http://hypebeast.com/2011/11/new-banksy-works-in-london-shop-till-you-drop/
There are many words to describe Banksy's work. Culture jamming and graffiti art are probably among the most fitting. I wonder, what is the extent to which this work can be deemed art? I expect that most of the class has heard of Banksy, however, the main point of his anonymous work is to counter the corporate media's influence. Banksy uses public spaces like sidewalks and ATMs and turns them into a piece of "art". The image above features a woman dressed in a skirt and high heels plummeting from a building at least six-stories tall. The image appeared in mid-November before the holiday season in London, England. The woman is faceless and shadowed, depicting her ignored identity in the face of advertising and consumerism. The goods in her shopping cart seem to be dragging her down. Nevertheless, she maintains a tight grip on the cart and the goods it carries.
The reading from class today, “Definitions of Art and the Art World” by Mulholland, discusses the historical notion of art. The reading discusses two of the recurring themes of the class that relate to Banky's questionable art form. Two aspects of art that determine its merit have historically been ownership and whether it prioritizes form or function.
Banksy presents
a complicated case because he does not seek to claim ownership of
his work. The Mulholland reading explains that Michelangelo's work on the Sistene Chapel was artful due to the authority that Michelangelo maintained through controlling the intellectual content he produced. In Banksy's case, his style of anonymous street art is frequently copied. If you Google nearly any of Banksy's graffiti art pieces there is at least one source
that claims that the piece is not a Banksy original.
Banksy's anonymity says a lot about his philosophy of what constitutes art, which brings one to question whether his work prioritizes form or function. For Banksy, clearly the message, or function, of the artwork is what matters. Publicity is central to the works function, which is to influence and have power over the mainstream media. Interestingly, this is done by trying to get the attention of the mainstream media with dramatic graffiti art, like the one pictured above. I definitely believe Banksy's work to be artful, despite t-shirts and posters that profit from his anonymous cause. Do you consider the image pictured above art or vandalism? If you have not seen Exit Through the Gift Shop I highly recommend it!
Banksy's anonymity says a lot about his philosophy of what constitutes art, which brings one to question whether his work prioritizes form or function. For Banksy, clearly the message, or function, of the artwork is what matters. Publicity is central to the works function, which is to influence and have power over the mainstream media. Interestingly, this is done by trying to get the attention of the mainstream media with dramatic graffiti art, like the one pictured above. I definitely believe Banksy's work to be artful, despite t-shirts and posters that profit from his anonymous cause. Do you consider the image pictured above art or vandalism? If you have not seen Exit Through the Gift Shop I highly recommend it!
I think a lot of what allows people to see Banksy's work as art rather than graffiti or vandalism is that we know that there is a message and it is easy to form an opinion about what that message may be. His work also looks like art, at least compared to the tags you can find spray painted anywhere. I don't want to get into whether typical graffiti is considered art or not, but I think when you compare Banksy's work to what I think of as typical graffiti people are more likely to categorize them differently.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, as we have discussed in class, it is arbitrary to try to distinguish between what is art and not art, I think people are more willing to view something as art when they know that there is a meaning or thought behind it rather than something that appears more simplistic or perhaps just art for art's sake.