Indoor Street Art by Paul Baines

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Gawd Bless The Royals Posted: 28 Apr 2011 06:36 AM PDT So it's nearly here, the Will & Kate media extravaganza which will cost the country over £5bn in lost production but earn the country around £450m. Now I failed my maths 'O' Level but even I can tell that it this little equation doesn't add up. So if it's not about the money, surely it's about the PR? Well that's been screwed up too, especially since Will's statement that he'd fight in Afghanistan has brewed up resentment amongst portions of the Muslim community. Then there are the invites, I'm glad they've snubbed warlord Blair and the worst banker in history, Brown, but what's up with all the evil dictators? Sure, The Foreign Office has retracted their invitation to the Syrian Ambassador, but that still leaves at least a dozen more maniacs including Mugabe of all people. So it must simply be about the pageantry, historical traditions and carrying on this proud nation's royal heritage? Fair enough, I have nothing against Will & Kate, they seem like a typical horsey couple with rich parents, in love and dreaming of a future of babies and dinner parties. But do we really need a monarchy? Is it really worth the cost? I'm not a Republican, in the historical sense of the word, I don't want a presidential system, I don't want to hand the keys to the war chest over to a potential President Blair, but when I look at all the cuts the public are suffering, the millions of pounds drained from the very architecture of social support, development, education, the health system, the arts, everything that matters to the common man or woman, I start to think two things: 1. We can't afford to repeal the cuts in defence, we can't afford to bail out the bankers, and we definitely can't afford to spend a fortune on a royal wedding. 2. It's a smokescreen. The people of Britain can't be so blind that a few extra Bank holidays could honestly distract them from the anger at the hypocrisies of a failing coalition and a miserable opposition. The fact is we're in for another long haul war, this time in Libya, not Bahrain, Syria, or any of the others, just Libya. Our economy has flat-lined, we're flat broke, and without decent educational, apprenticeship and entrepreneurial programs Britain will fast become a 2nd if not 3rd world nation in a matter of generations. I've always predicted that would be on the horizon. Even as a child I knew I'd witness this country fall down the economic ladder and crack it's knees. My childhood was filled with power cuts, everyone was on strike, the economy was on it's knees. Then Thatcher sold everything we owned and the lights came back on. Then Labour maxed out the country's credit cards and the bailiffs were busting doors down left, right and centre. Finally coalition arrived, they let the bankers have their bonuses, the banking tax was hardly enough to pay for dinner, so they raised tuition fees, cut most essential services across the country, slashed local government, killed the arts, but for some reason they're splurging on the royals. We can't afford it. Here's an idea… how about making the Queen pay for it? She is supposed to be one of the richest women in the world, in history even, so how about it Madge? Fancy picking up the bill for £5bn? I very much doubt it, but it's worth a mention. Whilst HRH is checking her bank balance here's a few ideas for saving money and getting the UK out of what might be a permanent rut, if we're not too careful:- Reduce the monarchy to a single place of residence, all of the others can be leased/rented or provide extortionately priced hotels for oil barons and sheiks, Russian oligarchs and all those wealthy rulers and leaders who insist on taking a Leah Jet everywhere instead of a conference call. Take a look at the Dutch monarchy, they ride around on a tandem for Christ's sake, now that's bang for your buck. Move Parliament and the Lords up North. A long lease on those buildings would bring in billions. We can set up benches in some units at an industrial park in Salford. That way MPs would have to learn to appeal to a broader spectrum of the public. Enforce strict building regulations for the construction industry so they have to include at least one mini wind turbine and a solar panel on every new house built. Lapse planning permission for the public so they can do the same and generate their own power. Provide grants and tax relief and pay it off with the profit from a new green national grid. Offer tax incentives for corporate and industrial complexes to grow green walls, green roofs, and encourage the seeding of wild habitats in empty plots. Legalise weed and tax it. Cut the middleman out and watch the rural economy boom like it has never done before. Hardier strains grow in temperate climates now, and for higher quality crops, hydroponics and green energy provide a killer combination. Opt out of the nuclear arms race. We lost the empire almost a 100 years ago, what the hell do we think we're going to do with a heap of nukes anyway? The coalition are still going to renew their stockpile of Trident missiles, even if they have to privatise the NHS and mass cull the poor and infirm. If America is going bust, which they are, take a look at their debt, no one is worth that much, then surely we haven't the money to parade around like a war bully with pretensions for peace keeping. Even if you do nab a few oil fields for every 100k of innocent people you gun down. I remember "celebrating" a few royal occasions as a kid, street parties, the lot, but to be honest, if I had the choice between a few curled up lemon curd sandwiches and a party hat, or a better, fairer start in life, I'd take the latter every time.

Angela Fraleigh Posted: 27 Apr 2011 07:05 PM PDT Angela Lynn Fraleigh is a photo-realist painter based in both  Brooklyn, NY and Allentown, PA. Her themes include cultural notions of beauty, class, gender and role-play. Born in Beaufort South Carolina, she was raised in New York and attended Boston University on a Dean’s Scholarship earning her BFA in Painting. In between her undergraduate and graduate studies she founded the Hinged Artists Group in Seattle and has curated and participated in many exhibitions through it. Once graduated from Yale University with a MFA in Painting/ Printmaking in 2003 she was awarded the Alice Kimball English travel grant giving her free reign to explore great art of the ages as well as continue to develop her skills on a whistle stop tour of Europe. A few months later she moved to Houston, TX where she was an Artist-in-Residence at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston CORE Fellowship program. Artist Statement: "Questioning social constructs of beauty, class, gender and role-play I am interested in the complications of desire, what power people have available to them and how they use that power. These images serve as a means of escape from one’s personal histories but also provide a space to question these idealistic scenarios. Drawing on dramatic moments from literature and framing the romantic stereotypes that are created these images are complicated by obscured power structures. Ambiguity conceals where authority lies in these familiar images disrupting our understanding of these hackneyed relationships while bringing into the foreground the continual power struggles still fuelling our political, social and intimate relationships. These tensions are heightened, as paint itself becomes a tool for the disturbance. It is a main protagonist in the story and a carrier of meaning. Violent and seductive, threatening and unpredictable it complicates the image leaving us unsure if the figures are being birthed or eaten away; if the paint is taking control, acting as saviour, interrupting, manipulating or providing the stimulus for the relationship. Physicality of the paint both cankers and covers the narrative caressing the fine line between victim and volunteer. There is a desperate human quality in the work, one that embraces the flawed hero…. you know what was supposed to have happened but you also know it didn't."

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