Banksy Paints While CCTV Observes

1. Rosi
   April 14th, 2008 at 10:29 am

   I love Banksy's work, but it makes a load of stupid teenagers think that just because they have paint and like to draw on buildings it makes them artists. It doesn't. I'm not really opposed to graffiti at all (except if it's on private property) if it's good quality, but more often than not it's just a person's tag drawn in basic lines. I wish there would be more imagination to it. I once saw an incredible psycadelic fantasyscape about twenty odd foot long painted on a wall by a playground in Hanover. If people actually put effort into what they were doing, they'd be taken so much more seriously.

2. Thespian24601
   April 14th, 2008 at 10:52 am

   I'm with you Rosi, graffiti is a style of artwork that should be kept and looked at, as long as it's on public property or they have permission. Banksy is great, and I hope this piece stays up.

3. Thomas
   April 14th, 2008 at 11:30 am

   Balls. Brass balls.

4. Ali S.
   April 14th, 2008 at 2:05 pm

   From what I've read before about Banksy is that the Police never do look for him because of his status as an artist and being famous, as well, it seems as if he gets permission beforehand from the owner of the property to do the piece of graffiti. This is why you won't hear about a "Wanted: Dead or Alive with painbrush in hand" notice for Banksy.

5. CheeseDuck
   April 14th, 2008 at 2:24 pm

   I wish I could get money for graffiti..

6. avraamov
   April 14th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

   *yawn*

   that post office compound is round the corner from me, and to be honest i think this makes the place look more shitty than it did before. he's pushed as a radical who speaks to the man on the street, but the truth is he made his name working in a very small, very fashionable area of london, populated by artists and media types who swoop in when they spot somewhere with 'cred' (and where they can make plenty of money on their apartments). he's as an integral part of 'the system' (by which i mean the market forces he critiques) and relies upon it as much as anyone to sell their product.

   their are many ways to articulate your protest against things in public spaces - a brief tour of 20th (and 21st) century art will throw up multiple examples of artists vastly more eloquent and interesting...

7. Alannah
   April 14th, 2008 at 3:19 pm

   Bansky is so cool.

8. ted
   April 15th, 2008 at 8:14 am

   Graffiti is not okay anywhere.

   It is destructive to society. It makes the world an uglier place. People become afraid, offended, and apathetic about their environment.

9. megatron
   April 15th, 2008 at 8:26 am

   A hyped up vandal = Banksy

10. FetishForPerception
    April 15th, 2008 at 8:48 am

    Avraaamov- Of course he's part of "the system". Everyone is... He has to make his money somehow, but atleast he's pushing important messages across in what he does. And how on earth can you say that wall looked nicer before hand? Do you really have such bad taste?

    Graffiti is good if it's done well or makes you think, obviously "liam waz ere" scribbled on a toilet door is pathetic and ugly, but there's a lot of really good artists out there and I believe graffiti is a form of art, even if it is vandalism, atleast it's better than looking at a boring grey wall.

11. avraamov
    April 15th, 2008 at 2:27 pm

    fetsishforperception:

    - its not about taste, its about public space and the ownership of the visual environment. what banksy does the equivalent of a mammal rubbing his scent glands up against trees. before he did this piece, that wall was a neutral surface which didn't jostle for space (either visually or politically), and in a city as cluttered as london, that can be important. now its a big bit of 'banksyworld' and i don't care for it. i feel the same way about many billboards, all tv screens on buses, on the underground and so on.

    and of course everyone's part of the system - it's just some of us have different ways of expressing our opposition to it (or not) in more nuanced ways. have a look at joseph beuys's 7000 oaks for another approach, and for how to get things done. i know he's a different sort of artist by the way, but banksy's stock is very high and he could be doing much more imaginitive stuff.

    i would lay a weeks wages on banksy having shopped in tescos, used cashpoints (he has to put all that money in a bank somewhere) and he'd certainly be up for the police using CCTV evidence if he was mugged on oxford street. all stuff he uses in his work.

    i don't have a problem with his stance, but i do have a problem with his double standards, and his work being such one-liners, with a touch of cynicism for good measure...

12. Rudi Affolter
    June 15th, 2008 at 4:19 pm

    I wish I could email Banksy to congratulate him on his work. Even more, I wish I could have him create one of his works of art on the plain white garage door of my home. Alas, if I put my address in all sorts of nutters would turn up to vandalise my home. Hopefully one day we will know who he - or she- is and they will not face prosecution. Yes, there is a difference between what Banksy does and what vandals do.

13. BANKSY U.K.
    July 12th, 2008 at 7:04 am

    BANKSY ROCKS THE U.K. - LOVE HIS ART !

14. cctv
    August 25th, 2008 at 2:18 am

    Good Concept and Ideas

15. CCTV
    April 2nd, 2009 at 9:23 pm

    I could email Banksy to congratulate him on his work. Thank you.

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT