Unbelievable.
 

just read on ceefax, that a portrait of Myra Hindley has been shown in a Promotional Video in Beijing, advertising London 2012 Olympics.:mad: now what cretin is responsible for the inclusion of this is unknown at this point, but fer me whoever should be uncovered n SACKED on the spot, i thought we were getting near the pits,i was wrong.we are in em.:mad:

Re: Unbelievable.
 

BBC NEWS | UK | Hindley portrait use criticised
The olympic committee didn't do it - it was that 'childrens handprint' art.
Bad taste!!!!

PS the 'artist' is keeping a low profile
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesi...igallery.art17

Re: Unbelievable.
 

My interpretation of the picture is quite different to most and I don't see it as something meant to cause offense at all. I am not just saying this to be annoying either before anyone suggests it.

I saw this picture whilst flicking through an art book and my initial thought was that it was a portrayal of justice. I thought it was almost taunting, the fact that all those children made their mark like that. It was only when I found newspaper reports on the painting that I considered it from the angle that most people think of it and see it as offensive.

I think if I was selecting a picture to represent the controversial and famous art of this country then that is the one most people would point out, but probably wouldn't choose as the picture to use to advertise our olympics. Perhaps something by Banksy would have been a 'softer' option as most pieces by him have a pretty obvious message, whereas the Hindley one is quite ambiguous.

That's my look on it anyway. I can see it is a bad choice, but at the same time I can understand the perspective of the person who picked it.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

yeh but the artist cannot have been responsible fer including that in the video? noway i'm having that. or if the video was not vetted prior, then thats incompetence and whoever should be dismissed, is my view.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

This is just the start of the curse of the London Olympics. The whole thing is doomed to disaster...there will be countless cock-ups, the costs will spiral out of control and the British public will come to rue the day that we even put our bid in. Can you imagine it being any other way with serial incompetents like Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman in charge?

...and all we'll be left with in the end will be a rusting, semi-derelict site with the wind blowing through the weeds just like Athens.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

I think I am too liberal for a conversation on this! The London Olympics are going to be brilliant though :D

Re: Unbelievable.
 

i agree yer interpretation must be different to most. but if you can understand the perspective of someone picking summat like that, then you leave me gobsmacked.:cool:

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Well I just told you why I can understand that. The art scene at the moment is full of controversial modern art, and if anyone was asked to pick the MOST controversial piece painted by a british artist that would probably be it.

You don't know how that picture was selected. If it was put to a survey to select the most controversial and famous piece without saying WHY they were selecting it then nobody would think twice about picking that one, and then in theory the public would have picked it! It is very easily done.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

its supposed to be promoting the olympics 2012 london, so how the hell do you come to that conclusion.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Having not seen the promotion myself, I can only assume that it shows several famous aspects of the country and art surely must be one of those things. I can't think of anything other excuse for it because I haven't seen it.

If it is the only non-sport related part of the promotion then it as obviously been hacked into at some point of the production of it and it has been slipped in to cause a bit of a stir.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Re: Unbelievable.
 

I just watched a video on youtube of the promotion, I didn't see Myra Hindley so it has either been edited or it is a completely different video but I must say that I got goosebumps watching the videa and it really did make me feel proud to be British for once!

Fabulous

Re: Unbelievable.
 

The inclusion of any image of Hindley in a promotional video is, to say the least, crass. I don't suppose the Moors Murders have the same impact on the under 40s as on those of us who remember when they happened but, none the less, everyone knows the history. It's a bit like making a promo video of Germany and including a portrait of Hitler.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Comparing Myra Hindley to Hitler is a bit over the top if you ask me, though I think Hindley did damage the country to some extent of course.

However it wasn't a photograph of the woman, it was a painting done by a talented and imaginative british artist and I think that is the whole point of any painting of that nature being included in a promotion of the country rather than the promotion of someone like Hindley herself.

Either way, it's obviously an unintended inclusion in the promotion so it's not really worth complaining about. It's probably been dealt with now.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Proud that out of the £9 billion projected cost. £6 billion is coming from the hard-pressed British tax payer? I wonder how many hospitals or schools that would pay for?

Proud that 363 Olympics-related contracts have been awarded to London companies, while 20 have been awarded to North Western companies?

Yep, that's really something to be proud of.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

its not really worth complaining about, that statement just about sums up yer mentality, as it was broadcast to god knows how many people from all over the world. for a sports event that young people from all over the world take part in,it will not have been dealt with until whoever is responsible fer including it,is given the boot.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

On the assumption that the person trying to ruin the production is part of the team employed to make it a success?

Yes that seems realistic.

As for the cost of the Olympic games, yes it is expensive, but it wasn't the games that I was proud of. I was proud of all the British achievements rolled into that one production.

Brilliant athletes, brilliant technology, brilliant structures... it incorporated many brilliant things about this country and yes, I am proud of that. The olympics isn't something to be proud of yet as it hasn't happened and even I am not optimistic enough to start celebrating something 4 years away

Re: Unbelievable.
 

If anyone could find the video with Hindley still in it I'd be grateful as well, can't seem to find it in the ones I have watched and I assume it is quite a prominent part of the video if we are talking about it causing a fuss internationally.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

well your man Boris was quite upset with it,;)

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Upset with it or upset with the publics reaction once someone had pointed it out? I can't find it in any videos, have you seen it yourself or have you just read the news and started a thread about it?

Re: Unbelievable.
 

if ya had bothered to take in the first post, you would know the answer.:rolleyes:

Re: Unbelievable.
 

First post just says you read about it, it doesnt mention whether you took the time to find a video about it after reading to see if it was really worth all the fuss.

I'm disappointed in you for just admitting that you take the news for its word and don't go any further to check whether it's true or not

Re: Unbelievable.
 

BBC NEWS | UK | 2012 Hindley image use condemned

heres the story, i'm trying to find the video, bear with me......

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/oth...012-image.html

this one shows a shot of the video i think..

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Thanks emma, that bottom one is all that is really important.

I wonder how many people, say under 40 as someone else said early, would recognise who she was from just a single picture, or have even heard the story.

Obviously a lot of people have heard of her, that isn't going to be denied. But it IS part of this country and especially it's history if we lie that or not. It has changed our perception of the child abuser and murderer forever.

Why should the olympics be all about the nice things of a country. How many people watched the Chinese opening ceremony and thought it was hypocritical? You can't win whatever you do, and because of that I go back to my comments of not even complaining about it.

Let's show britain for what it really is, like China should have done and at least we will have kept our respect and been honest instead of painting knife/gun crime, drugs and teenage pregnancy in every colour of the rainbow apart from the black, bleak reality of what is Britain.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

i read a spokesman fer Boris, also a spokesman fer Downing Street, both condeming it, so i reckon if they are in agreement then theres truth in it. but obviously you think not.:rolleyes:

Re: Unbelievable.
 

It was a simple mistake because nobody had ever complained before. I think it has all been cleared up now. It wasn't part of the London 2012 promotional video on the web, just an old video used to show what London is like. Anyone could have made that simple mistake.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

then why was it shown at a London 2012 event in Beijing? if boris n downing street are to be believed.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Probably a lack of consideration over the content of the video. Nobody has caused a fuss over it before so what difference would it make at the olympics in beijing? That is obviously the view somebody has taken. Likely down to just a rushed idea and not thinking it through fully.

The new promotional video is still fantastic and is getting brilliant response on youtube, so I think it is going a bit far to say the 2012 olympics are doomed.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Of course they are to be believed. Nobody is denying it was shown.

I certainly didn't see it when I watched the Olympics. Apparently it is a non-public video that is showing tourism in Britain. Including such things as public galleries.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

I saw the painting at the Sensations exhibition at the Royal Academy, and it's rubbish.

Simplistic, and an easy way of attracting cheap publicity, by using such an iconic, and loathed image.

Marcus Harvey is little known outside of Hoxton, and certainly not on a major, or indeed minor, player in the art world.

The video producers would have been wiser to use Hirst's Sheep, or diamond encrusted skull. Like him, or loath him, he at least is the most economically successful living artist in the world today.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

well if it was fer cheap publicity its disgraceful, when you think theres n old lady in greater manchester who has still not been able to bury her son n probably never will.:mad:

Re: Unbelievable.
 

From the logo to this video, and not forgetting Leona Lewis today popping out of a privet hedge on top of a London bus, the whole thing shouts shoddy.

Using this painting is the last straw.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

I think you will have to appreciate David Beckham's marvellous contribution though.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

How anyone can even think that anything to do with Hindly is art is beyond me anyway, as for using it to promote the Olympics is crass to say the least. If the atrocities had been committed by those two in the home counties and not the North West, it wold not have seen the light of day in any video

Re: Unbelievable.
 

i dont know what statement was meant to have been made by sticking hindley into a promotional video for great britain

maybe the guy who put it there thinks we are a nation of child killers or he was making a statement that hindley was the last child abuser to be scentenced properly without a death penalty been available

im surprised the person who made this video didnt go the whole hog and make a video with mira hindley ,fred west,peter sutcliff etc flying the union jack as he clearly sees hindly as a good image for great britain :rolleyes:

the image protrays pure evil and has no other use apart from that

Re: Unbelievable.
 

What is the likelihood of Britain really being portrayed for what it's like anyway?

Are we going include the BAE arms deals into our imagery of Britain?

What about the lovely £100 million of arms we sold to Georgia and Russia not so long ago and surprise surprise war breaks out and we pretend to be against it. We're the type of country that equips countries for war and then pretend we are against it once we've made our profit.

What about all the youngsters that have died from knife crime this year? Surely that is pretty much a part of the country now. Premature deaths. Though let's not forget the premature pregnancies of our female youth. I suppose that balances it all out.

I think no matter what we do we are going to be lying about what Britain is like and it's going to be just as hypocritical as the Chinese Olympics.

We either lie about what Britain is like and look stupid because everyone knows the truth anyway or we tell the truth and at least acknowledge that there is a lot of bad stuff about the country too that needs sorting out.

Though when do we ever acknowledge the problems in this country? Especially when it comes to crime. Just sweep it under the rug and pretend its not there. Good old British spirit.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

The same spirit that will see whoever decided to use that 'painting' get away with it blazey, I have an actual hatred for hindley, and I cant say that for many people, all the other stuff is propaganda and none better than politicians to use it to its fullest, I agree with others here who say the person/s responsible should be out of a job!

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Artists throughout history have tried to provoke controversy by using startling imagery to promote themselves so the artist involved here only used Hindley in the first place to get his name known.

It is a lazy piece of art on many, many levels and shouldn't have been included in the video in the first place but the people who originally included it clearly wanted to show how progressive they themselves were. Anyone who objects to it doesn't understand contemporary art - is what they are trying to say by including it.

There are so many more things which could be used to signify the UK.

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Well Gayle I don't understand the concept of art full stop. Some of the things which appear as entries for the Turner Prize each year baffle me completely, a light switching on and off in an empty room, a running tap, a pile of cardboard boxes, somebodies soiled bed. Then there was one exhibit at some art gallary a crack in the concrete, which a site gang worker would have been freaked out by. I can see the concept of are in paintings sculpers and such, but obscure things which appear every year in the name of art is quite beyond me. Having said that I also know that peoples tastes are different especially those with an art background like yourself and Rindi, but it just goes straight over my head

Re: Unbelievable.
 

Great 'art' isn't necessarily about the end result. Whilst it can't be denied that there are many good painters or sculptors out there, this is a talent and doesn't always end up with great art. Modern art is often as much about the thought process, the original concept as it is about completing the work.

Whilst a good painter or sculptor may produce something that is pleasing to the eye it doesn't necessarily make you think or push the boundaries much which is what good modern art should do.

Truly great modern art is something that has an exciting thought process behind it, something that pushes the boundary whilst also being technically superb. The piece in discussion here wasn't either - it was, as I've said before, lazy art on so many levels.