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Comment by TheLegace | Hacker News Reader

If your are all interested in Banksy I'd urge you to watch a film that he accidentally was forced to make about Street Art and himself, well let's say because the original Director...well you will see. It's called Exit Through The Gift Shop, I watched on Netflix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0b90YppquE

I've always been a fan of Banksy's work. Especially the work he did at the dividing wall on both sides in the West Bank and Israel.

http://www.stencilrevolution.com/banksy-art-prints/flying-ba...

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"I've always been a fan of Banksy's work. Especially the work he did at the dividing wall on both sides in the West Bank and Israel."

And this is why I roll my eyes a little when people deride Banksy (not necessarily on HN - rather in face to face discussions) as boring artistically, politically, or as some kind of a sell-out.

His works use the environment they're placed in to great effect (e.g. Bethlehem), use props (higher risk, more planning required, more interest generated) and are messages rather than trademarks (e.g. King Robbo).

And when someone drops the tired line that he copies others like Blek Le Rat; when you've had a go at making a stencil you quickly realise that you're limited by the medium (stencils can convey only so much detail), thus similarities arise. It's the message that's important, not the piece itself.

According to _Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall_ he came up with the idea of using stencils when he was hiding from the police and saw stencilled letters sprayed on the bottom of a truck.

>If your are all interested in Banksy I'd urge you to watch a film that he accidentally was forced to make about Street Art and himself...

Maybe. That's the beauty of the movie. While he and the filmmakers insist it's a "real" movie, it could easily have been a hoax. Which belies a deeper meaning.

This is the beauty of the performative documentary. It transcends the limitations of using film to document and as a use for truth. It works at a more ambiguous level and forces the audience to question rather than just learn, in this case the questions could be about the value of art, perception, and marketing.

exit is a great film, i think it paints banksy as an ass, the five minutes of 'life, remote control' was mind blowing, even despite the derision with which it is presented, and to think banksy watched that and thought, 'i have make my own movie because this is trash and i can make a good movie' seems like a narcissistic dick move,

plus the anonymity made sense when it was illegal... but now it plays like a gimmick when people tear down walls of buildings to sell of work attributed to banksy, or the banksy collective,

i agree, though for me, without his west bank work i would completely write the guy off

this bbc doc is a nice companion piece:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd2IU1aIe5c

it is called, Graffiti Wars, and is about Robbo the UKs original tag celebrity, also has a segment about blek le rat who, depending on your loyalties, banksy is an inferior derivative of or who is banksy's muse or mentor or inspiration

Thanks for the video. I feel a little conflicted on my feelings towards Banksy. But I'm not really that invested in him or anyone else. It's just human behaviour I guess.

I'm not sure how to feel about Banksy and his war with Robbo. I feel for Robbo, that dude just had the worst luck.(I have the issue to).

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