The last 31 days have been fun. There I said it.
Dr Funky has sat, very still, so still, you'd think, he was, quite asleep, if not for the fact his eyes were wide open. He stared and stared and stared at the coverage and found himself smiling!
In another iteration Dr Funky had become quite aggressive towards Banksy, his last show in fact at MOCA had raised the ire to such a level that it was almost time to walk away for good. Exit through the gift shop had seen stencils placed purely as advertisements, then the DVD release had seen pieces in shops and then with the MOCA show a whole lopsided display of works inside sold to the highest bidder. The zenith of the consumer relationship had peaked, he had walked off hand in hand into the sunset with his LA big wallet friends.....leaving street art behind.
And then silence..an Olympics piece..silence..an altered statue....silence.....silence
Then this.
Better Out Than In. A show which as far as I've been able to ascertain has no sales element. Simply about getting up in all the forms Banksy has the money, the talent, the where with all to accomplish in secret, on a daily basis for a month. And for the main he has succeeded. So what's it been about? The answer in many guises is in the title. The secret as always is hidden in plain view in its simplicity.
He's outside the gallery, outside the money (for now, just for now), he's also letting us see more clearly as the days passed some views he's wanted to express.
Take 'The Banality of the Banality of Evil'...
On a simple level it's a slightly controversial picture (but just not enough to cause offense), an amusing title, a worthy stunt, great press opportunity and of course a chance for people to obsess over values. But whilst the chatter excitedly remains on a superficial level, something is missed, the title. A simple google search reveals the following
http://observer.com/1999/08/eichmann-and-the-banality-of-the-banality-of-evil/. Now we're looking at ourselves, now we're looking at the world we're living in, tired of a world where we treat the horror with tired eyes, because we've seen it all, without feeling it.
On its own the message is powerful, taking into consideration a number of other pieces over the weeks the impact becomes something more. The oddly worded 'attack' on the freedom towers aesthetics, was that what that was really about? Or more pointedly a message about creativeness being stunted (more generally), somehow America's recent wars on terror leading to something 'less' at home. Too much? Too loose a connection? But then, what of Reaper? It's fun, it's about grabbing life and then you listen to the audio and the poem invictus is repeated, the final statement of Timothy McVeigh. Suddenly you're contemplating how a 'home terrorist' is different to one of foreign origins, how death is manipulated in different ways. Even leaving aside 'the obvious' collab piece commenting on the 99%, there's the McDonalds art questioning the American store and it's iconization of a fast food 'prop' (in Ronald) and for many the standout piece crazy horses:
With a touch of Guernica and the powerful audio, we're left in no doubt of Banksy's position on the war on terror. Raising questions about the world we live in, the icons we've created, the people we're seemingly becoming. The observations have been large and contemplative. The genius? Perhaps for many the fact this insight is not needed. For others, exactly the opposite, the opinion is better out than in, look at what we're becoming, look at the poor choices.
But still there were other goals, there was the need to be 'real', to show after everything doing pieces illegally was still important. The dynamic of getting up has subverted by his fame and fans.
This residency has been an ever changing living organism, with input from social media like never before. With a band of ardent fans on the ground, producing comment and pictures and many others pulling together information online and sharing. To commentators of 'note' trying to pull together meanings on a daily basis. What is readily apparent is the effect these additional inputs have on our understanding, on publicity and most obviously the life of these pieces. Groups have been restoring them and there's no doubt that these readily available sources of knowledge on value have led to rush for preservation and monetary opportunities, both small scale and large.
It's not all been positive? Not by a long shot. But if we look back at some of the meanings that hang heavy in the air of this show and I've mentioned, such as the nature of the 'individual'; the regard of wrong doing and what it actually is. How we interact with it, to what is it we should be questioning and what is acceptable. To what is the true value of art. An interactive show, a residency 2.0. Where the populist appeal gives us it's own meanings.
So far I've touched on the more serious themes and the interaction with the audience through a social medium, yet there's more to discuss. The interaction with law, with graffiti artists and what the all consuming power of fame brings to the table.
How many pieces were legal, 'legal', i.e. the property owner was asked prior to the creation? The answer very few. With the waiting in vain piece Banksy made the point of letting us know, no permission was sought to underline the difficulty in creating this.
Whilst this is commendable, the notion of fame and value warps the danger. Whilst criminal damage charges were hugely unlikely to ever be sought, because people 'wanted' this on their walls. The true danger was to Banksy's anonymity and for many this was of major interest. Banksy was underlining this was real, that he was returning to his roots, but now he was a different beast. He knew full well the law wasn't the issue for him as it was in the 90's. Now he has the power to do this and be lauded, the game is a hypocrite if you meet the capitalist criteria. But he's used this to his advantage and it's apparent throughout the residency.
And so to the last message, a classic throw up, a nod of the can to the home of bubble lettering and a message that art is for everyone, that it should be outside the gallery surrounding us and bringing beauty to our lives. A last hopeful message and one to contemplate. Whilst the contemporary art critics gripe simply out of jealousy (there's many reasons but logic dictates this is the main one). The rest of us (even me) can enjoy what we've seen and hope a few more street artists are inspired to provide with more than a mural with little meaning and small expectations. Time to take back the streets and let that be the agenda (don't worry the money will follow).
thankyou Banksy
