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New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
- Gongo_Emperor 5mo ago[flagged]
- ggm 5mo agoThe point is not just that he's blinded by the flag: He's boldly marching into the void, confident. "wrapped in the flag" is a great saying.
- ua709 5mo agoWorse than a void because a void is not necessarily bad. Walking “off a cliff” rarely ends well.
- freedomben 5mo agoAgree, but that's what we know. The man in the statue is walking into a void from his perspective because he lacks knowledge of his true predicament and is blindly marching forward.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- EnPissant 5mo ago[flagged]
- bogdan 5mo agoI have no idea what you're on about
- analog8374 5mo agoHe's suggesting that there are several flavors of blindness going around so if we're going to point fingers then we might start with ourselves.
- danparsonson 5mo ago...which is a blatant false equivalence, to be clear.
- analog8374 5mo agoI think it's a pretty good equivalence, actually. And pretty good advice. Passionate certainty should raise a red flag.
- danparsonson 5mo agoThe equivalence between supporting the rights of oppressed minorities, and inciting violence towards foreigners, is a good one?
- dijksterhuis 5mo agoi find that passionate certainty can be a good thing in some cases, especially when someone really does know what they are talking about. but fanaticism is more often a problem than not. fanatics tend to not really understand what they're talking about, or twist it to fit what they want it to be about. > Fanaticism: Excessive enthusiasm, unreasoning zeal, or wild and extravagant notions, on any subject, especially religion, politics or ideology; religious frenzy. note -- not talking about any particular "thing" here. just commenting about passion vs. fanaticism in general.
- kulahan 5mo agoI see a similar idea that often gets people talking past each other re: patriotism vs. nationalism
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- ninjagoo 5mo ago> He's boldly marching into the void into the void, or off the edge? "off the edge" is a clear interpretation of the statue. "into the void" is a bit more of a stretch. IMHO. But that's art for you. Everyone has their own take on it.
- esjeon 5mo agoI guess “void” here is a bit more like a place you can’t even see (because of the flag).
- nickpeterson 5mo agoI always knew returning void was a bad idea
- rob74 5mo agoI you fall off the edge, you might soon be confronted with the void (of death).
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- ndsipa_pomu 5mo agoThe position of the statue (notably the front foot) make it seem very much "walking unknowingly off the ledge of a tall pedestal" rather than marching into the void. I think there's a difference in that "marching into the void" can be seen as heroic, but unknowingly stepping off a ledge is generally seen as being stupid i.e. not using your senses to inform you about the world, but instead relying on nationalism (the flag) to guide you.
- inglor_cz 5mo agoImagine the torrent of wrath if it turned out to be the Palestinian flag.
- MisterTea 5mo ago"It's never steered me wrong!"
- erikerikson 5mo agoGiven that the flag bearer apparently walked on to the pillar, why wouldn't we suspect they can repeat the performance?
- Timwi 5mo agoBecause by walking off the edge they will injure themselves.
- ismail 5mo agoDeath of the nation state?
- ButlerianJihad 5mo agoI see that we have presumed the gender and age of this figure, or we’ve accepted the headline as definitive interpretation of it.
- IAmBroom 5mo agoThe figure is dressed as a traditional Western business/politician man. The person is also weighty - not at all slim - which is consistent with middle or old age. Since that's all the info it gives us, it is acceptable to believe what we are shown is what we are "supposed to" see. When Whistler paints one half of his mother's profile, I just naturally assume she has the other half of her body, too.
- metalman 5mo agoStatue of a man in a suit walking off a precipice while blinding himself with the flag he is carrying. https://banksy.co.uk/index.html https://banksy.co.uk/index.html
- Simulacra 5mo agoI can't get over the flag itself… It's a black flag. Not a British flag, not a white flag,… A BLACK flag. Historically, the black flag is strongly associated with anarchism, anti-state politics, revolt, and rejection of national authority. Had he colored it in the union jack, then I would've said it was nationalism, and the person is blinded by nationalism. But. This is Banksy, black-and-white Banksy, so there may be no symbolism behind the black flag, but it's just very interesting. I can't accept that he would not have considered the color of the flag.
- mindslight 5mo agoI think it's about being slightly more subtle than a frontal attack on a specific flag. But from an American perspective a guy wearing a suit while carrying an "anarchist" flag wouldn't be inappropriate, either.
- Ancapistani 5mo agoWhy not? We anarchists with careers do in fact exist. There are probably dozens of us outside of tech, even!
- mindslight 5mo agoHow would you say your numbers compare to the amount of business leaders who are marketing themselves with messages of liberation, but actually want to usher in an era of unfettered corporate authoritarianism? I was not saying an anarchist wearing a suit cannot exist. Rather I was pointing out the current pop culture abuse of the concepts of anarchism/libertarianism.
- forgotusername6 5mo agoI think it's a reasonable statue. But does anyone else think it's a bit obvious, more so than his other work? Like there is no doubt on the meaning at all, it's all right there on the surface level.
- LightBug1 5mo agoHe's always been one to land a one-liner, or just a punch line. Sadly, in this day and age, that simple one-punch obvious meaning is just what's needed.
- kibwen 5mo ago[dead]
- zeroonetwothree 5mo agoYes doesn’t feel very innovative
- vscode-rest 5mo agoDo know know of any “prior art”, so to speak?
- wand3r 5mo agoCertainly in America but all over the west, people are significantly less capable of media literacy. Sometimes the obvious needs to be said.
- schoen 5mo agoI misparsed this headline as (Statue (of a man (blinded by a flag (put up by Banksy)))) in central London It is intended to be ((Statue (of a man (blinded by a flag))) (put up by Banksy)) in central London
- tolerance 5mo agoThe actual headline is more coherent but I'm not too fond of it either. You really don't see any good ol' fashioned short and sweet headlines that read best to the ear in a Mid-Atlantic accent anymore.
- pnt12 5mo agoNew statue in London. Banksy, maybe.
- vscode-rest 5mo agoBanksy erects central London statue of man blinded by flag, maybe?
- tolerance 5mo ago"BANKSY'S NO PATRIOT—SO SAYS NEW STATUE"
- petesergeant 5mo ago> Banksy erects central London statue of man It's an offence against public decency however you slice it!
- rapnie 5mo agoFor Youtube: No one knows TERRIBLE message behind statue that suddenly appeared. Until NOW.
- saltyoldman 5mo agoI was like, that's horrible how did this flag cause someone to go blind... Did it like fall on the guy when Banksy was putting it up? oh. duh...
- seydor 5mo agoAnyone else leaving up a huge statue in the middle of the park would be arrested
- SamBam 5mo agoPresumably Banksy and associates would have been arrested too if they had been caught. This whole thing relies on doing it in a way that people don't question it while it's happening.
- arrrg 5mo agoYeah, and that is precisely the point. This contradiction at the heart of it does a lot of work and is a very valuable part of the art. This contradiction has led me to think a lot about rules and their role in society and to what extent pure strict rules based societies are a worthwhile goal and on the other hand what it means of we make exceptions.
- seydor 5mo agoThis is a joke right? If elon musk had done the same thing (which he obviously could) i don't understand what is the value
- arrrg 5mo agoIf Elon Musk did this because he wanted to (not make a statement, just to achieve some other goal he has) then that‘s not really art. If he did it to make a statement about how different rules apply to billionaires and he wanted to point that out then that to me would be an interesting artistic expression, sure (though he probably wouldn’t do that). For well more than a century artists like Duchamp (e.g. Fountain from 1917) have been playing around with what turns something into art and makes it valued and where then line between art/not art is and what that has to do with explicit and implicit rules. To me graffiti in its contemporary form in general but also specifically Banksy is a pretty natural continuation from that discourse that fits right in. That to me has always been the additional layer to any work by Banksy, whatever other (often obvious) statement the artwork might make.
- tommica 5mo agoYeah, definetly had the city agree to it, no way in hell to sneak a statue like that without the cops getting involved.
- gib444 5mo agoAgreed. Also why it's totally inoffensive (Though it's not in /the/ City of London. That wouldn't happen in a million years! City of Westminster is way more culturally flexible)
- tialaramex 5mo agoIt doesn't make sense in the City. Waterloo Place, where he put this, has a bunch of statues already for tourists to gawp at, just now as well as "Bloke on a Horse who was an important military leader" there's this guy stepping off his plinth because the flag blocks him from seeing what's in front of him. The City is dead at night. If an artist wants to put art there, they'd just as somebody else said, dress up like they are workmen and be fine.
- peteri 5mo agoI dunno they were flexible with the Piranha art work displaying it in the guildhall temporarily. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2qz89nk11o https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2qz89nk11o
- vscode-rest 5mo agoThe trick is not to sneak it. Hi Viz and some yellow flashing lights. Couple smooth talkers.
- consp 5mo agoPretty much what we learned as student when we were doing something which we technically had no permit for (like digging out some stuff, using it for a theme party and putting it backs few days later). Put on some hiviz and nobody is the wiser.
- AlexandrB 5mo agoWhich flag?
- rootlocus 5mo agoThe one he's carrying.
- shocks 5mo agoAny flag.
- Simulacra 5mo agoA black flag!
- BLKNSLVR 5mo ago[flagged]
- LightBug1 5mo agoAnd others in this thread were worried about it being too obvious ... ffs
- pvaldes 5mo agoThe only thing that we know about the flag is that it a fiberglass flag, so he must be obviously criticising the allegedly benefits of fiber in the diet. As seen by the raised fist, the man is angry because the operation Epic Fiber has caused a blockage just in the strait of Trump, so is a metaphor about the dangers of having too much nuts in the world. Banski has planned also that the flag ends totally white by seagull activity; so this, always evolving and deceivingly simple piece of art, gives us hope for a future restoration of the blockage soon before we end nuking everybody on the process. Denouncing the raise to nuttionalism while providing hope for the future. A powerful message. See?, this is art, everybody can sell anything with a little practice. If they can sell a banana taped in a wall, so you can too.
- MrBuddyCasino 5mo agoReally makes you think. I guess Palestine and Ukraine should just give up.
- dickens5 5mo ago[flagged]
- ebbi 5mo agoIsrael should give up on the apartheid, genocide, and the war crimes. No one but the worst of the worst Zionists want to see the continuation of the last 80 years.
- jojobas 5mo agoYou can't seriously put Palestine and Ukraine in the same sentence like this.
- arduanika 5mo agoSure he can. Both of them have flags, and all flags are bad. They blow in your face and make you dumb. Why can't world be less dumb? So many dumb flag people. I do art.
- rjinman 5mo agoNo, you don’t understand, it’s only British national flags that are bad!
- jansan 5mo agoWho decides that this is from Banksy? I could make a stencil graffiti in my village and claim it's from Banksy and noone could prove me wrong. Or is he using a digital signature as proof of authorship?
- vessenes 5mo agoIf you want to know authenticity, you submit to https://pestcontroloffice.com/auth1.asp https://pestcontroloffice.com/auth1.asp -- they verify / deny, and that is the final word.
- bjourne 5mo agoIs that site for real? It almost seems like some kind of Monty Pythonesque humour site.
- infinitewars 5mo agoYes it's real: https://banksy.co.uk/in.html https://banksy.co.uk/in.html (licensing)
- matteason 5mo agoHe posts on his Instagram to verify authenticity: https://www.instagram.com/p/DXwf7pis6KT https://www.instagram.com/p/DXwf7pis6KT
- seydor 5mo agoHis agent would tell the media that your vandalism is not genuine
- nickthegreek 5mo agoThe piece states that it appears to be molded fiberglass. But is anyone aware of any more in depth analysis of its materials/possible production technique? Was the pillar barren on top before?
- ZeroGravitas 5mo agoThe pillar is fiberglass too, I believe. There's a (mostly terrible) documentary about a previous bansky "statue" deposited in London that, in one of its better moments, tracks down the people who actually make statues for artists like banksy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banksy_Job https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Banksy_Job edit: I feel I should clarify that this is not an official Banksy documentary. He made "Exit Through the Gift Shop" which is an amazing film which I highly recommend to anyone.
- Animats 5mo agoAw, it's Fiberglas? Not bronze and stone? The Wall Street Bull was a guerilla art piece too. It's a real bronze. Weighs about three metric tons. It's hugely popular, although it's been moved a few times. Banksy's work should be replicated in bronze and stone and placed permanently.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- tim333 5mo agoI went to have a look at it. It appears to be one piece, probably fiberglass on a wooden frame, probably it was loaded on a flatbed truck with some sort of crane arm and put there. I don't know if it was just weighted at the bottom or fixed some how.
- dickens5 5mo ago[flagged]
- lschueller 5mo agoWell, for a failing artist he is quite impactful, isn't he? News around the world reporting about it. People discussing it. This seems to be quite inspiring and anything else but failing.
- BLKNSLVR 5mo agoGot you to comment, job done. Engagement: tick.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- periodjet 5mo agoBanksy is the patron saint of the “I’m 13 and this is deep” mentality.
- rvba 5mo agoReally riles up PE types and "patriots" though.
- vkou 5mo agoThis criticism would carry more weight if the people this statue criticises had the intellectual and emotional maturity beyond that of a teenager. Unfortunately, they often don't meet that bar, so the message has to be in a form they can understand.
- 9dev 5mo ago"They'd be pretty angry if they could read"
- krapp 5mo agoYou're being downvoted but honestly the "everyone is twelve now" meme explains our collective societal dysfunction perfectly. There's no point to complexity or subtlety in art anymore, or even any kind of symbolism at all. Anything that needs to be interpreted, that doesn't have a single objective meaning which gets spelled out for you. Flag man is silly. Everyone is twelve now.
- Lerc 5mo agoLana Wachowski has said that the Red Pill movement taught her that no matter how unsubtle you are, it's still too subtle for some people.
- tialaramex 5mo agoHuh. I hadn't thought about how the "Red Pill movement" would feel for the Wachowskis, yeah, there's truly no limit to how oblivious people can be and this thread is illustrative.
- wartywhoa23 5mo agoBanksy's "anonymity" is a total farce at this point, thoroughly supported by those in power.
- Lerc 5mo agoI'm not sure what you mean by "Those in power" there are lot's of people who know, but recognise that he has chosen anonymity and see no value in putting a name to the person. It's not so much a secret as it is simply not public.
- watwut 5mo agoSimple logic, if you make an anti-nationalist-war point and current mainstream politicians are against the war, you are just an establishment stooge.
- plewd 5mo agoNot sure what you mean by "not public", given that you can just search it up and find a Reuters article from March giving out his full name and background.
- toyg 5mo agoWho cares? Are you similarly triggered by The Rock or Alemao? Banksy is Banksy.
- badgersnake 5mo agoThe point appears to have whizzed a couple of feet over your head.
- axus 5mo agoTracking Bansky is a favorite spy software sales demo given to authoritarian governments.
- qingcharles 5mo agoGood. I'm glad most of the media have come to a gentlemen's agreement to not blast his name everywhere. Adds a little more fun to the world. Even this statute is staying for now, the local council, bless them, have decided to leave it in place for the near future.
- nickdothutton 5mo agoRemember kids. Don't believe in anything. Don't join anything. Don't give even a small part of yourself up to anything. Don't be part of anything bigger than yourself.
- bdangubic 5mo agomuch more sound advice than you think…
- wartywhoa23 5mo agoDon't be part of anything bigger than yourself that treats you as expendable human oil.
- lucketone 5mo agoStop and reflect for a moment. Then continue as usual (quite likely)
- wartywhoa23 5mo agoI had to check your other comments and now I get it that you still regard flags as having some sacred meaning in the great national past, but for me they always were about gathering as much human expendables underneath. Sure, they might have had generated enough sacred reverence, those bloodbaths of past.
- lucketone 5mo ago> you still regard flags as having some sacred meaning I would like to disagree on this point.
- wartywhoa23 5mo agoSorry if I got you wrong!
- slopinthebag 5mo agoWind bad.
- xyzelement 5mo agoIt took me a minute to figure out why I think it's lame. I suspect that Banksy and his fans are sure that it's "the other" Britons that are blinded, it's not a self-reflection prompt for them. Maybe I am wrong. Maybe a more powerful piece of art would have that self reflection effect across the board. As is it feels about as nuanced as "fuck trump" and similar. If you already agree you already agree, if not then you just think it's stupid. So ultimately feels like impotent art unless I am totally misunderstanding.
- lucketone 5mo agoIs it that important to decode what author thought when he was making it? What if the design was made by generative model, does the statue become more or less valuable?
- lschueller 5mo agoSo many people connect this to political topics... For me this is the genius thing about the statue. Seems to be, that quite a lot people are so wrapped up in political debates and political positions, that it has to have political meaning. Maybe this statue is the exact opposit thing of a political message.
- fylo 5mo agoAre you trying to be ironic?
- delusional 5mo agoYet us talking about it just prompted me to consider how that applies to my life, so something good came of it :)
- LightBug1 5mo agoI don't think it's impotent at all. I think you're wildly overestimating the general population's capacity for nuance. Particularly in a world where nuance goes the same way as wood logs near a fire place.
- ninjagoo 5mo ago> It took me a minute to figure out why I think it's lame. > Maybe a more powerful piece of art would have that self reflection effect across the board. As is it feels about as nuanced as "fuck trump" and similar. If you already agree you already agree, if not then you just think it's stupid. So close. Based on your own statement, it appears that you disagree with the proposed thesis by this piece of art. > So ultimately feels like impotent art unless I am totally misunderstanding. Maybe you should re-examine why you think it is stupid/lame. Is it because it calls you out and you don't like that feeling?
- haunter 5mo agoHe definitely got a permit for that which makes the whole thing even more laughable
- CPLX 5mo agoThere's no definitely about that at all. The city of Westminster issued a statement that seems fairly clear that they were as surprised as everybody else but are taking steps to protect it.
- tialaramex 5mo agoYeah, one of my distant friends is a councillor in a borough where Banksy did a mural years back and it was definitely much more about ensuring the standing "Send in workers to paint over any graffiti" reaction doesn't happen than some sort of "That's nice, the committee which issued the permit for this didn't tell me when it would happen". So far as she told me she heard about it the same way most people did, it was on the local news that morning.
- tim333 5mo agoHe's no doubt not got a permit. However Banksy is something of a popular British institution these days.
- daseiner1 5mo agoseems missed in the general commentary that there is also an inherent commentary on the western tradition of “blind justice” https://i.etsystatic.com/13403651/r/il/40b0bf/6851322246/il_1080xN.6851322246_fof9.jpg https://i.etsystatic.com/13403651/r/il/40b0bf/6851322246/il_...
- danparsonson 5mo agoHow so? The concept of the 'blindness' of justice is antithetical to blind patriotism.
- daseiner1 5mo ago> The concept of the 'blindness' of justice is antithetical to blind patriotism. exactly. i mean only to point out that the Banksy work intentionally invokes the figure of Blind Justice to inform the work, however you may interpret it.
- declan_roberts 5mo agoThings were more fun when they were actually transgressive and not just the established doctrine of those in power.
- _hark 5mo agoYeah. The safety of the message is underwritten by its state sanction.
- monooso 5mo agoIn what way is this statue state sanctioned?
- declan_roberts 5mo agoIt's on display in downtown London dude. Also who do you think paid for it?
- monooso 5mo agoIt was erected surreptitiously in the dead of night. That does not imply state approval. As for who paid for it, I don't know, possibly the extremely successful and wealthy artist who created it. If you have any evidence to the contrary, by all means present it.
- gib444 5mo agoIt not being taken down yet implies state approval (4 days now?). It's on Pall Mall ffs, right near a statue of a King It's not like the wealthiest city in the UK is lacking in resources to do something about it.
- Shocka1 5mo agoAnecdote, a close family member of mine is a director of arts for a very large city in the US. They typically install/uninstall at night - she's told me this is especially important with cultural or otherwise edgy pieces.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- nothinkjustai 5mo agoIf someone was to deface this statue would they face legal action? It’s kind of an interesting thought, side if it really was just put up without the city’s authority it would be okay, and if it wasn’t it defeats the entire point. “Rage against the machine” by doing what the machine wants type thing.
- declan_roberts 5mo agoYes. This is state-sanctioned think. They probably paid to put it up!
- lucketone 5mo agoThat evil city council..
- petermcneeley 5mo agoReally makes you wonder about other things as well...
- yakkomajuri 5mo agoUnfortunately the article doesn't tell us much. I'd have hoped for some footage beyond what was released by the artist.
- drcongo 5mo agoThis statue might be the best thing he's ever done. I love it.
- kakacik 5mo agovery current, elegant yet simple to appreciate - everybody can find some reference there
- nephihaha 5mo agoIs it? The flag is black, so could be a variety of things, not necessarily even a national flag. Just a flag in a march. (Anarchism uses a black flag.)
- celticninja 5mo agoThe guy is walking off a cliff and he is blinded by the flag. I assume it is a commentary on Brexit. It is just short of a decade since that vote. Nationalism blinded people and they did something stupid. Not dissimilar to what is going on in the US too.
- TFNA 5mo ago> I assume it is a commentary on Brexit. The Brexit vote was a decade ago and though many mourn the outcome, it’s a bit late to be erecting artwork about it. References to being blinded by a flag now are probably about the particular far-right organizing of the last year or so that employs the English and UK flags in a very particular way. [0] [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Raise_the_Colours https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Raise_the_Colours
- n1b0m 5mo agoMore likely a commentary on the flying of flags. Since late 2025 and throughout 2026, the UK has seen a surge in flags (the Union Jack and St George’s Cross) being tied to lampposts, bridges, and roundabouts. This campaign, which has been highly visible on social media and in physical neighborhoods, claims to promote patriotism. However, it has been deeply polarising, with critics and anti-racism groups arguing it is being used by far-right groups to mark territory and intimidate immigrant communities.
- ignoramous 5mo agoDespite the denials, the answer is most likely this was all coordinated with LEAs. Some artists have questioned if Banksy, once considered anti-establishment, now enjoys special treatment from Britain's powers that be. In 2014, Vice Media asked: 'Why Is Banksy the Only Person Allowed to Vandalize Britain’s Walls?' The story quoted David Speed, a street artist who ran a British graffiti collective. "It's very much one rule for him and another rule for everyone else ... When street artists do it, it's vandalism. When Banksy does it, it's an art piece." Contacted by Reuters, Speed praised Banksy as "a really important artist of modern times." Yet he still wonders why "one artist should be able to have carte blanche and everyone else would be subject to penalties." In Search of Banksy, https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/global-art-banksy/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/global-a... (2026).
- brookst 5mo agoNot sure I agree it’s “most likely” when the linked article presents no evidence of LEA awareness or complicity, just one person speculating. I know firsthand what can be done with a hardhat, clipboard, and high-viz vest. IMO it is far more likely that Banksy is just really good at social engineering in ways that other street artists are not.
- adzm 5mo agoPlus this is pretty much the only street artist with worldwide name recognition; of course things are going to be different.
- huflungdung 5mo ago[dead]
- noosphr 5mo agoThe difference is that you'd get a police visit and your artwork torn down if you're not Banksy.
- kerridge0 5mo ago
- jchip303 5mo ago[dead]
- dreambuffer 5mo agoEngland has a long history producing artwork against some institution, only for that institution to get worse over time. George Orwell wrote about the dangers of authoritarianism and surveillance, and since then the UK government has only ratcheted up their surveillance and authority. They also made a movie called This is England which straightforwardly depicts young English nationalists ruining their lives with nationalism, and 20 years later there are more nationalists in England than at any point after WW2. Will Banksy's legacy be more or less the same?
- vpribish 5mo agoalmost as if "England" is more than one person!
- gerdesj 5mo ago"They also made a movie called This is England which straightforwardly depicts young English nationalists" Not sure who you think "they" are but "This is England" is superb. It deals with a lot of issues, way beyond just nationalism and the like. Perhaps you would like to fix your gimlet gaze on "A Clockwork Orange" and deliver a further withering critique. A simple explanation regarding the increase of the number of nationalists within England is the population has increased. QED.
- phainopepla2 5mo agoThis is such an odd comment. People in arts and letters warning about some element of society or culture and then that element growing in strength is something that can be found in most countries, and doesn't seem more prevalent in England than elsewhere.
- ericmay 5mo agoEngland has gotten more liberal over time, not less. I'm not following your logic here. It seems you're wanting to criticize the government of the UK for being authoritarian and ratcheting up the surveillance state, but simultaneously criticize nationalists and link them to this government, but nationalists and right-leaning groups haven't really been in charge of the UK.
- everfrustrated 5mo agoThe idea that Banksy's identity is unknown is a complete myth perpuated by the popular press. The guy is well known and very much part of the establishment.
- celticninja 5mo ago[flagged]
- slopinthebag 5mo agoWhat are you talking about?
- parpfish 5mo agoso why don't you share who it is with the rest of the class? why help perpetuate his (her?) secret identity mystique
- hactually 5mo ago> Banksy was born Robin Gunningham but later took the name David Jones long been known as establishment friendly
- neonstatic 5mo agoIt's pretty obvious once you look at the art - it has a very specific political leaning, which also happens to have been the predominant one in the UK since Blair.
- actionfromafar 5mo agocloset-fascist?
- neonstatic 5mo agoEurope has gone so far left-wing, that not-left-enough are called fascist :)
- slopinthebag 5mo agoI doubt Banksy is a single person fwiw.
- delichon 5mo agoHe's also Satoshi.
- bdangubic 5mo agoand Elvis
- sudb 5mo agoThere's most definitely many people involved in Banksy's art - but consensus seems to be forming that it's a man named Robin Gunningham [1]. 1. https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/global-art-banksy/ https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/global-a...
- phainopepla2 5mo agoHe is, but like most artists at his level the work and execution is primarily produced by others. He's a brand manager at this point.
- tim333 5mo agoHe's Robin Gunningham but probably has freinds.
- sb057 5mo agoHad this statue been erected in 2006, it would’ve been an immortal masterpiece. Had it been sculpted in 2016, it would still have been a great statue but flawed. But it was made in 2026. Alas, what can one say?
- tristanj 5mo agoI wish Banksy put the statue a block away at the roundabout at the end of Pall Mall instead. The current spot he picked already has several other statues there. The roundabout at the end of Pall Mall is empty, presently rather dull, and would look much nicer with a statue. This is the better spot: https://maps.app.goo.gl/6EmX2jPiaKRNtNtr8 https://maps.app.goo.gl/6EmX2jPiaKRNtNtr8 51°30'19.0"N 0°08'16.0"W
- BLKNSLVR 5mo agoIsn't that part of the point? To compare and contrast the current world 'leadership' with historical figures (which could go both ways).
- jb1991 5mo agoI can assure you that they would not have gone through all this enormous effort to quickly install a statue without very careful consideration of the most effective place to do so.
- tim333 5mo agoMaybe it's not too late? You could suggest that to the council.
- varispeed 5mo agoIt's kind of cheap. Obviously saying "Reform bad." without addressing why so many people think it's not bad. Banksy forgets that humans are humans and do human things.
- CapitalistCartr 5mo agoI have a hardhat, high viz vest, lanyard, and $600 toolbelt because I'm an industrial electrician, but they get me into a lot. My face becomes invisible; I become "The Electrician".
- nullc 5mo agoThe free coffee is a nice bonus.
- criddell 5mo agoA while ago I read about Todd Lappin making his personal car look like a work truck as an urban camouflage project. > This urban camouflage guise is very useful for parking in yellow zones, urban/industrial exploration, and crime deterrence. And the thing is… it really works! https://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/1665853 https://www.flickr.com/photos/telstar/1665853 https://kk.org/cooltools/urban-camouflag/ https://kk.org/cooltools/urban-camouflag/
- ninjagoo 5mo agoIt's an interesting piece. Makes one think about all those folks that have a lot of pride and vanity for a place that they had no control over being born in. The luck of the draw. And very likely had very little to do with the current state of the place. Pride at age 21? Meaningless vanity, like being proud of being born with a silver spoon. Pride at age 80? Sure, if it was a life well-lived.
- gopperl 5mo ago[flagged]
- ninjagoo 5mo ago> There's no luck involved in the fact that you were born to your parents, as they were to theirs. Are you claiming to have controlled where and to whom you were born? You did not choose your parents, country, ancestry, class, era, genes, language, or inherited institutions. You may be inseparable from those facts, but you did not earn them. > There's no luck involved in the fact that you were born to your parents > we were so fortunate to inherit from them. These two statements appear to be contradictory. > It is right to be proud of the achievements of your ancestors And what was your contribution to those achievements to justify this pride? You have to be careful to not fall into the trap of borrowed glory: treating an ancestor’s achievement as your own personal merit, or using ancestry to rank yourself above others. > toiled and strived to deliver the place that we were so fortunate to inherit > our responsibility to defend and improve that place for the coming generations of our people. Are you implying that the place belongs more fully to descendants of earlier inhabitants than to newer members of the community? So then Native Americans have a stronger claim than European descendants? Or is that a standard to only be applied moving forward? That's also like the caste system in India: only children of brahmins can be brahmins, children of shudras can only be shudras. One is superior to another by inheritance, not merit. That's ugly and abhorrent. > It is right to be proud of the achievements of your ancestors Are you then also ashamed of their crimes?
- gopperl 5mo ago
- bigiain 5mo ago"Dress up. Leave a false name. Be legendary. The best Poetic Terrorism is against the law, but don’t get caught. Art as crime; crime as art." -- T.A.Z.: The Temporary Autonomous Zone, Ontological Anarchy, Poetic Terrorism, 1985 The whole piece is great - https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/hakim-bey-t-a-z-the- https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/hakim-bey-t-a-z-the-... Or if you have 5 mins to spare, the album version with Bill Laswell is even better - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt9vMF01Pd8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nt9vMF01Pd8
- cboyardee 5mo ago[dead]
- sourcegrift 5mo agoThis seems like more bigotry against marginalized individuals and shouldn't be celebrated. The message here is that (the few) elites helping build a progressive society are doing it wrong.
- AngryData 5mo agoWhat elites are pushing for a progressive society? Doubling down on rule by capital holders isn't progressive, we have already seen it before.
- 867-5309 5mo agoholding such a large flag with one hand so high up on the pole? could easily be corrected with a lower holding position, two hands. if it did happen, the walking would cease immediately both the blinding and defiant fist are intentional. there is only one way to die and he controls it
- _m_p 5mo agoOk boomer.
- jaynate 5mo agoIsn’t there coverage on any other site with fewer ads and popups? I could literally barely navigate the article on my phone.
- dvh 5mo agoCountries with non-rectangular flags are meddling hands right now.
- cineticdaffodil 5mo agoThe final desperate shivers of a dying worldview, thats financially and socially so detached from the rest of the nation they couldn't even grasp when they got colonized.
- henry2023 5mo agoColonized by who?
- cineticdaffodil 5mo agoBy you
- tim333 5mo agoA lot of Americans like Musk et al get upset that we have some muslim immigrants. You get a lot of this weird we're colonised stuff when it's actually about 7% of the population and we used to do a lot of real colonisation the other way around with British India and the like.
- JuniperMesos 5mo agoBritish people were never anywhere close to 7% of the population of British India.
- tim333 5mo agoI was trying to say muslims are about 7% of the UK population.
- ivankirigin 5mo agoWhat is the emblem on the flag? Don't know. What is he fighting for? Don't know. How is he blind? What doesn't he see? What is behind or ahead? Don't know. Being cynical that all effort is wasted is played out at this point. Fight for something real. Name what you're against. It should be easy in the UK.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- uwagar 5mo agothis is going on since columbus. nothing new
- simianparrot 5mo agoNow colour the flag rainbow colored. Or maybe black, white, green, and red. Or maybe white and red. Whose flag is blinding whom?
- PokemonNoGo 5mo agoSounds like you are talking about the South African flag.
- seydor 5mo agoLet's just accept that UK art follows the general trajectory of the kingdom
- bigyabai 5mo agoThe rise of blind nationalism is a global trend, if I'm not mistaken.
- contingencies 5mo agoThis made me think of my favorite quote attributed to Einstein: Nationalismus ist eine Kinderkrankheit. Er ist die Masern der Menschheit. "Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind." ... quote via https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup
- gib444 5mo agoPeople are waking up to the decades of gaslighting and lies about failed immigration. It can't be stopped now. Nobody cares if they are called a "racist" because the word has been overused and is meaningless. Much of the media relentlessly continues with its gaslighting of course because the establishment wants and needs immigration. But people know they barely hear English in many parts of England, see high streets full of criminal fronts [0], know that many are a net tax drain, know an increased population is straining services and housing and so on. It's about failed immigration - regardless if they're from Poland or from Pakistan. It is ironically many on the left who are stupid and manipulated by the presence of some far right loons, which gives them a convenient excuse to listen to nobody except themselves. They are blinded by their own smugness and have been manipulated by the pro-immigration establishment sadly [0] https://www.tradingstandards.uk/media/3183107/hidden-in-plain-sight-tackling-crime-on-the-uks-high-streets.pdf https://www.tradingstandards.uk/media/3183107/hidden-in-plai...
- tim333 5mo agoMaybe but not sure how that relates to the statue?
- gib444 5mo agoEr I thought it was obvious? The statue, which is a massive dig at nationalism/blind patriotism - or perhaps any love for your own country at all... It's pretty offensive given how far the scales were balanced in the other direction for so long. How did you interpret the statue?
- namenotrequired 5mo ago“Attributed to Banksy”? It has his signature and he posted about it on his instagram. What else is needed to confirm the creator?
- 0123456789ABCDE 5mo agodon't you mean _allegedly_ "has his signature and…"
- strathmeyer 5mo ago[dead]
- t23414321 5mo agoThere is a lot of tributes to Bansksy - signed "3anksy" - he don't have to and didn't use to. Banksy has some specific and not random sense, this one.. shallowly could be considered IMHO ? (..and being installed Banksy style too). Convenient. "Attributed" could be second-order too (Memex). ?
- PokemonNoGo 5mo agoHe, or his team, post about the art on instagram. Same with this one. When I first heard about this statue I went there to find it. I guess they can post about any art though but this is how I try to fact check.
- Markoff 5mo agoSo anyone can now place whatever they want in public space in UK or some people like Banksy are more equal than the other people? I find this statue offensive for double standards. This should go quickly away unless they confirm he had official permit and he is just "anti-establishment" hipster.
- tim333 5mo agoI put my bin bags out on the pavement in Westminster too but the bastards seem to judge them as less artistic and take them away.
- WhereIsTheTruth 5mo agoFor some unknown reasons, the mainstream media wants to make sure i see this Baby, psyop me, one more time
- spiderfarmer 5mo agoNext Banksy artwork should depict paranoid people who delude themselves to the point where they think everything is about them.
- WhereIsTheTruth 5mo agoA sheep is a sheep, biped or quadruped, it doesn't matter
- spiderfarmer 5mo agoTinfoil is cheap.
- WhereIsTheTruth 5mo agoYet still no chips
- irthomasthomas 5mo agoTrust HN to turn a banksy into a Rorschach test. The statue is in Westminster, right by Whitehall. The heart of British government. It depicts a figure in a suit, marching off a ledge, completely blinded by a flag. Who wears a suit and marches through Westminster under a flag? - Businessmen? No. Merchants have no country. - Officials? They wear suits but don't march - Old-guard politicians? Rarely march or flag-wave with any conviction. So who are we left with? The populist. The Nigel Farage archetype. The suited firebrand who wrap themselves in nationalist fervor, stoke the rabble, and blindly march everyone right off a cliff. Banksy isn't known for complex, multi-layered messaging. He is popular precisely because he uses visual shorthand to say plainly what the general public is already thinking. There is no hidden 4D chess; it's just blunt satire about blind patriotism. Edit: This also explains why the government is happy to keep this particular Banksy on display.
- blks 5mo agoKind of shallow “makes you think huh” variety.
- fredsted 5mo agoIt's a little too on the nose, isn't it?
- bnksnksnkas 5mo agoEstablishment-sanctioned subversion is not subversion, it's propaganda.
- coolca 5mo agoThis Bansky guy is the edgy middle schooler art
- postsantum 5mo agoThis statue should be the symbol of "I am 14 and this is deep"
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- simonebrunozzi 5mo agoI tend to like Banksy a lot, even in things that are different than his "usual" style and type of work (graffiti), as in this case with a statue. More generally, I am wondering if anyone has a good explanation of what makes an artist "click" with the world, become famous, and usually raise the price of his/her artwork. I can bet that today it costs a lot to own anything by Banksy, considering that most of his work is not even "detachable" from its original creation point.
- Stevvo 5mo agoWhat raised the price of Banksy initially was that he gave it a price; he was the only graffiti artist doing gallery exhibitions and selling art. Before he put it in a gallery, nobody considered it have any value.
- manesioz 5mo agoBanksy is peak redditor. Masquerading as a free-thinking activist who happens to agree with every talking point of the established media and global bureaucratic regime.
- kaiwn 5mo agoEvery anti-establishment person is the same nowadays. Turns out they didn’t hate the power, they hated not having it. I think it’s human nature.
- contagiousflow 5mo ago> is the same nowadays When did that change?
- spprashant 5mo agoCan you elaborate? I happen to know nothing about Banksy's political views beyond perhaps he is slightly leaning to the left, maybe anti-capitalist?
- mindslight 5mo agoIt's nonsense. Reactionaries want to continue hamming up the bureaucratic power structure as the worst thing ever, so people won't focus on the fact that the only solution they are bringing to the table is bog standard autocracy. In reality, bureaucracy has been decent at tempering the exercise of authoritarian power and we've taken that for granted, now at our peril.
- something765478 5mo ago> Authorities on Thursday placed safety barriers around the statue as growing crowds of onlookers gathered The fact that the statue was allowed to stay up means that the authorities approved it. So, Banksy isn't really counterculture, he's government approved counterculture.
- justsid 5mo ago
- 6d6b73 5mo agoControlled opposition.
- slackfan 5mo agoBanksy is very much regime art.
- mr-wendel 5mo agoRather than try to score points for team X (or against team Y), I'll quote one of my favs. Please generalize as needed to suite your perspective. "I don't get all choked up about yellow ribbons and American flags. I see them as symbols, and I leave them to the symbol-minded." -George Carlin
- _DeadFred_ 5mo agoYep, they're a symbol. When my mom's loved one was overseas, they meant a lot. Symbols are powerful af. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDfGblfOsZ4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDfGblfOsZ4
- mr-wendel 5mo agoTrue that, and therein lies the difficulty in generalizing. No clue what the exact situation is here (Vietnam, perhaps?), but at the human-to-human level I'm glad for it and hope it brought her strength.
- weregiraffe 5mo agoThere are two kinds of people: The symbol-minded, and the symbol-minded who think they are not.
- nailer 5mo agoThe really interesting thing in the UK is that both team X and team Y absolutely love flags - the right loves putting up English flags in town, the left loves protesting with Palestine and occasional Hamas or Hezbollah flags.
- EchoReflection 5mo agothat's a good quote. I have to say though, despite the appeal of "rejecting 'tribalism' ", it is (or should be) "undeniable" that some "tribes" are "better" than others. There are reasons literally nobody wants to go to North Korea and people all over the world want to "flee" to countries that are meritocracies and support ideas like freedom of speech, women's rights, freedom of religion, etc. "Nobody" would claim (anymore) that "life is 'better' in countries that still have slaves". Modern Slavery Stats: 1. Asia and the Pacific: ~29.3 million (6.8 per 1000 ppl) 2. Africa: ~7.0 million (5.2 per 1000) 3. Europe and Central Asia: ~6.4 million (6.9 per 1000) 4. Americas: ~5.1 million (5 per 1000) 5. Arab States: ~1.7 (10.1 per 1000 [highest] ) https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/ https://www.walkfree.org/global-slavery-index/
- Integrape 5mo agoMy grandma and your grandma, Were sittin' by the fire. My grandma told your grandma "I'm gonna set your flag on fire"
- kadomony 5mo agoThe message is too smart for the people it's directed at.