Work No. 499. The Tottenham Apprentice. c. Michael St.Mark

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Screenshot ( crop ) taken during a TV interview with one of the looters in the aftermath of the 2011 Tottenham riots.
( Image selectively enhanced )

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Signed edition of 25 LightJet prints 20″x 18″ on Kodak Pro Endura.
£550 ( unframed)

* March 2014, editions 1 – 7 sold/reserved
May 2018; editions 1 – 17 sold – reserved

Artist comment ( taken from the original 2011 blog post )
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When a Prime Minister engineers the invasion of another country not threatening this one in the least; that involves the slaughter of a hundred thousand innocent men women and children to facilitate the plunder of its vast oil reserves and in order to appease an American president of dubious morals to secure a lucrative personal career through future executive or advisory positions within companies or thinly-disguised affiliates of companies gifted oil and infrastructure re-building contracts…
When nasty business bully boys like Alan “I’m just a Jewish schmuck” (his words) Sugar are seen by millions to be promoting the most ably lying and scheming spivs, the most aggressively devious, dishonest and manipulating – now sits in the House of Lords.

In a country where blocking of opportunity for its youth by absence of post secondary school apprenticeship placement schemes ( as are ‘de rigueur’ in Germany and proven to lead to self esteem-generating high skill jobs ); where politically correct anti-discipline insanity, a general dumbing-down and a vicious dog-eat-dog mentality has been overseen and indeed overlooked by generations of crooked self-serving politicians….
( ” There is no such thing as society ” Margaret Thatcher 1970s.)

In a media chock-full of gratuitous violence, portrayed and promoted via computer games,TV ads, news, the press & film; gangsta rap culture and glorification of ill-gotten bling…
In a nation more brazenly class-divided than any other on earth and more than ever partitioned between haves & have-nots; where in the workplace impassable glass ceilings are the norm, where opportunity and promotion based on having had an Oxbridge education or on a very specific – yet unmentionable in consequence of being branded fascist – racial cronyism; on privilege or birth rather than on talent and ability… is absolutely widespread. ( And we wonder why there’s not much watchable TV except repeats from the 1980s).

In such a severely dysfunctional and disjointed culture, is this sick new “loot-til-you-drop” perversion – and some might argue rather logical progression of much-lauded ruthless entrepreneurship involving blind worship of dog-eat-dog materialism – really any great wonder?

Michael St.Mark
London 2011