BEHOLD! ART!

“Jummah Mubarak to every Muslim across the galaxy. I’m finally in San Diego for #ComicCon! #GeordiLaForge, portrayed by @LeVarBurton was born in Mogadishu, Somalia? I guess “will be born” is more accurate since that won’t happen until 2335.”

“Best cosplay of Geordi, EVER… courtesy of my friend @BlairImani Thank you, little Sister, you honor not only me, but all the kids out there who saw LaForge as a hero. #bydhttmwfi”

he looks SO shocked and taken aback and goes “what did you just say? how do you know my name?” so i sit there for a moment trying to figure out what the fuck he is talking about, and then go, “…. bitch?” and he looks so relieved and tells me his name is mitch.

Like more than once I’ve seen posts be like, “you should buy one $200 Real Wool Sweater instead of 4 $50 acrylic ones, trust me it’s worth it.”

And what the post means is, the wool sweater will feel nicer to wear, keep you warmer, and last longer than the 4 $50 ones combined.

(vimes boots theory obligatory mention)

And then someone comes on and replies, “yes this is probably a good idea but we must remember that industrially produced wool yarn has complex chemical treatment in the process, so the wool sweater is still not perfect environmentally speaking.“

And it’s like. That’s not factually wrong. But it has no bearing on what OP was saying because even without it being outright spelled out it’s pretty obvious OP was recommending real wool for properties, not impact. This is also where I’ve seen several different posts about rayon go off the rails, for obvious reasons.

The Fence has published an exposé on Stuart Semple (of Anish Kapoor 'feud' notoriety) which they have been working on for six months.

investigation reveals Semple / his studio / his partner Emily Mann (who's described as acting as his 'enforcer' in his business) :

mishandled £400k grant of public money intended for a public gallery, allowing the money to flow freely between the public project, his own personal studio and personal projects such as Culture Hustle (his online business selling paint etc)

underpaid or failed to pay many of his assistants to the tune of several thousand pounds each.

former assistants have taken him to court and he simply hasn't bothered to show up and he's threatened to sue former assistants who asked for their back pay

repeatedly funds ambitious projects that never see release eg Abode, an 'Adobe-rivalling' suite of creative software (he claims he still intends to release this)

encouraged a cult-like atmosphere at his studio in Bournemouth

was frequently in debt and having to negotiate with bailiffs etc for his debts while at the same time crowdfunding various projects

ran fake social media accounts boosting Semple and his work

The portrait that emerges is one of decades-long scam artistry tbh and someone who's juvenile, manipulative, narcissistic.

The Fence btw is a decent fairly small-circulation quarterly magazine from the UK which specialises in satire, investigative journalism, culture, and fiction. You can read the piece in its entirety if you register (which is free).

a few links:

The Fence's newsletter from April discusses this article & how Semple has tried to muddy the SEO waters

Semple threatened to sue The Fence for publishing this story - many of you are American so here's the relevant UK law on defamation.

A type of spirit. The front half of its body is friendly, but its tail is ferocious.