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Comment by doikor | Hacker News Reader

It’s street art/graffiti. If someone wants to tag over it let them. Protecting this stuff with tax payer money is just stupid.

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I think that's where I'm at too (as a lifelong fan of actual street art), but that leaves the question of why Banksy is privileged the way he is, for his trite brand of sub-tour-poster stencil work, most of which would be too on-the-nose for a Rage Against The Machine reissue cover.

> trite brand of sub-tour-poster stencil work, most of which would be too on-the-nose for a Rage Against The Machine reissue cover.

Art makes questions: It's both stencil-like and precisely, powerfully executed; it's both obviously 'on-the-nose' as you say, and penetrating. How is that all true simultaneously?

(I don't know; it's what I've wondered and you helped clarify the question.)

It has no subtext, poses no real questions (Reddit nailed this: "war is bad, innit?"), and pursues only "coolness". It is thus fashion more than it is art, and it's not daring fashion. Its closest analog is Shephard Fairey, of the Obama "HOPE" mural, who now spends his days "engineering meaningful brand experiences with authority & authenticity".

There's nothing wrong with that; I respect graphic design and branding deeply. But it's not deep or meaningful.

> It has no subtext, poses no real questions (Reddit nailed this: "war is bad, innit?"), and pursues only "coolness".

I can't read your mind but that sounds like the usual response to artwork that someone doesn't want to understand: the subjective judgment made truth, the absolutism (no curiosity, not even a possibility of anything else), the aggressive dismissal.

Sarcastic comments on Reddit are, IME, truly pursuing only 'coolness' and make no attempt at insight. Pursuing insight requires embracing ignorance and questions, thus surrendering the smarter-than-thou attitude.

You're missing out, IMHO.

You'd I think be the first person to argue that Banksy's art is too subtle for some people to get.

Whatever, but I'm saying they aren't trying. Understanding art, beyond the surface, takes work. Something in it provokes people, often a good signal.

I don't think understanding Banksy takes much work.

Maybe you're missing something. The sin is dismissing that even if you don't intend to pursue it. Especially when others say they see more - see my original comment.

Often, when I don't see something I later find I was looking in the wrong dimension (in a sort of geometric sense). Classical music aficionados rejected rock music as 'just noise'; they were looking for elements of classical music. Rock fans sometimes find classical boring for a similar reason.

In any case, I'm sorry you are missing out. :)

I love rock music. Banksy is the musical equivalent of My Chemical Romance.

I'd say the stencil work is a necessity so the grafitti can be painted as fast as possible.

Every serious street artist would disagree. Watch a video of someone putting one of these up. There's a zillion of them on Youtube.

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