Banksy: Art or Crime?
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One has to remember how though unfavourable to the masses graffiti should be deemed as important socially to remind us that we do have a right to “freedom of speech” and maybe members of your community who wouldn’t necessarily have a voice now has a medium to express their own views in a way that they’re good at, artistically. This is prevalent in hip hop culture where graffiti back in the 60s was used as a form of expression by political activists.
Just to prove how much graffiti has become part of mainstream society, several graffiti artists such as Banksy have become famous for his work and anyone with any knowledge of his work could recognise his art through his “rats” despite nobody knowing who he really is or no photographs ever been taken of him. Despite this, his work has been bought by celebrities such as Christina Aguilera who owns 2 original Banksy pieces bought for £25,000 while other works were bought for £50,000+ with some such as “Space Girl and Bird” reaching £288,000 at auction. With several books also on the shelves (1 of which i own) Banksy has to be a millionaire by now.
On the other hand, if you give someone permission to paint on your building, it’s a mural. If you don’t, it’s graffiti. The difference is not the quality, it is the permission (and intent). With graffiti, you have STOLEN from me because I now have to pay to have it removed. Plain and simple. This is vandalism regardless of how you look at it and its illegal regardless of how fantastic the artwork is or the political message its trying to convey.
I admire Banksy’s work as a fellow artist/designer and in all honesty he has made some of the most controversial and powerful art pieces i may ever see in my life but without permission from owners of the property graffiti will always be a crime.
Heres some links about Banksy:
(Banksy Wikipedia) <<< Very Interesting Read
Discuss?
Yeah graffitti is a crime , but some of it does convey a message and look very nice
My boyfriend owns a book by him and he was explainig to me the picture of a rat a think it is on the side of a boat .. Near to his dads which was done by banksy .
This rat was scrubbed of and the people who owned the boat thought the graffiti was so much an art and therefore letf a sign on the side of the boat sayin BANKSY TAG OUR BOAT.
I say that if permission is granted then graffitti should be done , if not then its going to be done anyways .. I think its a good way to show a view or a message !
Im not saying these chavs who write DAMO WOZ ERE 09 on the side of a bridge should be allowed .. But someone with the great artistic ability that Banksy has should be congratulated and given credit on and for thei work
I dont think that graffitti is a crime. Although it does depend on the situation the people that just go round and randomly spray lines and crude words on playgrounds and parks makes graffiti labled to be a crime but the people who follow the rules and do it on graffiti walls that have been but there to be painted on is fine.
There is a difference between art and crime and most of the time it is just opinion, and obviously some people will say that it is all crime. So… at the end of the day it is your own opinion, just try not to jump to conclusions
i dont like graffitti never had and never will
Can it be both?
I personally consider grafitti to be the talentless “tags” I see everywhere. The art part of grafitti is the colourful work that looks like it’s had time and skill taken over it.
Of course, it’s all crime (unless permission has been granted) but unless it’s an eyesore I don’t think I’d mind.
I’ve always thought that if I had a wall which was often targetted by “yoofs” spraying their generic, rubbish tags all over it, I’d put up a sign along the lines of “if all you can do is a tag, don’t bother. It’s basic and looks crap. If, however, you are capable of doing something more colourful, to showcase some talent, be my guest, and I won’t paint over it”.
I thought it was well known that Banksy (at least since he’s become famous) always asks permission from the owners of the wall before applying a work? So, I don’t see how it is criminal.
Ive never heard this before but i could see it being true although nobody really knows who he is so or taken a photo of him, if this was the case i sure someone would have spotted him by now and taken a photo?
There are many photos of Banksy at work. They’re just never good enough to identify him.
I sometimes wonder if there actually is a “Banksy”, or if it’s just a tag used by certain people. It strikes me that anyone could do a piece of graffiti art, stick a “Banksy” tag on it and it gets praised and won’t be removed.
Both. I think local councils should remove his graffiti however artistic it may be.
And if they catch him, fine him. Or hire him to do if officially.
Graffiti is mainly a civil matter between the graffiti artist and the property owner.
However, any property owner who does have graffiti on show and doesn’t clean it up on request can be charged under the anti-social behaviour act.
Recently, the first criminal charge was brought against a group of serial graffiti artists, citing criminal damage, each receiving between 18 and 24 months jail.
It’s all art, even the shit stuff….Although it’s out of order when people deface other’s private property.
Public/derelict walls and surfaces should be fair game IMHO, I like seeing dull concrete brightened up, wether its with an aesthetically beautiful piece of work, a thougght provoking social comment or ’spogger wuz ere’
I suppose it’s all art – everything seems to pass for ‘art’ nowadays. It’s a crime if there’s no permission.
I wouldn’t like to look out at it.
Agree with Mathertron on that!
It’s art AND criminal.
What annoys me is how certain local authorities fellate him and his art work while prosecuting other graffiti artists. Allow them all or allow none of them, but be consistant.
I’d like to see graffiti ‘artists’ made to scrub the paint off of the walls…………with their tongues!
Hi,
I am selling some Banksy Di-Faced tenner prints.
If you are interested, Please email me at artstar2009 (at) gmail.com
Thanks!
Hi,
in my opinion the so called street- and graffiti artists choose to define what is artistic and what is rubbish. They have (in a clever way) managed to make their so called street art a new standard. This is their argument when asked whether it is vandalism or not; it is of a ‘higher’ artistic value. Therefore it can not be defined as a criminal act.
Certain street art might be of a better quality, but it does not change the fact that it is vandalism. So why does the argument about ‘artistic’ value give them the right to be criminals? We are not talking content here, we are talking vandalism against everyone elses property. Right?
And why don’t they just manifest their artistic energy onto a canvas and become more accepted by the public? Because they insist that the criminel ‘happening’ is an artistic quality in itself. They just don’t say it out loud.
Hi Arun
Very good point you made there and without trying to sounding extremely prejudice here but i think the criminal element comes because graffiti is somewhat more visible in less affulent areas, especially in the UK. These areas have high crime rates, high teenage pregnancy, high unemployment. I doubt these “artists” could afford canvases.
Mike
Hi Mike,
I’m sure many of them are under social and economic pressure and want to be heard. And especially in the UK as you also mention. I just think there lies a paradox in spending a huge amount of money (we’re talking millions) on removing graffiti (at least here in Denmark), instead of spending that money on giving the graffiti ‘artists’ the opportunity to express themselves in an established forum, while being taught by a teacher and stimulating their social awareness.
Maybe this solution is too provoking for politicians, who often perceive such ideas as ‘helping’ criminals.
In my opinion it is about investing in the future generation. I’m sure many of the graffiti artists are good at other things, e.g. guerilla marketing, so why not give them a place to be taught and enable them to think out of the box. The cost we spend on removing the graffiti could be reduced and the graffiti artists would be met with respect in relation to their talent.
Arun
I completely agree with everything you have just said there!
Hey Michael. I’m studying Banksy’s art and I would like to get more information on him.
What kind of information do you need?
Sounds like a bunch of small town folks amazed by this “underground” artist. He could only be marginally more commercial by appearing as a special guest on the X-factor
@Zachary if you have to research a modern day pop icon just make some stuff up, Nobody will know – actually more likely they will think you “edgy” and “hip” too. Or better yet do something less dull and research someone else.
Banksy is not a bad artist and produced some stand out work. However if people actually showed some interest in street art – which goes a little further then buying a book in Waterstone’s they would see there is a whole world of talent out there.
By the way guys there are plenty of pics of Banksy around, you just need to know where to look.
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