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It’s street art/graffiti. If someone wants to tag over it let them. Protecting this stuff with tax payer money is just stupid.
by doikor 1mo ago
It’s street art/graffiti. If someone wants to tag over it let them. Protecting this stuff with tax payer money is just stupid.
- tptacek 1mo agoI think that's where I'm at too (as a lifelong fan of actual street art), but that leaves the question of why Banksy is privileged the way he is, for his trite brand of sub-tour-poster stencil work, most of which would be too on-the-nose for a Rage Against The Machine reissue cover.
- mmooss 1mo ago> trite brand of sub-tour-poster stencil work, most of which would be too on-the-nose for a Rage Against The Machine reissue cover. Art makes questions: It's both stencil-like and precisely, powerfully executed; it's both obviously 'on-the-nose' as you say, and penetrating. How is that all true simultaneously? (I don't know; it's what I've wondered and you helped clarify the question.)
- tptacek 1mo agoIt has no subtext, poses no real questions (Reddit nailed this: "war is bad, innit?"), and pursues only "coolness". It is thus fashion more than it is art, and it's not daring fashion. Its closest analog is Shephard Fairey, of the Obama "HOPE" mural, who now spends his days "engineering meaningful brand experiences with authority & authenticity". There's nothing wrong with that; I respect graphic design and branding deeply. But it's not deep or meaningful.
- mmooss 1mo ago> It has no subtext, poses no real questions (Reddit nailed this: "war is bad, innit?"), and pursues only "coolness". I can't read your mind but that sounds like the usual response to artwork that someone doesn't want to understand: the subjective judgment made truth, the absolutism (no curiosity, not even a possibility of anything else), the aggressive dismissal. Sarcastic comments on Reddit are, IME, truly pursuing only 'coolness' and make no attempt at insight. Pursuing insight requires embracing ignorance and questions, thus surrendering the smarter-than-thou attitude. You're missing out, IMHO.
- tptacek 1mo agoYou'd I think be the first person to argue that Banksy's art is too subtle for some people to get.
- mmooss 1mo agoWhatever, but I'm saying they aren't trying. Understanding art, beyond the surface, takes work. Something in it provokes people, often a good signal.
- tptacek 1mo agoI don't think understanding Banksy takes much work.
- mmooss 1mo agoMaybe you're missing something. The sin is dismissing that even if you don't intend to pursue it. Especially when others say they see more - see my original comment. Often, when I don't see something I later find I was looking in the wrong dimension (in a sort of geometric sense). Classical music aficionados rejected rock music as 'just noise'; they were looking for elements of classical music. Rock fans sometimes find classical boring for a similar reason. In any case, I'm sorry you are missing out. :)
- tptacek 1mo agoI love rock music. Banksy is the musical equivalent of My Chemical Romance.
- ASalazarMX 1mo agoI'd say the stencil work is a necessity so the grafitti can be painted as fast as possible.
- tptacek 1mo agoEvery serious street artist would disagree. Watch a video of someone putting one of these up. There's a zillion of them on Youtube.