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Friday, May 07, 2010
Police arrest peculiar piggybacker
A man with a history of jumping on high school athletes in an attempt to get piggyback rides was arrested in Tualatin this week. Sherwin Shayegan, 27, was arrested by Tualatin Police on Monday on a drug-related charge out of Mt. Vernon, Wash. Shayegan posted bail and his whereabouts now are unknown, according to Tualatin Police spokeswoman Jennifer Massey.
In a letter sent out by the Oregon School Activities Association early last month, the organization warned its members of Shayegan’s bizarre behaviour at high school sporting events throughout Oregon and Washington, saying his actions were “cause for concern” and that he was excluded from all OSAA events. “(At a tournament), he made his way into one of the team’s locker rooms without authorization and sought autographs from team members and photographs,” the April 7 letter said. “Later, he met players in the parking lot and jumped on them, receiving piggyback rides.”
Photos from here.
The letter later detailed Shayegan’s history of similar behaviour in Washington, pointing out that he is a two-time convicted felon, with arrests for burglary, theft, trespassing and criminal impersonation, among other charges. According to previous news reports, Shayegan often asks male high school athletes to be interviewed for a college term paper, asks them odd, sometimes sexual questions, and then jumps on their backs in an attempt to get a piggyback ride when they try to leave. Previous reports have also suggested that Shayegan is developmentally disabled.
Massey said that the police department became aware in recent weeks that Shayegan was in the Tualatin area. “We asked him to please not come to any of the school functions,” she said. After that initial meeting, the warrant for Shayegan’s arrest was amended to be “extraditable,” Massey said, which meant he could be arrested by Tualatin police.
In a letter sent out by the Oregon School Activities Association early last month, the organization warned its members of Shayegan’s bizarre behaviour at high school sporting events throughout Oregon and Washington, saying his actions were “cause for concern” and that he was excluded from all OSAA events. “(At a tournament), he made his way into one of the team’s locker rooms without authorization and sought autographs from team members and photographs,” the April 7 letter said. “Later, he met players in the parking lot and jumped on them, receiving piggyback rides.”
Photos from here.
The letter later detailed Shayegan’s history of similar behaviour in Washington, pointing out that he is a two-time convicted felon, with arrests for burglary, theft, trespassing and criminal impersonation, among other charges. According to previous news reports, Shayegan often asks male high school athletes to be interviewed for a college term paper, asks them odd, sometimes sexual questions, and then jumps on their backs in an attempt to get a piggyback ride when they try to leave. Previous reports have also suggested that Shayegan is developmentally disabled.
Massey said that the police department became aware in recent weeks that Shayegan was in the Tualatin area. “We asked him to please not come to any of the school functions,” she said. After that initial meeting, the warrant for Shayegan’s arrest was amended to be “extraditable,” Massey said, which meant he could be arrested by Tualatin police.
Woman stabs husband over 'poor sexual performance'
A Hudson woman was arrested early on Tuesday, accused of stabbing her common-law husband because she was unhappy with his performance in the bedroom, an arrest report stated. Hudson Police officers were called at around 1 a.m. on Tuesday to the Ted Trout Drive home Michelle Thomas, 26, shared with the man.
The man told police Thomas became angry with him when she was not satisfied by a sexual encounter the two shared just before the incident, the report stated. He said she grabbed a pair of scissors and began slashing at him. Officers noted the man had minor cuts to his chest, left thumb and left knee.
Photo from here.
Thomas told officers the man was drunk and had grabbed her by the wrists, threw her on the bed and began choking her, according to the report. Officers saw no visible injuries on Thomas. The man said the only time he put his hands on her was during the sexual encounter.
Thomas was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, although the man told officers he didn’t want to press charges. Thomas faces a second-degree felony charge, carrying a sentence up to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
The man told police Thomas became angry with him when she was not satisfied by a sexual encounter the two shared just before the incident, the report stated. He said she grabbed a pair of scissors and began slashing at him. Officers noted the man had minor cuts to his chest, left thumb and left knee.
Photo from here.
Thomas told officers the man was drunk and had grabbed her by the wrists, threw her on the bed and began choking her, according to the report. Officers saw no visible injuries on Thomas. The man said the only time he put his hands on her was during the sexual encounter.
Thomas was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, although the man told officers he didn’t want to press charges. Thomas faces a second-degree felony charge, carrying a sentence up to 20 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
Sea lion hides under police car
A wandering sea lion pup that got lost and was spotted walking along a street alone at 4am has been freed after hiding under a police car.
The animal was captured after hiding under a San Diego police car for four hours in the middle of a road.
Police Sergeant Jack Knish says officers got a call at about 4 a.m. Wednesday that the pup was crossing a street in the Ocean Beach area.
Knish says an officer parked his car in the middle of the road and went to investigate. That's when the sea lion came out from under another car and scuttled under the patrol car. SeaWorld experts retrieved the growling pup at about 8 a.m.
Rescuer Kevin Robinson grabbed it by the tail and put it in a net. Robinson says the pup, who's less than a year old, was dehydrated but uninjured. He says the pup weighs about 25 pounds — less than half what it should weigh. Robinson says it will be released within two months.
The animal was captured after hiding under a San Diego police car for four hours in the middle of a road.
Police Sergeant Jack Knish says officers got a call at about 4 a.m. Wednesday that the pup was crossing a street in the Ocean Beach area.
Knish says an officer parked his car in the middle of the road and went to investigate. That's when the sea lion came out from under another car and scuttled under the patrol car. SeaWorld experts retrieved the growling pup at about 8 a.m.
Rescuer Kevin Robinson grabbed it by the tail and put it in a net. Robinson says the pup, who's less than a year old, was dehydrated but uninjured. He says the pup weighs about 25 pounds — less than half what it should weigh. Robinson says it will be released within two months.
Naughty T-shirt landed woman in jail
A Round Lake Park woman was held in contempt and jailed for two days for the message on her T-shirt. The message was: "I own the (female body part), so I make the rules." Jennifer LaPenta, 19, was released from the Lake County Jail on Tuesday. "They should be out looking for people who are breaking the law, not arresting someone wearing a T-shirt," LaPenta said.
Associate Judge Helen Rozenburg charged LaPenta with contempt of court for wearing the garment in her courtroom Monday. LaPenta was sitting in the gallery waiting for a friend's case to be called when the judge called her forward. Rozenburg asked LaPenta if she thought her shirt was appropriate.
LaPenta said she told the judge that it would have been inaprorpriate had she been the defendant. Rozenburg immediately sentenced her to 48 hours in jail and had her cuffed, LaPenta said. aPenta contends that she never went to bond court or got to call her mother.
"They just threw me in jail. They never told me what I was going to jail for," LaPenta said. LaPenta said that she had been at a gym Monday when her friend asked her for a ride to the courthouse. She was wearing sweat pants and that T-shirt when she was cuffed and jailed. "All the officers thought it was hilarious - it was humiliating," LaPenta said.
Associate Judge Helen Rozenburg charged LaPenta with contempt of court for wearing the garment in her courtroom Monday. LaPenta was sitting in the gallery waiting for a friend's case to be called when the judge called her forward. Rozenburg asked LaPenta if she thought her shirt was appropriate.
LaPenta said she told the judge that it would have been inaprorpriate had she been the defendant. Rozenburg immediately sentenced her to 48 hours in jail and had her cuffed, LaPenta said. aPenta contends that she never went to bond court or got to call her mother.
"They just threw me in jail. They never told me what I was going to jail for," LaPenta said. LaPenta said that she had been at a gym Monday when her friend asked her for a ride to the courthouse. She was wearing sweat pants and that T-shirt when she was cuffed and jailed. "All the officers thought it was hilarious - it was humiliating," LaPenta said.
One partner's male birth status allows two women to get married
Can a person born a man but who is now a woman marry another woman? Sabrina J. Hill and her longtime girlfriend, Therese "Tee" Bur, were legally married on Monday in San Antonio after being unable to get a marriage licence in El Paso.
"It's a weight lifted," Hill said. "Now the federal government and state government recognize our love."
The marriage of two women from rural Hudspeth County has put a spotlight on Texas laws and has El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal asking the state attorney general for clarification.
Hill, 60, was born with both male and female organs and is listed as a man in her birth certificate. But her current identification has her as a woman.
"It's a weight lifted," Hill said. "Now the federal government and state government recognize our love."
The marriage of two women from rural Hudspeth County has put a spotlight on Texas laws and has El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal asking the state attorney general for clarification.
Hill, 60, was born with both male and female organs and is listed as a man in her birth certificate. But her current identification has her as a woman.
Teenage babysitter sued after young boy starts fire
A 14-year-old girl in northern Alberta is being sued for $350,000 after a fire burned down the home where she was babysitting and damaged the home next door. In 2007, Aaliyah Braybrook, who was 12 at the time, was looking after two little boys in a trailer in Clairmont, just outside Grande Prairie. When she noticed the fire, she quickly got the children and the family pet out of the home and called 911.
Earlier this week, Aaliyah and Douglas Mills, the father of the two boys, were served with a statement of claim. They are being sued by Mills's parents, Kendall and Dian Mills, who live in the home damaged by the fire. In their statement of claim, the couple said Douglas Mills's five-year-old son Damien was playing with a cigarette lighter when the fire started. They said Aaliyah was too young and inexperienced as a babysitter.
Aaliyah's father said his daughter can't believe this is happening. "She's pretty angry that they would be trying to blame … like she feels like she's being blamed for this, and like the fire department and everybody at the time called her a hero for getting those kids out, and basically she saved their lives," said Ray Braybrook.
Braybrook said his daughter took babysitting courses and was well prepared to look after the children. He said he anticipates he will have to hire a lawyer to defend Aaliyah.
With news video.
Earlier this week, Aaliyah and Douglas Mills, the father of the two boys, were served with a statement of claim. They are being sued by Mills's parents, Kendall and Dian Mills, who live in the home damaged by the fire. In their statement of claim, the couple said Douglas Mills's five-year-old son Damien was playing with a cigarette lighter when the fire started. They said Aaliyah was too young and inexperienced as a babysitter.
Aaliyah's father said his daughter can't believe this is happening. "She's pretty angry that they would be trying to blame … like she feels like she's being blamed for this, and like the fire department and everybody at the time called her a hero for getting those kids out, and basically she saved their lives," said Ray Braybrook.
Braybrook said his daughter took babysitting courses and was well prepared to look after the children. He said he anticipates he will have to hire a lawyer to defend Aaliyah.
With news video.
Indian police barred from using truth serums after court ruling
Indian police will no longer be allowed to inject suspects with “truth serums” after the Supreme Court ruled that the practice was unconstitutional.
The judgment will deprive investigators of a frequently used tool that critics said amounted to torture. It will also raise questions over the verdicts reached in dozens of murder cases where truth drugs were used.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan said yesterday that narcoanalysis, which involves a suspect being drugged with sodium pentothal and questioned, violates the Constitution, which says that “no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself”.
Polygraphs and brain mapping, techniques in which a suspect’s brain activity is monitored electronically under questioning to decide whether he was present at a crime scene, were also deemed illegal.
The judgment will deprive investigators of a frequently used tool that critics said amounted to torture. It will also raise questions over the verdicts reached in dozens of murder cases where truth drugs were used.
A bench headed by Chief Justice K. G. Balakrishnan said yesterday that narcoanalysis, which involves a suspect being drugged with sodium pentothal and questioned, violates the Constitution, which says that “no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself”.
Polygraphs and brain mapping, techniques in which a suspect’s brain activity is monitored electronically under questioning to decide whether he was present at a crime scene, were also deemed illegal.
British and US accused of poppy plague warfare in Afghanistan
Britain and the US have been accused of launching secret biological warfare on Afghanistan's poppy fields in a bid to blight the opium crop. Poppy plants have been suffering from a mysterious disease which leaves them yellow and withered and slashes the yield of opium resin which is sold on and processed into heroin.
The worst affected farmers have said the scale of the infection is unprecedented. Yields have dropped by up to 90 per cent in some fields they complained. Farmers are claiming that the British and Americans are responsible for the outbreak of the poppy plague but officials have strongly denied involvement. Samples of diseased plants are awaiting tests in Kabul and the cause remains unclear.
The blight was first noticed a month ago with reports it was linked to an infestation of aphids in wheat and fruit trees. It has since been found in four provinces across the south. Early surveys suggest half the crop in northern Helmand is affected and a fifth of fields in the province's south. Symptoms have been spotted in Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan. The United Nations said the disease would contribute to a significant drop in the opium harvest from last year's total of nearly 7,000 tonnes.
The country grows about 90 per cent of the world's opium. Tithes and protection money from the drug trade are estimated to give up to £60m a year to the Taliban-led insurgency. The allies have spent billions of pounds trying to cut opium cultivation, but have rejected crop spraying, fearing that robbing farmers of their livelihood will push them to the militants. The British-led anti-drugs strategy has instead tried to wean farmers from opium on to wheat, saffron and fruit.
The worst affected farmers have said the scale of the infection is unprecedented. Yields have dropped by up to 90 per cent in some fields they complained. Farmers are claiming that the British and Americans are responsible for the outbreak of the poppy plague but officials have strongly denied involvement. Samples of diseased plants are awaiting tests in Kabul and the cause remains unclear.
The blight was first noticed a month ago with reports it was linked to an infestation of aphids in wheat and fruit trees. It has since been found in four provinces across the south. Early surveys suggest half the crop in northern Helmand is affected and a fifth of fields in the province's south. Symptoms have been spotted in Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan. The United Nations said the disease would contribute to a significant drop in the opium harvest from last year's total of nearly 7,000 tonnes.
The country grows about 90 per cent of the world's opium. Tithes and protection money from the drug trade are estimated to give up to £60m a year to the Taliban-led insurgency. The allies have spent billions of pounds trying to cut opium cultivation, but have rejected crop spraying, fearing that robbing farmers of their livelihood will push them to the militants. The British-led anti-drugs strategy has instead tried to wean farmers from opium on to wheat, saffron and fruit.
Man who turned pigs’ guts into blood thinner tops China’s rich list
A pharmaceutical researcher who discovered a way to harvest blood thinner from pig’s intestines has become the richest man in China.
Li Li rose to the top slot of China’s rich list today as shares in his Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Co were listed on China’s Nasdaq-style market for start-ups.
Looking overwhelmed by the extraordinary investor interest in his firm, Mr Li made a rare public appearance to strike the gong marking the start of trade yesterday morning in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen.
The price of the shares rose 27 per cent on their first day of trading in an issue underwritten by Goldman Sachs, swelling the wealth of Mr Li and his wife and business partner, Li Tan, to $7.8 billion (£5.2 billion).
Mr Li first worked for a state-owned meat processing plant in the provincial capital until 1992, leaving to become chief executive of a biotechnology firm.
After failed attempts to co-operate with state-owned firms, the couple set up Hepalink in 1998 to produce heparin using a procedure that Mr Li had been perfecting for 25 years.
Li Li rose to the top slot of China’s rich list today as shares in his Shenzhen Hepalink Pharmaceutical Co were listed on China’s Nasdaq-style market for start-ups.
Looking overwhelmed by the extraordinary investor interest in his firm, Mr Li made a rare public appearance to strike the gong marking the start of trade yesterday morning in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen.
The price of the shares rose 27 per cent on their first day of trading in an issue underwritten by Goldman Sachs, swelling the wealth of Mr Li and his wife and business partner, Li Tan, to $7.8 billion (£5.2 billion).
Mr Li first worked for a state-owned meat processing plant in the provincial capital until 1992, leaving to become chief executive of a biotechnology firm.
After failed attempts to co-operate with state-owned firms, the couple set up Hepalink in 1998 to produce heparin using a procedure that Mr Li had been perfecting for 25 years.
Saudi king's photo brings women's rights into focus
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia is not normally associated with radical moves but the 85-year-old monarch is making waves with signals encouraging greater tolerance of women's rights.
In recent days Abdullah's appearance in an unusual group photograph has become a talking point across his realm and the wider Arab world. The king and his brother Crown Prince Sultan were flanked by 40 women dressed in modest abayas but mostly with their faces bare, a novelty that is seen as evidence of rare liberalism at the top.
The king's pose, at a conference in the southern city of Najran last month, is big news because it appears to challenge the norm in a country where unrelated men and women are kept strictly apart, women are covered from head to toe and alcohol and women's driving are banned. Under Saudi law a woman must not leave home without a male "guardian" (her father, husband or brother) to whom she is legally subordinated.
"I think this is a great picture and everyone is talking about it," said Dr Maha Muneef, a prominent physician and government adviser. "This is a picture that sent a message that it is OK to work with women ... and that there's nothing wrong with that."
In recent days Abdullah's appearance in an unusual group photograph has become a talking point across his realm and the wider Arab world. The king and his brother Crown Prince Sultan were flanked by 40 women dressed in modest abayas but mostly with their faces bare, a novelty that is seen as evidence of rare liberalism at the top.
The king's pose, at a conference in the southern city of Najran last month, is big news because it appears to challenge the norm in a country where unrelated men and women are kept strictly apart, women are covered from head to toe and alcohol and women's driving are banned. Under Saudi law a woman must not leave home without a male "guardian" (her father, husband or brother) to whom she is legally subordinated.
"I think this is a great picture and everyone is talking about it," said Dr Maha Muneef, a prominent physician and government adviser. "This is a picture that sent a message that it is OK to work with women ... and that there's nothing wrong with that."
Death metal teacher sacked
School governors have sacked a philosophy teacher from his job after discovering his secret life - as a blood smeared death metal rock singer. By day shaven-headed Thomas Gurrath, 29, discussed ethics with his 14-year-old pupils at his high school in Stuttgart, Germany.
But by night he calls himself The Bloodbeast and writhes around on stage covered in animal blood with topless backing singers and his band Debauchery. "It was very worrying to listen to his music and then realise he was teaching our children," said one parent.
Shocked officials ordered Gurrath to quit saying his performances were a form of mental instability that made him unsafe to be around children.
They ordered him to choose between teaching and his music - saying he could no longer teach anywhere in Baden-Wuerttemberg state unless he gave up the band. But Gurrath said he was too addicted to death metal music to quit and agreed to give up his career as a teacher instead.
But by night he calls himself The Bloodbeast and writhes around on stage covered in animal blood with topless backing singers and his band Debauchery. "It was very worrying to listen to his music and then realise he was teaching our children," said one parent.
Shocked officials ordered Gurrath to quit saying his performances were a form of mental instability that made him unsafe to be around children.
They ordered him to choose between teaching and his music - saying he could no longer teach anywhere in Baden-Wuerttemberg state unless he gave up the band. But Gurrath said he was too addicted to death metal music to quit and agreed to give up his career as a teacher instead.
Man banned from wearing skirt breached Asbo - Yet another update
A man banned from wearing skirts or showing bare legs on school days has been found guilty of breaching an Asbo.
Peter Trigger, 60, from Farndon Close, Northampton, was given an anti-social behaviour order in December 2008. He is forbidden from behaving in a manner which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
Northampton Magistrates' Court found him guilty of harassing his neighbours but declined to activate a suspended prison sentence he also faced.
Trigger had been banned from wearing a skirt or showing bare legs on a school day between 0830 and 1000 and 1445 and 1600 GMT or BST, the court was told.
Magistrates found him guilty of breaching the Asbo by deliberately bending over in front of his neighbours early in the morning on 16 December last year, causing them harassment, alarm and distress.
Although Trigger was permitted to wear a skirt at that time of day, he had breached the second part of his Asbo by causing harassment, alarm and distress.
Peter Trigger, 60, from Farndon Close, Northampton, was given an anti-social behaviour order in December 2008. He is forbidden from behaving in a manner which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress.
Northampton Magistrates' Court found him guilty of harassing his neighbours but declined to activate a suspended prison sentence he also faced.
Trigger had been banned from wearing a skirt or showing bare legs on a school day between 0830 and 1000 and 1445 and 1600 GMT or BST, the court was told.
Magistrates found him guilty of breaching the Asbo by deliberately bending over in front of his neighbours early in the morning on 16 December last year, causing them harassment, alarm and distress.
Although Trigger was permitted to wear a skirt at that time of day, he had breached the second part of his Asbo by causing harassment, alarm and distress.
The tale of Peter Rabbit and a £5 ‘tax’ on his Japanese friends
Peter Rabbit, who has appeared on everything from tea towels to crockery, has now inspired a tax. A party of Japanese tourists posing for photographs yesterday at the Cumbrian cottage made famous by Beatrix Potter’s stories became the first to be asked to make a £5 donation for the preservation of the local landscape.
The group was following a trail from Bowness to Hawkshead taken by 80,000 of their countrymen each summer. They come to see Hill Top, the cottage where Peter Rabbit, a character as central to a Japanese child’s upbringing as Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse, was invented.
Now Japanese visitors will be invited by tour operators to contribute £5, a charge already nicknamed the “Peter Rabbit tax”.
Atsuhito Oikawa, 35, an academic in medical research, said that £5 would not be prohibitive to most Japanese but they should not be the only ones to pay. “Everyone is equal in Japan,” he said. “If you distinguish between Japanese and others, you run the risk of appearing discrimininatory.”
The initiative, believed to be the first of its kind, was born when Japanese Travel Trade, effectively the Japanese tourist board, approached Japan Forum, run by Lakeland businesses.
Keira Holt, a marketing executive with Nurture Lakeland, which supports conservation in the Lakes, said that the Japanese were keen to promote ecotourism. She emphasised that the donation was voluntary and that Japanese people were not being discriminated against. They were, she said, simply leading the way. “Ecotourism is huge in Japan,” she said. “We are incredibly appreciative that their concern for the environment extends to our own country."
The group was following a trail from Bowness to Hawkshead taken by 80,000 of their countrymen each summer. They come to see Hill Top, the cottage where Peter Rabbit, a character as central to a Japanese child’s upbringing as Hello Kitty and Mickey Mouse, was invented.
Now Japanese visitors will be invited by tour operators to contribute £5, a charge already nicknamed the “Peter Rabbit tax”.
Atsuhito Oikawa, 35, an academic in medical research, said that £5 would not be prohibitive to most Japanese but they should not be the only ones to pay. “Everyone is equal in Japan,” he said. “If you distinguish between Japanese and others, you run the risk of appearing discrimininatory.”
The initiative, believed to be the first of its kind, was born when Japanese Travel Trade, effectively the Japanese tourist board, approached Japan Forum, run by Lakeland businesses.
Keira Holt, a marketing executive with Nurture Lakeland, which supports conservation in the Lakes, said that the Japanese were keen to promote ecotourism. She emphasised that the donation was voluntary and that Japanese people were not being discriminated against. They were, she said, simply leading the way. “Ecotourism is huge in Japan,” she said. “We are incredibly appreciative that their concern for the environment extends to our own country."
Era of knitting lessons in schools to come to an end
Knitting lessons are to cease in Shetland schools after councillors voted 10-5 to remove the £130,000 annual budget. However, efforts are to be made to increase the amount of knitting taught during existing craft and design classes, which are part of the statutory curriculum, and by encouraging the museum service and Shetland Arts Trust to play a bigger role.
It is expected that many of the 14 part-time knitting teachers will retire or be offered work in other areas which the council has been unable to recruit into.
Shetlands Islands Council is believed to be the only remaining local authority in Scotland to offer free knitting classes in primary schools. They were only introduced in the early 1970s, although previously domestic science teachers had offered some instruction.
Council policy states: “Knitting is taught … with a view to ensuring the continuation of a traditional craft which has been, is and, hopefully, will be one of the mainstays of Shetland’s tripartite traditional economy together with crofting and fishing. Shetland’s name is synonymous with Fair Isle and lace knitting and it would be unthinkable that this craft be allowed to die.”
It is expected that many of the 14 part-time knitting teachers will retire or be offered work in other areas which the council has been unable to recruit into.
Shetlands Islands Council is believed to be the only remaining local authority in Scotland to offer free knitting classes in primary schools. They were only introduced in the early 1970s, although previously domestic science teachers had offered some instruction.
Council policy states: “Knitting is taught … with a view to ensuring the continuation of a traditional craft which has been, is and, hopefully, will be one of the mainstays of Shetland’s tripartite traditional economy together with crofting and fishing. Shetland’s name is synonymous with Fair Isle and lace knitting and it would be unthinkable that this craft be allowed to die.”
But is it art?
This is the latest display at Birmingham’s Ikon Gallery – and the random items scattered across the floor have led to complaints that it is Britain’s worst art exhibition.
The display features pieces of wood lying on the ground, a broom is propped up against a wall and an empty laundry bag left standing in the middle of the room. Entitled “Since I Fell For You” it is the brainchild of artist Susan Collis.
And despite the work looking unfinished and effortless she insisted: “Often a work that looks very careless, as if it hasn’t taken any time to make, like a random mark, ends up being something that takes a long time to produce. The way I make my work takes time.”
Confused art lovers say they have failed to see the real ‘meaning’ of the conceptual piece, and have complained that they feel cheated by it.
But gallery marketing manager Rebecca Small, defended the exhibition saying: “The point of it is that it doesn’t look finished, if you look closer there are precious materials inside.
“People’s first impressions are challenged by looking again. Their first impressions are not necessarily correct and it has really got people talking and interested.”
The display features pieces of wood lying on the ground, a broom is propped up against a wall and an empty laundry bag left standing in the middle of the room. Entitled “Since I Fell For You” it is the brainchild of artist Susan Collis.
And despite the work looking unfinished and effortless she insisted: “Often a work that looks very careless, as if it hasn’t taken any time to make, like a random mark, ends up being something that takes a long time to produce. The way I make my work takes time.”
Confused art lovers say they have failed to see the real ‘meaning’ of the conceptual piece, and have complained that they feel cheated by it.
But gallery marketing manager Rebecca Small, defended the exhibition saying: “The point of it is that it doesn’t look finished, if you look closer there are precious materials inside.
“People’s first impressions are challenged by looking again. Their first impressions are not necessarily correct and it has really got people talking and interested.”
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