Thrashbird adds a response to the wall that Plastic Jesus hit a day earlier. When Plastic Jesus hit it, he added a stencil asking 'Why can't a wall just be a wall'.
The next night, Thrashbird came and modified the wall again. Now it reads 'Artise Here' and below, 'Why can't a wall just be art?'.
This is also described as a performance art piece with Thrashbird himself posing in his signature 'Everybody You Know' pose.
***Pics sent in by TBD--who is a different artist than Thrashbird***
It could be art, well, it was art. What thrashbird does isn't really art now is it. And they are the same person m&f you know this. I will accept that it's possible it's what the dsm refers to as disassociative identity disorder (what used to be called multiple personality disorder but was changed when the updated version came out).
ReplyDeleteI know I'm being a negative asshole here and perhaps I should dwell on banksys message today but it just irks me to no end.
I get that street art, as they say, is supposed to be simple and seen from a moving vehicle but if one of its purposes is social commentary intended to make us think, then it should contain something a bit insightful or clever or unique or funny right? Telling us that we are all on our phones isn't any of those. It's a no brainier. Guess what? It's 2013 and we are all on our phones! Yes we all know this. And it isn't a problem or an epidemic. It's just what it is. This piece reminds me of what folks were doing in the 70's and 80's when they would make commentary about how we are all watching tv all the time. Yes. We were. We still are. It's what we do. It's one of the things we do. Some more than others. Some maybe too much. But it's not for one random person to judge how others spend their free time. The whole Get Off Your TV or Get Off Your Phone and Live complaint is old. It's played out. It's boring and doesn't do or say anything of relevance or insight. It doesn't change anything. You arent noticing something about people or society or Los Angeles that other people haven't or don't see. Am I wrong to think this way? Should I just shut up? Probably so huh. Maybe I should just mind my own business. Problem is, it's pushed on me. It's on the blogs I love to read, it's on the streets I pay such close attention to and at the risk of sounding didactic and yet facetious, or also like Spider-Man, I just feel that with great power comes great responsibility and when someone like thrashbird/tbd, has the resources to make so many pieces and the will to get up as much as he does, I feel like he could have a much greater impact on the world, on our city, as a representative of our street art community, than he does. He has the ability to send messages that actually do make people think or question or even just have a good laugh. But he doesn't. Is that because he is trying and this is as good as it gets? Are there really just not that many good street artist? Are we able to be agents of change?
Had to make this a 2 post comment. Apparently there's a character
ReplyDeleteMax. Which means I'm talking too much!:
Take someone like teacher, the la street artist. He too has the ability to reach lots of people with his message and has the resources and will to make that message very available to the public. One difference between teach and tbd is that teacher at least always attempts to be positive. He attempts to send a message that would change the world for the better. He challenges our society and the way we live and what we focus on, and I can commend him for this. I want to note that I do not think we as street artist have an obligation to be positive. That is a personal decision and up to the individual. If someone wants to be negative, then be fucking negative! It's your life and your message so who am I to say how you should work or how you should feel. However, my complaint is that if we are going to do street art, we should realize what a big deal this is. We are forcing the public to look at and see what we have decided they should see. Thus, we must on some level feel that it is a pretty important message. Otherwise we would make the art or slogan and just post it on our Facebook page and have a private conversation with our friends. But no, we choose to plaster it into the public streets and have everyone see it nomatter what they want. And so, if we do choose to do this, shouldn't we put some time and thought into what we are doing? Shouldn't we ask ourselves, what is the message? Is it effective? Is there a better way to send this message? While I do have respect for teacher, I wonder the question, does saying teach kids- actually do anything? Does it raise awareness or promote change? Isn't it something we all say we want even though it's not what our govt budget suggest we want....it's something that 99% of us agree is a good thing. So how do we send this message in a way that will make a difference? Has anyone ever been driving along the road and seen -teach- and then been like holy crap I do need to change my ways?! Probably not. And I don't want this to turn into an attack on teacher, I'm just using it as an example of how someone who is doing awesome work with great intentions, compared to thrashbird, the opposite of teacher, is so far from even making a dint in the system, or people's lives or the community in which we live and love. What could we do as street artist that actually make a difference? Doesn't us forcing ourselves on the public give us a responsibility to make sure our message is effective and of substance and quality? So what the fuck is thrashbird telling the world? Something dumb. Something aesthetically displeasing for most. Something we all already know and what? What else? I don't know. Just feels irresponsible and selfish to be so lazy as to not put any thought into what we are doing, art wise, and message/commentary wise. Also I think I'm a little irritated because banksys piece for today could have at least had a little rat posting that saying. I mean, c'mon! You gotta know that as a clever little saying it's cool but there's a lot of hype this month and this far along in the show and sheesh man if we only get 1 piece every 24 hours you would know we need more than just a clever line. Banksy we aren't tired of the rats! You're the best at them so bring it back! On a side and completely unrelated note, blek la rats stencils do kinda suck. I've seen a lot of them. Much props to getting up for this long and before most people but comparing him to mr. Banksy is just crazy. He has a piece right by my house and it's so sloppy but whatever I'll get off my soap box now. Stay up everybody.