Last Blog. Banksy.

Banksy's work: graffiti or murals?

I would defiantly consider Banksy's street art more murals than graffiti even though he is considered a 'graffiti artist'. There is a difference between someone making art and someone hitting up for 'fame'. Bansky does a mixture of both stencils and 'tagging' for his pieces. He seems to find perfect spots which are appropriate for his scene he has created. He even has his own website showcasing his stencils and works he has done around cities of the world. He concentrates on politics, culture, and ethics. Banksy has been born out of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians from the early 1990's until now. His pieces are humorous and I especially like how a lot of them look directly at you even though they are 2D figures on a flat wall.

Bansky does not sell photos of his work. It has been attempted to sell his

street art by art auctioners, on the location they were done. Removing it has proved difficult. Banksy himself, is as underground as his works.

Bansky comments on his technique "I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days ov

er an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key". However not everyone is intrigued with Banksy's work, Tower Hamlets Council in London has decided to treat all Banksy works as vandalism and remove them.

No one knows too much about him, he is guessed to be born in 1974, and believed to come from Yate, South Gloucestershire, near Bristol (where the underground took place). His re

al name is thought to be Robin Banks. One man, Simon Hattenstone, described him as "a 28 year old male who showed up wearing jeans and a t-shirt with a silver tooth, silver chain, and one silver earring". My opinion is that Bansky loves to cause controversy and he enjoys the spectulation that goes on about him. He commented on his website "I am unable to comment on who may or may not be Banksy, but anyone described as being 'good at drawing' doesn't sound like Banksy to me" - a statement which would cause a lot of dispute in itself.

Over the years Banksy has done many pieces. Some people describe them as art, others as vanderlism.

This photo is of a bunch of portaloos which Bansky placed in a field that has the 'sacred circle'. They were placed in the field intentionally for people to interact with and play with. Ironically they were vandalized before the festival they were intended for even started.

I thought this work a pretty funny. I like how Banksy has painted on the window and the idea of being caught in action is both humorous and testing the boundaries with people loving or hating the idea. The spot is perfect, it would defiantly catch an eye when walking past and get a bit of laugh from a lot of people.

I chose this work because i loved the idea of a stencil (considered vandalism by some) is cleaning up graffiti, more vandalism. The whole idea is ironic, and can cause a lot a controversy due to its daring idea. I think the stencil was very well done, right down to the detail or the rolls of wallpaper. I think it turned an everyday space into something interesting and original.