Banksy isn't just another street artist, he is the game changer.
Recently, one of Banksy's stencils got cut out off the wall in London, and then the next week the same piece appeared at an auction house in Miami. The 'captured' Banksy piece is scheduled to go up for sale this weekend.
Aside from accusations that taking a piece from the street is wrong, it is fascinating how the larger conversation has local British politicians tripping over words to try and get the piece back. In an article from the The Star entitled British Neighborhood Wants Its Banksy Back, a local lawmaker Lynne Featherstone is quoted as saying “(It’s) totally unethical that something so valued should be torn without warning from its community context.” Haha. Never mind the ethical context of something being placed in the community without warning in the first place. Alas, it would be a different world for street artists if only all lawmakers felt this way . . .
Indeed, Banksy is a game changer. His street art work has politicians lamenting the removal of his work, not the illicit act of putting it up in the first place. Can you imagine what the walls would look like if politicians fought to protect the art work instead of buffing over it and tearing it down? Thanks to Banksy, that might just be the future of street art.
At least for Banksy pieces~
"Can you imagine what the walls would look like if politicians fought to protect the art work instead of buffing over it and tearing it down?"
ReplyDeleteIn my last trip to Paris, that is indeed the case already. Local politicians have already identified artists works that should stay up and they work hard to preserve them.