Socially Conscious Vandalism
I was heartened this week by the defacement of a series of adverts in Holburn tube station. The ads in question depict Amy, before and after her breast enlargement. Unsurprisingly in the after shot not only has Amy undergone a mammary expansion, but she has also learned to smile and appears to have discovered photoshop. The ads now feature white stickers across the middle, emblazoned with slogans like, "You are normal. This is not." There's something distinctly warming about socially conscious vandalism.
Of course it can perhaps go too far. I am reminded an old English teacher of mine, Miss Opalinska, who once related a story about billboard graffiti she spotted near where she lived around the release of a certain controversial Prodigy album. Some individual had taken it upon themselves to remove the offending words so that the title simply read My Up.
Somewhere in the middle lies the reclusive Banksy whose artistic wit is such that his "vandalism" actually increases the value of the defaced property. He has a point, and does it with such flair, that one does not feel right in viewing him alongside the common miscreant leaving their tag like a bestial territorial marking. Instead he comments subversively on society forcing introspection upon the viewer, often without even realising. That his art speaks so loudly without a gallery — let alone a canvas or frame — sets it apart. Indeed it demonstrates the reason I feel that if art has value, it ought not to need to be placed within the framing device of a "modern art gallery" in order for its merit to become evident. So much so, in fact, that some people eventually found the need to frame it: either to auction or to publish. And so Banksy's Wall and Piece
Oh how we all miss Wanda! I remember when she started at Whitgift she had one of my cousins in her form. They said to her that after ding dong goes they all go to Big School… she thought they were taking the piss!
Comment on 16 October 2007 @ 7:57 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Dankowska#Wiki_Dankowska
Please tell me I'm not dreaming…
Comment on 16 October 2007 @ 7:59 pm
No way, that's bizarre! Although I heard she did use to voice act in the Polish dubs of Disney films if memory serves, so it's not that far-fetched.
Comment on 16 October 2007 @ 11:12 pm
They weren't taking the piss? :S
Comment on 20 October 2007 @ 11:46 pm
Who? The original adverts I mentioned were not. They were actually advertising breast enlargement.
Comment on 21 October 2007 @ 12:23 am
Banksy _did_ have a point. Now he's sold out though and is stupidly rich, Banksys change hands for thousands of pounds and there was recently a Banksy/Warhol exhibition. The original point was anonymity and anti-branding, but he's become the most recognisable brand in art, if such a thing could be said to exist. If he were serious about the statements he makes in that book (which is still bloody good) then he'd stop tagging his work.
Comment on 21 October 2007 @ 5:12 pm
ok so after commenting on your Facebook, i said "let me check out the Meewella site, it always has something interesting to talk about." I was not let down. Your Bansky article immediately caught my attention, because i have actually read that book along with a book entitled Graffiti World, both of which instantly inspired me into this art form. I recently have been doing my own graffiti (not on public property, not yet)and a few days ago went to a local exhibit. Thats right, an exhibit of graffiti
Anyways, i got in my university's news paper and they quoted me(man of few words) at the end of the article on the second page. Notice the awkward wording on how i support vandalism.lol check it out: http://media.www.lsureveille.com/media/storage/paper868/news/2007/11/19/Entertainment/Baton.Rouge.Gallery.Displays.Local.Art.In.Graffiti.Show-3109333.shtml
Comment on 21 November 2007 @ 8:59 pm