Banksy in the South

[Wouter D]

In a world full of Brett Kavanaughs and Brexits, I am quite happy that an artist manages to get us talking about art again.

[Benjm]

He has provoked a reaction so at some level has succeeded as a provocateur. This strikes me as a cosy in joke for the art world though. Any point about the commodification of art is already implicit in his mawkish and simplistic images fetching the prices that they do.

[ursus arctos]

You seem to be awfully angry.

Perhaps it is different in the UK, but I don't know anyone here who considers him to be "subversive". I do, however, know several art professionals who are absolutely convinced that Sotheby's was aware of the device, which makes a great deal of sense to me (and doesn't diminish my admiration for the performance).

[Bored Of Education]

Out of everything, appreciation of art is the most subjective of pastimes but, even so, Benjm's talking bollocks there. This managed to be clever, thought- and discussion-provoking, satirical, original and genuinely funny. The thing about Banksy is that he completely confounds expectations. In the last 5 years, he has done his Gaza' stuff, Dismaland, the stuff at the Jungle, the Walled Off Hotel and now this. Not many artists would come up with work like that

[Benjm]

I'm not angry, I just don't get it.

Isn't one of the main foundations of his brand the sense that he is an outsider, a bit edgy? That's certainly the way he was/is sold over here.

Sotheby's must have been in on it, surely? Anyone getting up close to the object or handling it would have realised that there was something odd about the frame, even if the punchline was withheld from them. That's what I meant about it all seeming a bit cosy.

[WOM]

Even if they were, so what? So much the better, even. This was original, unexpected, yet totally on brand. The perfect punchline on Sotheby’s auctioning guerilla street art for millions.

[Benjm]

Even if they were, so what?

If Sotheby's had thought that the stunt would genuinely spook their customers or cost them money, they wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole. It's a toothless gesture because there is no risk to any of the parties involved.

[ad hoc]

There are some valid criticisms of the stuff he's done in Palestine but overall he's done significantly more good than wrong and ensured that the country and the plight of its forgotten people are visible. So fuck the argument that he's just some kind of shallow twat who doesn't have a clue. Sorry "posturing". Palestinians could use a few more "posturing" celebrities

[WOM]

If Sotheby's had thought that the stunt would genuinely spook their customers or cost them money, they wouldn't have touched it with a bargepole. It's a toothless gesture because there is no risk to any of the parties involved.

I’m confused if you think they were in on it or not. If they weren’t - and what’s to say they were? - no harm. If they were, who’s to say there won’t be harm to them financially or reputationally? Either way, the stunt is the stunt, and I’d say a great one.

[Benjm]

I’m confused if you think they were in on it or not. If they weren’t - and what’s to say they were? - no harm. If they were, who’s to say there won’t be harm to them financially or reputationally? Either way, the stunt is the stunt, and I’d say a great one.

I'm inclined to think that they were in on it for the reason mentioned above. They would have agreed to participate having made their own assessment of the risks involved. That is why I find the senior director's comment, "It appears we just got Banksy-ed," smug and self-congratulatory.

You think it was a great stunt, I think that the illusion doesn't hold up to examination so it leaves me feeling shortchanged. The illusion is the sense of there being any real risk or danger involved, not the fact of the painting being shredded. His Instagram caption was fairly portentous; "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge - Picasso." If that's over-reading it and it's just a big wind up, fine, but that's not the level at which his reputation and prices seem to be pitched.

It just doesn't stack up for me. My loss.

[Benjm]

There are some valid criticisms of the stuff he's done in Palestine but overall he's done significantly more good than wrong and ensured that the country and the plight of its forgotten people are visible. So fuck the argument that he's just some kind of shallow twat who doesn't have a clue. Sorry "posturing". Palestinians could use a few more "posturing" celebrities

There he has used his profile and pulling power to good effect and I shouldn't have been so sweeping in my dismissal of him.

When it comes off, his actions and the attention he can generate are more potent than the physical manifestations of his art.

[ad hoc]

https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/....ctor-1.6637712

Apparently making a comment about the occupation can be read as "insinuating that Israel has no right to exist". Right you are.

[jwdd27]

I couldn't read the whole story on the Haaretz site, so here is PressTV's version of the story.

https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/...-poster-Bansky

[ad hoc]

Longish piece on the Walled Off Hotel in Bethlehem https://www.thenational.ae/arts-cult...2mvHyduQKdY9uU

[Benjm]

Thanks, ad hoc, that was a good read.