What strikes me instantly about Mike Ballard’s work is that he’s doing the same thing as Banksy; still this desire/need to relate to the art establishment by referencing art work within it. And then to also be represented by an establishment agency, like Saatchi, who seems to be the Rupert Murdoch of the art world. Why should it be that one man’s influence and wallet decides so much of what constitutes art?

http://www.beautifullosers.com/

artists not as part of the establishment which ties in nicely with your theme..

I’ve been using twenty-ten for over two decades. Two decades? Why?

Well, just after I read Arthur C Clarke’s 2010: Odyssey Two, I watched the US movie of the same name. In my mind, ’til that point, I’d been saying two-thousand-and-ten. After the movie I shifted seamlessly to twenty-ten, albeit with a minor ‘ oh’ from my Brit hindbrain.

I’ve voted for “two thousand and ten” (and I’m British). Though I’m genuinely not sure how I will say it until its crunch time. I suspect I”ll just use whatever others use.

I wonder if the pronunciation will alter for the British because of the influx of Americanizations and American expressions which only seems to work one way (USA to UK but not vice versa). For example, if “twenty ten” is used in America by Barack Obama, he will then be broadcast saying it in the UK, then it may be picked up over here.

As an aside, I’ve noticed a handful of British people using the expression “a bunch of stuff” in the last few years, particularly people working in technology where I know it gets used very often in online video software demos and blogs coming from America. Particularly by Apple’s Steve Jobs, who uses it profusely…

Perhaps this is the reason that so many investigations and ‘un-earthings’ continue to this day. The children and grandchildren of those affected will favour memorialisation: those at the time simply wanted to close the book, and move on.

Thanks for another worthy blog entry.