Comments on: Banksy does Detroit http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Thu, 23 May 2013 13:19:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: SAMO1415 http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838658 SAMO1415 Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838658 Someone should set up a fake wall in its place and tag: "I REMEMBER WHEN THIS WAS ALL BANKSY" Someone should set up a fake wall in its place and tag:

“I REMEMBER WHEN THIS WAS ALL BANKSY”

]]> By: Brett Myers http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838660 Brett Myers Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838660 I remember when this was all graffiti. I remember when this was all graffiti.

]]> By: Don http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838661 Don Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838661 trees growing from abandoned buildings, even the upper stories, are my most vivid memory from growing up in Detroit. surely contributing to my fascination with 'gamma world', zombie films, and post-apocalyptic fiction. i still have trouble keeping away from an abandoned building... trees growing from abandoned buildings, even the upper stories, are my most vivid memory from growing up in Detroit. surely contributing to my fascination with ‘gamma world’, zombie films, and post-apocalyptic fiction. i still have trouble keeping away from an abandoned building…

]]> By: Alessandro Cima http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838666 Alessandro Cima Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838666 Banksy is more interesting in pictures than in real life. Banksy is more interesting in pictures than in real life.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838667 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838667 Art is Subjective folks; Galleries are a money making biz and are a by-product of our capitalist ideals - don't be a hater unless you live simply and do not intend to make much money in your lifetime. That being said, the concrete itself has no true value without the backdrop. Banksy's work, from never having seen it and not knowing who he is, is actually thought provoking...I wanted to look at it more closely. Hate it or love it...Art should never be completely defined...once you do that you will have compartmentalized the two abilities in life worth more than money to some...Imagination and Creativity. Some folks here are driven mad by name recognition! God forbid you make a name for yourself in life. Does it really bother you to see an Artist recognized? This bother is truly envy. Art is Subjective folks; Galleries are a money making biz and are a by-product of our capitalist ideals – don’t be a hater unless you live simply and do not intend to make much money in your lifetime. That being said, the concrete itself has no true value without the backdrop. Banksy’s work, from never having seen it and not knowing who he is, is actually thought provoking…I wanted to look at it more closely. Hate it or love it…Art should never be completely defined…once you do that you will have compartmentalized the two abilities in life worth more than money to some…Imagination and Creativity.
Some folks here are driven mad by name recognition! God forbid you make a name for yourself in life. Does it really bother you to see an Artist recognized? This bother is truly envy.

]]> By: Donald Petersen http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-839179 Donald Petersen Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-839179 Again, I don't want to overstate the importance of this... but it puts me in mind of a gallery carefully carving Jesus out of Leonardo's Last Supper in order to "preserve" Him, once the mausoleum became a refectory and the mural really began to disintegrate. Woulda been a stupid Philistine idea then. It still is now. I'm no art critic, but I think the idea that this work has more than a small fraction of its power when divorced from its setting... well, it's a wrong idea. Just look at it, sitting there in its lovely new Home Depot frame in what looks for all the world like a suburban Van Nuys parking lot. Hell, there are even vestigial trees. Again, I don’t want to overstate the importance of this… but it puts me in mind of a gallery carefully carving Jesus out of Leonardo’s Last Supper in order to “preserve” Him, once the mausoleum became a refectory and the mural really began to disintegrate.

Woulda been a stupid Philistine idea then. It still is now. I’m no art critic, but I think the idea that this work has more than a small fraction of its power when divorced from its setting… well, it’s a wrong idea. Just look at it, sitting there in its lovely new Home Depot frame in what looks for all the world like a suburban Van Nuys parking lot. Hell, there are even vestigial trees.

]]> By: Felix Mitchell http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838418 Felix Mitchell Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838418 The gallery trying to pretend it's not about money is bullshit. They just want the fame for their business by having a Banksy. But it's hard to see that removing a wall nobody wanted from a site nobody was claiming can be wrong. Really the person who should be most concerned about this is Banksy himself. He needs to figure out a way to do art that isn't immediately appropriated by chartlatans. The gallery trying to pretend it’s not about money is bullshit. They just want the fame for their business by having a Banksy.

But it’s hard to see that removing a wall nobody wanted from a site nobody was claiming can be wrong.

Really the person who should be most concerned about this is Banksy himself. He needs to figure out a way to do art that isn’t immediately appropriated by chartlatans.

]]> By: daen http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838679 daen Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838679 Looks like the one on the side of <a href="http://warholian.com/?p=284">Amnesia</a> on Mission. Whatever one may think about his artistic merits, his work has the wit to generate at least a wry smile. Let's face it, there's not much to grin about otherwise at an abandoned car-plant, is there? Looks like the one on the side of Amnesia on Mission. Whatever one may think about his artistic merits, his work has the wit to generate at least a wry smile. Let’s face it, there’s not much to grin about otherwise at an abandoned car-plant, is there?

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838426 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838426 Maybe the act of stealing this "art" is in itself and act of "art". I'm sure there's plenty of people happy to pay to see this. I'm not one of them. Maybe the act of stealing this “art” is in itself and act of “art”. I’m sure there’s plenty of people happy to pay to see this. I’m not one of them.

]]> By: tuckels http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838431 tuckels Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838431 The whole Banksy thing always annoys me. Don't get me wrong, I think he's a great artist, and very clever, but It seems a lot of the hype about his work boils down to the fact that it's Banksy's work, not the fact that it's a great piece of artwork. This, of cause, isn't something unique to Banksy. It just irks me that people buy art for the signature in the corner. The whole Banksy thing always annoys me. Don’t get me wrong, I think he’s a great artist, and very clever, but It seems a lot of the hype about his work boils down to the fact that it’s Banksy’s work, not the fact that it’s a great piece of artwork.
This, of cause, isn’t something unique to Banksy. It just irks me that people buy art for the signature in the corner.

]]> By: Marktech http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838433 Marktech Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838433 Calling Banksy's work art is a bit strong, to my mind; though I know opinions differ. The craft is good (though nothing special), and I often get a cartoon-esque chuckle from it, but it doesn't provoke an aesthetic reaction from me, at least. In any case, this piece surely derives what power it has from its original context: putting it in a gallery misses the point by a long, long way. (I'd have written "I remember when this was all factories", myself; maybe that's just one reason why I'm not a trendy street artist.) Calling Banksy’s work art is a bit strong, to my mind; though I know opinions differ. The craft is good (though nothing special), and I often get a cartoon-esque chuckle from it, but it doesn’t provoke an aesthetic reaction from me, at least.

In any case, this piece surely derives what power it has from its original context: putting it in a gallery misses the point by a long, long way.

(I’d have written “I remember when this was all factories”, myself; maybe that’s just one reason why I’m not a trendy street artist.)

]]> By: jfrancis http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838440 jfrancis Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838440 Somebody tagged a Banksy I often pass. Now it's hidden under thick plywood bolted to the wall. And the plywood has been heavily tagged. Somebody tagged a Banksy I often pass. Now it’s hidden under thick plywood bolted to the wall.

And the plywood has been heavily tagged.

]]> By: zog http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838443 zog Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838443 relocating a controversial guerilla street art itself could be seen as an act of controversial guerilla street performance art? relocating a controversial guerilla street art itself could be seen as an act of controversial guerilla street performance art?

]]> By: failix http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838444 failix Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838444 <i>"It just irks me that people buy art for the signature in the corner."</i> I totally agree and Banksy does too. I just saw Banksy's documentary "Exist Through the Gift Shop" yesterday. It was an excellent witty critique of the "art" scene while at the same time a defense of himself and his art without ever being pretentious. I can't recommend it enough! “It just irks me that people buy art for the signature in the corner.”

I totally agree and Banksy does too. I just saw Banksy’s documentary “Exist Through the Gift Shop” yesterday. It was an excellent witty critique of the “art” scene while at the same time a defense of himself and his art without ever being pretentious. I can’t recommend it enough!

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838446 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838446 exit through the giftshop was all an elaborate hoax. the man in the film who did the interviews as banksy is not really banksy. other ppl have pointed this out after seeing the film. he and real banksy in the tagging videos are built differently. bcs the tagging videos are at night you don't notice as long as they cut quickly. and the mr. brainwash story is so full of holes, but there isn't enough time to get into it. so much of it is complete fiction though. exit through the giftshop is the film version of what banksy does with visual art: it's all a huge huge pisstake. ppl who take banksy seriously are...silly. exit through the giftshop was all an elaborate hoax. the man in the film who did the interviews as banksy is not really banksy. other ppl have pointed this out after seeing the film. he and real banksy in the tagging videos are built differently. bcs the tagging videos are at night you don’t notice as long as they cut quickly. and the mr. brainwash story is so full of holes, but there isn’t enough time to get into it. so much of it is complete fiction though.

exit through the giftshop is the film version of what banksy does with visual art: it’s all a huge huge pisstake. ppl who take banksy seriously are…silly.

]]> By: nigelfootpowder http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838972 nigelfootpowder Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838972 It doesn't seem to dawn on people that art is fundamentally about questions, and this is something that Banksy is really nailing. This is a pandora's box full of questions, and he (or she or it) is being really smart by remaining enigmatic. Banksy is the Subcommandante Marcos of the art world. By having his work be the only voice he uses, and not explaining things and telling us what we're supposed to be thinking about it, he forces us to live up to our part of the conversation. Think of all the things this is touching on: post empire America, the collapse of an american city, the nature of art and its relationship to its distribution channels, whether context is important, whether site is important, is he just some (very skilled) vandal or prankster, or does he have an agenda? Does he care that it's been removed from its original site? He's not interpreting this for us, we have to do it ourselves, and there are many many different answers to arrive at, and our answers will change as we have different experiences. For me this is art as a living thing, it's something that resists definition. I think that's what makes it a piece of genius- it's a terribly simple yet brilliantly strategic act, like the kung fu death touch. These ripples of puzzlement are evidence that the guy really did something special. It doesn’t seem to dawn on people that art is fundamentally about questions, and this is something that Banksy is really nailing. This is a pandora’s box full of questions, and he (or she or it) is being really smart by remaining enigmatic.

Banksy is the Subcommandante Marcos of the art world. By having his work be the only voice he uses, and not explaining things and telling us what we’re supposed to be thinking about it, he forces us to live up to our part of the conversation. Think of all the things this is touching on: post empire America, the collapse of an american city, the nature of art and its relationship to its distribution channels, whether context is important, whether site is important, is he just some (very skilled) vandal or prankster, or does he have an agenda? Does he care that it’s been removed from its original site? He’s not interpreting this for us, we have to do it ourselves, and there are many many different answers to arrive at, and our answers will change as we have different experiences.

For me this is art as a living thing, it’s something that resists definition. I think that’s what makes it a piece of genius- it’s a terribly simple yet brilliantly strategic act, like the kung fu death touch. These ripples of puzzlement are evidence that the guy really did something special.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838722 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838722 Banksy usually puts his tags up on his website after he does them. This one is up there. http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm Banksy usually puts his tags up on his website after he does them.

This one is up there.

http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm

]]> By: spcfgt http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838467 spcfgt Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838467 That's *Exit* Through the Gift Shop hehe And where did you see it? I've been trying to find this everywhere. More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587707/ That’s *Exit* Through the Gift Shop hehe

And where did you see it? I’ve been trying to find this everywhere.

More info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587707/

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838980 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838980 I remember when banksy.co.uk was a flash site with a seemingly self written biographical blurb. I remember when banksy.co.uk was a flash site with a seemingly self written biographical blurb.

]]> By: Quiet Noises http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838471 Quiet Noises Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838471 At a Packard plant? Is this more commentary on post-war corporate management or current environmental practices? At a Packard plant? Is this more commentary on post-war corporate management or current environmental practices?

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838728 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838728 Banksy also does take credit in many cases: http://banksy.co.uk/ The above picture is listed. Banksy also does take credit in many cases:

http://banksy.co.uk/

The above picture is listed.

]]> By: allan http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838731 allan Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838731 Wait, so is this an <i>extremely</i> tongue-in-cheek Banksy? http://missionmission.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/detroit-street-art-white-hipster-wants-to-tell-you-about-civil-rights/ Wait, so is this an extremely tongue-in-cheek Banksy? http://missionmission.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/detroit-street-art-white-hipster-wants-to-tell-you-about-civil-rights/

]]> By: failix http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838481 failix Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838481 There's currently a small film festival here in Freiburg ( http://www.filmfest-freiburg.de/filme/bansky.htm ). I got lucky. I didn't realize the screenings were so limited... sorry :P. (I could watch it again tonight if I wanted, muahaha). There’s currently a small film festival here in Freiburg ( http://www.filmfest-freiburg.de/filme/bansky.htm ). I got lucky. I didn’t realize the screenings were so limited… sorry :P. (I could watch it again tonight if I wanted, muahaha).

]]> By: Brainspore http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838737 Brainspore Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838737 Time was when "art heist" meant stealing something OUT of a gallery. Time was when “art heist” meant stealing something OUT of a gallery.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838482 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838482 Art isn't about aesthetic reactions, it's about emotional reactions. Art isn’t about aesthetic reactions, it’s about emotional reactions.

]]> By: dculberson http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838494 dculberson Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838494 Huh, that little boy doesn't look like he's over 103 years old!! (That packard plant was built in 1907.) Huh, that little boy doesn’t look like he’s over 103 years old!!

(That packard plant was built in 1907.)

]]> By: mramberg http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838496 mramberg Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838496 It's a lovely painting, but once moved from the context so much is lost... the domestication of wild art is one of the great tragedies of modern times. It’s a lovely painting, but once moved from the context so much is lost… the domestication of wild art is one of the great tragedies of modern times.

]]> By: Hanglyman http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838508 Hanglyman Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838508 To be fair, the message works pretty much anywhere in the USA... it's likely the gallery it got moved to used to be trees, too. To be fair, the message works pretty much anywhere in the USA… it’s likely the gallery it got moved to used to be trees, too.

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-839023 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-839023 I like Banksy stuff because it's cheeky and the artist doesn't tell us how to enjoy it. The thought of people tearing out walls to install in a gallery is ridiculous. Take a fucking photograph. If the artist were worried about it being exposed to the elements, then they wouldn't have put it there! I like Banksy stuff because it’s cheeky and the artist doesn’t tell us how to enjoy it. The thought of people tearing out walls to install in a gallery is ridiculous. Take a fucking photograph. If the artist were worried about it being exposed to the elements, then they wouldn’t have put it there!

]]> By: paul http://boingboing.net/2010/07/20/banksy-does-detroit.html#comment-838514 paul Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-838514 In my opinon if you take a piece of street art and then put it in a sterile art gallery then it misses the point completely ... and it probably its really art anymore. In my opinon if you take a piece of street art and then put it in a sterile art gallery then it misses the point completely … and it probably its really art anymore.

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