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His work is awesome, but I'd argue the fact he can sell a red phone box chopped in half for $605,000 makes him part of the art establishment, not against it.
by damian2000 14y ago
His work is awesome, but I'd argue the fact he can sell a red phone box chopped in half for $605,000 makes him part of the art establishment, not against it.
- muhfuhkuh 14y agoBut, he didn't ask for that; he just put it out there and let the art world have at it. The fact that most of his preferred canvas is illegal (and by that nature, ephemeral) makes him firmly anti-establishment.
- rhizome 14y agoAbsolutely. A stencil on the side of a building is fundamentally unsellable (though walls have been preserved/sold before).
- bennyg 14y agoA lot of people live and work in the "system," if you will, but are still vehemently against it. I work for the Man, and wish I didn't, ideologically. But I have health care, solid vacation allotment and decent coworkers, so I'll bide time until something way better and cooler comes my way.
- majormajor 14y ago“There’s a whole new audience out there, and it’s never been easier to sell [one’s art],” Banksy has maintained. “You don’t have to go to college, drag ’round a portfolio, mail off transparencies to snooty galleries or sleep with someone powerful, all you need now is a few ideas and a broadband connection. This is the first time the essentially bourgeois world of art has belonged to the people. We need to make it count.” I think this is the key takeaway—that it's easier than ever to get exposure, and that you can get acceptance and even commercial success without playing by the traditional rules. The irony, he added, that his anti-establishment art commands huge prices isn’t lost on him. “I love the way capitalism finds a place—even for its enemies. It’s definitely boom time in the discontent industry. I mean how many cakes does Michael Moore get through?”
- rhizome 14y agoAnything called "art" has been termed so by an establishment.