Sleeby @tiredferalqueer - Tumblr Blog

My partner made this comic, and it is beautiful and amazing, and you’re all missing out by not seeing the original on paper because it’s even prettier there!

sixohsixoheightfourtwo

By wearing this watch you confirm that you are not Anish Kapoor

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.

& the subreddit r/culturehustle is worth a look to get an idea of just how badly run his paint business is

sweaterkittensahoy

Lordy loo. I was a big fan of Semple for years but fell away once I read some stuff on how his feud with Kapoor had some antisemtic issues running through it, but I would not have guessed this was going on. What awful news.

sighinastorm

@tikkunolamorgtfo

tikkunolamorgtfo

I am very gracefully celebrating a vindication ten years in the making.

jessiewithaj

me, stunted 12 year-old whose only representation of trans women had been ace ventura and jokes about shemale prostitutes, "well, i guess when i'm like, 40, and everyone i have any obligation to is dead, i can get a bunch of sex change surgeries and fuck gross men for money. but at least i'll kinda look like a girl."

real transfem representation really could've saved me a solid 15-20 years.

jessiewithaj

this feels particularly relevant with the global push to chase minors off social media. none of it is about protecting kids, it's about control. it's about cutting off vulnerable, marginalized, young people whose only opportunity to learn more about their own gender and sexuality--and find other people who are like them--is through social media platforms.

queer, particularly trans representation hasn't come all that far in 20 years. maybe there's less blatant transphobia, but there sure as hell isn't any widespread positive representation. we have multiple generations of trans women and men who were only able to explore their identities during adolescence in online spaces. and kids today are being stripped of that.

be wary of any legislation or changes in corporate policy that cites "protecting kids". it's never about protecting anyone, it's about control. there are a lot of parents that'd prefer to keep their kid in the closet 'til it kills them than watch them actually explore their identity.