9 ms·

> 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 mean

> 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
It’s hardly Banksy’s fault for getting famous. Was Banksy supposed to stop creating art once it was no longer being washed off and seen as a nuisance?
mindslight 5mo ago
Your assumption that government power will invariably be (ab)used to oppress messages the people in government do not like is a dynamic of fascism, not a universal truth.
- blockmarker 5mo ago
  We aren't talking about a painting in a private gallery, it's a big object in the middle of the street. If it was actually unauthorized it would be removed, even if the British government respected free speech. If artists could actually place at night their works and not be removed, the streets would be blocked due to the number of statues. This clearly seems to be a sponsored work with typical Banksy marketing, like the work that got half-shredded at its auction.
  - mindslight 5mo ago
    Regardless of whether the physical placement was authorized or not, my comment still applies regarding the specific content of the message. Authorization could be done with permits, or just tacitly by the notability of the artist. And while one can kind of do some handwaving and liken the latter dynamic to some mild corruption, that is still nowhere near the level of motivated corruption under fascism. And at this point comments invoking phrases like "established media" and "global bureaucratic regime" have a general thrust of pushing us away from liberal institutions and towards fascism, so I find those appeals quite disingenuous.
- sadmad 5mo ago
  [dead]

9 ms·

> 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 mean

by something765478 5mo ago

justsid 5mo ago
It’s hardly Banksy’s fault for getting famous. Was Banksy supposed to stop creating art once it was no longer being washed off and seen as a nuisance?
mindslight 5mo ago
Your assumption that government power will invariably be (ab)used to oppress messages the people in government do not like is a dynamic of fascism, not a universal truth.
- blockmarker 5mo ago
  We aren't talking about a painting in a private gallery, it's a big object in the middle of the street. If it was actually unauthorized it would be removed, even if the British government respected free speech. If artists could actually place at night their works and not be removed, the streets would be blocked due to the number of statues. This clearly seems to be a sponsored work with typical Banksy marketing, like the work that got half-shredded at its auction.
  - mindslight 5mo ago
    Regardless of whether the physical placement was authorized or not, my comment still applies regarding the specific content of the message. Authorization could be done with permits, or just tacitly by the notability of the artist. And while one can kind of do some handwaving and liken the latter dynamic to some mild corruption, that is still nowhere near the level of motivated corruption under fascism. And at this point comments invoking phrases like "established media" and "global bureaucratic regime" have a general thrust of pushing us away from liberal institutions and towards fascism, so I find those appeals quite disingenuous.
- sadmad 5mo ago
  [dead]