Subversive dreams
The information war involves us all. It does not matter if you watch TV, listen to the radio, read the newspaper or swim in the digital frontier - the cyber-verse. Like dead cells forming the bark on a tree, the hair on our heads, the outer layer of skin on our bodies, there is dead information lining all of these outlets. Like make-up on an actor, stories get cleaned up, embellished, altered in order to meet an agenda, garner influence, persuade. The vein which runs through all: the conveyer of the life giving blood, the oxygen, the nutrients, the money: the sponsor. This is where the roots become corrupted. The bottom line becomes keeping the sponsor happy. Information then becomes laced with the toxicity of deception. The overall theme that the advertising complex presents, either blatantly or subtley, is that you, the viewer, are inadequate. Consume product x and now you have your fix. The consumption provides a temporary feeling of elation and then wears off. Time to buy something else.
Voting, in the traditional manner, has become obsolete. There is another way to vote and that is with your wallet. Choosing ways to spend my money, which support sustainability, is my way of unsurping the current paradigm.
Banksy, maverick artist from the UK, votes with stencilled politcal cartoonish type art. His placement of this art is in public places, where billboards normally reign as the purveyors of messages. Many see him as a graffiti artist. I disagree with this depiction and find it misleading. It is obvious to me that Banksy's artwork bleeds into other genres of classification: activist, political cartoons, guerilla art, philanthropy, muralist.
Not every one is enthralled with his work. My brother-in-law, Roberto, feels that it is wrong for anyone to deface other's property because then the owner has to pay for it to be cleaned up. He thinks that one needs to go thru the proper channels in order to display art publicly. His point is well taken but I wonder if there are any channels one can go thru that allow the exhibition of controversial, thought-provoking art. It seems to me that Banksy's choice of media reflects the times we live in. The thick layers of bark threaten the health of the tree, the high number of dead layers of skin are suffocating the collective human. His work is like a volcanoe, forced above the ground by the enormous, deep power of creation. His imagination erupts, spraying the ash and lava of his memes and subversive dreams into various layers of the media atmosphere. Ironically, in the future, his work may be taken quite seriously and the few examples, that do not get painted over or washed off, may bring in major moola.
His stencilled graffiti is already being imitated in my home town of Ojai - Farmer and the Cook and on Ventura's boardwalk at Surfer's Point. Both are painted on the ground and depict the same words and images: "Free Art" and a picture of a wild cat's face. It seems obvious that these were done by the same person. The contrast between Banksy's work and the imitator's is quite interesting and illuminating. The imitator's attempts are basically graffiti that deface the two properties. Banky's works are original art forms that contain inspiring messages, thought-provoking imagery, enhance the surroundings and represent the voice of the supressed, opressed, disenchanted, unhypnotized and free.
Voting, in the traditional manner, has become obsolete. There is another way to vote and that is with your wallet. Choosing ways to spend my money, which support sustainability, is my way of unsurping the current paradigm.
Banksy, maverick artist from the UK, votes with stencilled politcal cartoonish type art. His placement of this art is in public places, where billboards normally reign as the purveyors of messages. Many see him as a graffiti artist. I disagree with this depiction and find it misleading. It is obvious to me that Banksy's artwork bleeds into other genres of classification: activist, political cartoons, guerilla art, philanthropy, muralist.
Not every one is enthralled with his work. My brother-in-law, Roberto, feels that it is wrong for anyone to deface other's property because then the owner has to pay for it to be cleaned up. He thinks that one needs to go thru the proper channels in order to display art publicly. His point is well taken but I wonder if there are any channels one can go thru that allow the exhibition of controversial, thought-provoking art. It seems to me that Banksy's choice of media reflects the times we live in. The thick layers of bark threaten the health of the tree, the high number of dead layers of skin are suffocating the collective human. His work is like a volcanoe, forced above the ground by the enormous, deep power of creation. His imagination erupts, spraying the ash and lava of his memes and subversive dreams into various layers of the media atmosphere. Ironically, in the future, his work may be taken quite seriously and the few examples, that do not get painted over or washed off, may bring in major moola.
His stencilled graffiti is already being imitated in my home town of Ojai - Farmer and the Cook and on Ventura's boardwalk at Surfer's Point. Both are painted on the ground and depict the same words and images: "Free Art" and a picture of a wild cat's face. It seems obvious that these were done by the same person. The contrast between Banksy's work and the imitator's is quite interesting and illuminating. The imitator's attempts are basically graffiti that deface the two properties. Banky's works are original art forms that contain inspiring messages, thought-provoking imagery, enhance the surroundings and represent the voice of the supressed, opressed, disenchanted, unhypnotized and free.
posted by Dij at 9:09 PM
1 waves:
DISCLAIMER: I'm from New York.
I like graffiti. There is actually alot of it in Ojai, it is more subliminal though.
Of course some gangs deface property, but I see it as their right to protest as well as any other persons; there are not enough outlets for this, seemingly.
Banksy's art is beautiful; he is very accomplished. Others who are not as gifted may still have similar ideas;
I actually prefer to see property defacement than empty advertising; though both are acceptable in certain amounts.
So my point is that graffiti is graffiti, and that there are many different types of, and inspirations for, this art style.
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