Just finished the movie " " by Thierry Pierre? French guy who came to the United Sttes
to document some of the more well-known street artists such as shepard Fairey and
(also known as Space Invader") and Banksy (whose given name is not known). To hide
his identity *(assuming from officers enforcing anti-graffiti laws) Banksy
conceals his voice and body in a darkened room. the darth vader like voice has an effect sim
similar to darth vader binging herrableded in by white soldiers breathing through
wires and tubes and mechanisms strapped or nailed or adhered to his chest. the raspy
robotic voice speaks to the nature of a society that is part human and part robot slash
paranoid schizophrenic. Of course, the paranoia, in this case, is warrented, because
of the nature of his work. It is, most certainly illegal; however, the vast and expansive
body of his work from Paris to Los Angeles, to Italy to Russia, leaves an incredible mess
to clean up that neither the officers overseeing the "crimes" are able to delete or
get there hands around. They are most certainly like the packmen gobble gobbles who try
to follow packman and are only successfull if the yellow man makes a wrong turn-- is not
careful enough, and / or is trapped in a corner where he is inevitably gobble gobbled
by the ferrocious colorful authorities. in this case, however, both Banksy and what's his
name, the guy -- Shapard Fairey are intelligent, careful, and incredibly strategic.
the effect of which, to the observer, is quite poetic, graphicly pleasant and to some extent
an amazing feat of power against the massive "big brother is watching" type of politic. .
For the amount of "pieces" these two have created, (together it follows or shatters the million
number) it is interesting to note that it is not the police who are filing charges against
the two young men, but the Associated Press (allegedly) for allegations that they are
infringing on copyright. it is beyond me what this means for the associated press. I
would have to do some research innto what that means for both the associated press and
the men Banksy and Shepard Fairey. Additonally, I do not know what the outcome of theat
lawsuit is. Whether or not they settled out of court is something I would have to look into.
furthermore, going back to the idea of hummanness and part media... we are far from the
vader days when man is part machine and part human. we are now in an era, (enter Facebook, myspace,
and youtube,) where every single individual is, in part, a self created hyper-media
extension. An extension of the self into what is the cyberworld. but now, with both
Banks and the Invader, there is a movement away from the hyper-media somewhat (I'll get
to why later) that we are used to on YouTube, Facebook, and Myspace, Linkdin and
the like. rather, these two men nare moving back to the urban streets where actual
pedestrians pass buy with real shoes, actual backpacks, and an actual physicality to
their bieng. they are not, however, using the screan in front of them . The computeer
is only used as a device as a means to an end. in other words, the computer is used
as a tool--something that can be used to store information, and then replicate that
informatio via printers and presses-- to finally end up with a result that is on the
face of an empty wall of the building. People can touch it and a securtity gaurd will
not take notice of there tiny fingerprint. furthermore, other artists, or criminals as such
would call themp-- even paint over the piece, or add to the piece as if there is a
unspoken mutual understanding that what I do is a communal effort and in no way an act
of vanity or supremacy. shepard Fairey for expample, has taken (in the past) pieces of
his creations, whether framed or stretched out on canvas, under his arm and into
artgalleries bearing teh classic works of artists such as monet, and skillfully,
and carefully placed his own portrature onto the wallls of the pristine gallery.
It is fascination to note the publicity and attention he has created. the new york times
has written an article on him as well as the Los Angeles times. I'm not sure, but I think
his work has extended the scope of innternational lines. for whatever reaoson, he is getting
away with it. He has not been prosecuted to this date despite the fact that he repeatedly
vandalizes bare or not so bare cityscape walls, billboards, and retailers such as
Wally's donuts". I wonder if the wallys donuts took it down or if they left it up. I'm assuming,
that if left up, it is because their establishment now is ornamented with a piece of art
that is gathering the attention of art collectors and curators alike. what was once
an act of vandalism, for shepard Fairey, is an act of creation-- an extension of
his identity. Does he have a Facebooik? A Myspace? Twitter? Probably not. IF he does,
actually, I'm going to look that up right now. As far as I can see, there is no Facebook
page foro the Space Invader. What does come up, however, is the game itself. Repleat with gorgs shmorgs
and splogos. At this time, there are exactly two thousand eight hundred and forty seven
people playing. People who are sitting in front of a screen, much like muself at this moment
and manipulating electronic signals left and right, up and down. I don't really know-- I've never
played. But that's what I imagine it to be. Similarly, Fairey and teh mysterious
Banksy are leaving a trail. The trail, and this has been documented in several sources,
forms what now seems like a modern alien crop circles that has left many people puzzled
and questioning the creators of the markings. Similarly, both Banksy and Fairey
are seen by few, if anyone, at night-- during the act of creation. When the sun rises,
somewhere, somme old brick wall is graffititd with the face of Andre the Giant. Another
billboard somewhere in Los Angeles shows off the pretty new face of Mr. Brainwash, ,repleat with
tinker-toys gun in hand--a fuck you to the establishment that so powerfully seems
to control our thoughts and actions and behaviors. I believe that this is part of the
appeal for the artists--the glorious, momentary thrill of power. doing what yo uwant
when you want to--regardless of what authorities say. Regardless of what authorities do.
Disneyland, was a close call though, it seems. Pierre, after staying behind to filmthe
remains of the guamtamino bay instillation, found himself at the mercy of four mickey mouse
securtiy officers. Who knew disney had an interrogation room? So the paranoia continue:
at night these guys slip through the darkness of the night, avoiding cameras, avoiding
security, avoiding people who "look like" they might report supiscious activity. That's what I thought
it would be--and at times it is. But at other timmes you see the boys or rather each
one respectively working in dickies uniforms, sporting orange reflection vests, and they look
like theyre doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing. On closer inspection though
it is clear from the marks or their work, they these are not men assigned to clear up the mess
of graffiti, but the boys themselves creating it. Over a million "sites". If you follow
the trail of the marks or "sites" one will discover that they are involved in the art piece itself.
Once every mark has been followed in its specific location (ie. Los Angeles, New York) what is
left is a blueprint of a little pixilated alien body representative of the 1980's
video game. the spectator traces the marks, matches mark to mark as if connecting
dots, and finally, without being aware of it, is part of the piece-- is, in fact, an
accomplice.
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