When I first heard of Banksy I initially thought he was a bit of a twat.
I was living in England from 2004 - 05 and recall the hoopla over the 10 pound note stunt and other Banksyisms from that era. Then when I heard about how much Banksy works were selling for on these secondary markets, I thought it was completely ridiculous.
Then I heard what Banksy him/herself (we don't know for sure what Banksy is) said about these sales - To coincide with the second day of auctions, Banksy updated his website
with a new image of an auction house scene showing people bidding on a
picture that said, "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit."
I nearly fell over laughing and immediately changed my mind about Banksy.
I had been assuming that this Banksy character was one of those artists who was so desperate to be edgy and make statements that it was just plain annoying.
But it became clear that this was actually a rather talented person who was just out there having a laugh and making stuff that gets a rise out of people.
Whether or not Banksy is an activist is really and truely up to Banksy. Sure, you could call what he/she does 'activism', and I think people project onto it what they want it to be.
I could be mistaken but I don't believe Banksy has ever heralded him/herself as an 'activist'. Also, it does seem that activists as a breed generally take themselves way more seriously than Banksy does.
I wouldn't say I have ever been 'compelled' by Banksy's work, but I have been extremely amused, mainly by the way other people freak out over it.
Understand something - this sort of graffiti and far more complex renderings are ALL OVER Britain. Tons of people do this. Banksy got international attention for all sorts of potential reasons - timing, chance, etc.
I think graffiti can be persuasive because of its anonymity, also there's this inherent fringe-world that people associate with graffiti, and the projection I mentioned earlier - that those who do it must really be concrete poets with grim lives and oceans of untapped talent.....well, maybe that's the case here and there, but a notion like that is sort of ridiculous, and I think just maybe, Banksy would think so too.
It seems that Banksy started out like a great deal of graffiti artists,
they really just wanted to stick it to the 'man' and have a laugh, and somehow ended up
having something to say along the way.
its really nice to find someone with first hand accounts of the work Banksy does and has an actual opinion of said work. its really a neat insight.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think people often get a perspective on this stuff that has morphed before its even delivered to them. People build Banksy up to be something I doubt the actual Banksy would agree with.
DeleteI struggled with the concept of Bansky as an 'activist' (my blog will show otherwise), but it is something that I question. What I guess it really comes down to, is the meaning behind the world activist, now that is appears to be a bit more loosely used and dynamic in action.
ReplyDelete"Activists as a breed generally take themselves way more seriously than Bansky does." I really like this statement, and it provokes this thought: Do activism 'need' an activists 'face'? I'm not so sure it does, but not 100 percent convinced either way yet.
I appreciate your post because it adds to this conversation that I have been having with myself....which I do, often.
I know a lot of people who struggle with the concept of activism, you're not alone!:)
DeleteArt is soooo subjective and to me its almost foolish to label it without a direct statement of meaning from the actual artist. How about we just stop and think about it, or even just enjoy it?
I think that's why people like him, he recognizes the hypocrisy of 'high brow' culture and is mocking it. I appreciate that you look at it as more of commentary because that is the way I think of it too, in my mind that commentary and "having something to say" was exactly what made him and his work memorable and an activist. But I can definitely see where you are coming from. And like Tyler said, it's interesting getting the perspective of someone who got to see it explode as the phenomena he and his work is.
ReplyDeleteYeah exactly, he/she (who knows Banksy may even be several people) is really just being exceedingly cheeky and giving the proverbial finger to society and 'the man'. Which I think a lot of people want to do deep down, so they relate to what Banksy is doing. Or they hate it haha, both are common reactions!
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