 1930 Stieglitz would...

Steerage, by Alfred Steiglitz, 1911 One of the most famous...

Arthur C. Clarke died in Sri Lanka today after a long...

Arthur C. Clarke preferred to be remembered as a writer who...

Arthur C. Clarke was one of “the big 3” writers...

APOLOGY TO READERS

I apologise to my many readers for being missing in action the last few days. Blogging around the...

CHINESE OFFICIALS TRY TO BACK-PEDAL ON...

The Chinese communist regime is back-pedalling on statements made earlier in the week that tighter...

Tibetan monks at a vigil for freedom in India. Chinese...

Tibetan monks parade in front of massed Chinese troops at a...

Bjork Singinging in Shanghai last Sunday. Chinese...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: MP3 10 YEARS OLD TODAY

The MPman FP10 from South Korea and introduced in 1998 was...

The iPod has changed culture in ways unimaginable 10 years...

Apple’s white earbuds are everywhere. CD sales are in...

Released in October 2001, the iPod was the game-changing...

The Diamond Rio PMP 300 was the second MP3 player on the...

PROVOCATIVE DIGITAL SELF PORTRAIT WINS...

What I AssumeYou Shall Assume, by Fiona Lowry Lowry has...

GEORGIA O'KEEFE BEQUEST SETTLED BY...

Judge Ellen Hobbs Lyle has ruled that Fisk university not be allowed to sell a $25 million dollar...

Radiator Building At Night, 1927, by Georgia...

Georgia O’Keefe photographed in 1975 by Joe...

Fisk University

Fisk, located in Nashville, Tennesee was founded in 1866 and has historically had a predominently...

CHINESE CENSORS TRY TO CORK BJORK

Bjork singing in Shanghai on Sunday

““What Björk said in Shanghai has aroused strong...”
— Chinese Ministry Of Culture

“I am not a politician, I am first and last a musician and as...”
— Bjork in response to the...

““We shall never tolerate any attempt to separate Tibet...”
— Chinese Ministry Of Culture...

China Not Ready For Artistic Freedom

According to the Chinese authorities Bjork broke Chinese law and offended the Chinese people and...

ARCHIBALD PRIZE FINALISTS

All the finalists in the 2008 Archibald...

Heath by Vincent Fantauzzo Fantauzzo’s portait of the...

Blue Days, Black Nights by Neil Evans The Archibald Prize...

Neil Finn by Martin Ball Ball’s photorealistic...

The Archibald by Eolo Bottaro Bottaro has painted an old...

87TH ANNUAL ARCHIBALD PRIZE WINNER

Archibald Prize 2008: Winner Del Kathryn Barton, “You...

MAKING MUSIC ON AN IPHONE AND IPOD