Banksy: Dismaland & Beyond

[pandacracker]

Well, after a bit more bother than I expected I have some pics for you to view at

http://imgur.com/a/moe9s

let me know if you can't see them or any comments, questions or idle musings.

 

[Mythopoeika]

Well, after a bit more bother than I expected I have some pics for you to view at

http://imgur.com/a/moe9s

let me know if you can't see them or any comments, questions or idle musings.

Thanks!
Enjoyed that.

 

[pandacracker]

you are most welcome.

 

[hunck]

Dismaland model village comes to London

The Aftermath Dislocation Principle is miniature dystopian future cityscape built to the same scale as many model train sets (1:87) set somewhere in Bedfordshire. About 3,000 miniature police are seen in the immediate aftermath of what seems to have been a huge riot. Housing estates, motorways, cars, a Tesco, and a church all lie burned and looted. It’s a square mile of devastation, desolation and despair. A screen with Theresa May flickers in the corner.

 

[David Plankton]

Banksy paints Bridge Farm Primary Bristol wall as 'present'

Street artist Banksy has left a half-term surprise "present" on the walls of a Bristol primary school.
The elusive artist composed the mural at Bridge Farm Primary after it recently named a school house after him.

It was discovered as teachers returned from the half-term break along with a letter saying "it's always easier to get forgiveness than permission".
A spokesman for Banksy confirmed to BBC News that the artwork is genuine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-36457647

 

[sherbetbizarre]

Banksy's new venture...

'Worst view in the world': Banksy opens hotel overlooking Bethlehem wall
Exclusive: British artist launches Walled Off hotel in hope of bringing Israeli tourists – and dialogue – to West Bank city

Banksy dismissed worries that security concerns would keep people away, pointing out that he had packed out a “bemusement park” in an unglamorous English seaside town for weeks.

“My accountant was worried some people will be too scared to travel to the West Bank, but then I remind him – for my last show they spent a whole day in Weston-super-Mare.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/03/banksy-opens-bethlehem-barrier-wall-hotel

 

[Tribble]

Banksy's "Girl with Balloon" was up for auction at Sotherby's. Sold for a million quid!

Then Banksy activated the shredder he'd built into the fancy frame...

https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman....eds-seconds-after-1m-sotheby-s-sale-1-4810933

(It's probably worth even more now)

 

[Mythopoeika]

Were the buyers aware that might happen?

 

[Rerenny]

Sometimes modern art is truly funny...ART!
and if you enjoy reddit you might also be familiar with a redditor there: u/shittymorph. He has a thing that he does which he has refined over the couple of years that he has done it and it is always a joy when one of his posts unexpectedly turns up in a thread you are reading. This morning I had the utter pleasure of reading this

 

[Tribble]

Were the buyers aware that might happen?

It might be a pre-arranged publicity stunt, auction house complicit, designed to shock and amuse, or it might be Banksy pulling a prank on everyone. Not sure how they'd get the winner in on it though since they wouldn't know who would win. Either way, it got a lot more news coverage than a simple "Banksy piece sells at auction".

EDIT : They reckon it's possibly doubled in price because of this stunt.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/lucky-buyer-destroyed-banksy-artwork-13372472

 

[Vardoger]

Well, that was naughty and perhaps not nice. But ultimatelly the artwork probably increased in value, so no harm done.
Banksy shreds painting still in frames right after it was sold for over a million US dollars.

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/banksy-shreds-painting-auction-733866/

 

[James_H]

I dislike Banksy's work, but I have to admit that he gets people talking a lot more than whatever was in the turner prize this year (anyone remember?)

 

[Vardoger]

They're already trying to debunk the shredder story, saying it must be a setup.

I will say it's plausible. A bluetooth receiver installed in the frame with a lithium battery to trigger the mechanism is possible. Bluetooth chips use hardly any battery these days and can stay on for a long time. Building such a mechanism to trigger the shredder is possible.

 

[Xanatic*]

A set-up as opposed to? An act of God?

 

[Yithian]

A set-up as opposed to? An act of God?

I think the debate is whether people in the auction house (and perhaps the 'buyer') were in on the act.

 

[Vardoger]

There are factors which makes me agree with the skeptics. Fitting a wheel system powerful enough to push the painting down to the shredder blades without the paper getting stuck might be problematic.

What I can imagine he did was a mechanism which pushed the painting down and up on the backside, inside the frames, while on the backside was a copy of the painting already shredded to 70% ready to be pushed down and out of the frame. And the teeths on his shredders looks strange.
Go to his Instagram page and watch him "make" the shredder.

 

[Tribble]

There are factors which makes me agree with the skeptics. Fitting a wheel system powerful enough to push the painting down to the shredder blades without the paper getting stuck might be problematic.

What I can imagine he did was a mechanism which pushed the painting down and up on the backside, inside the frames, while on the backside was a copy of the painting already shredded to 70% ready to be pushed down and out of the frame. And the teeths on his shredders looks strange.
Go to his Instagram page and watch him "make" the shredder.

Looks like it's more a line of very sharp scalpel blades that slice it on the way down than an actual, office-style shredder (although it looks like they'd be flat against the canvas rather than perpendicular, which is odd). Activating the mechanism by, say, mobile phone or radio control is quite feasible - I assume the auction was livestreamed for Internet bidders, so Banksy (or an agent) wouldn't even have to be present to know when to press the trigger.
What I find impressive is the battery life - if he installed that setup years ago, I'd have thought there'd be a strong risk of the battery draining (unless he had some sneaky way of recharging it now and then).

(Can mods merge in the posts on this stunt from the Modern Art thread?)

Since done--Yith.

 

[Mythopoeika]

There are factors which makes me agree with the skeptics. Fitting a wheel system powerful enough to push the painting down to the shredder blades without the paper getting stuck might be problematic.

What I can imagine he did was a mechanism which pushed the painting down and up on the backside, inside the frames, while on the backside was a copy of the painting already shredded to 70% ready to be pushed down and out of the frame. And the teeths on his shredders looks strange.
Go to his Instagram page and watch him "make" the shredder.

I think that is the most likely explanation.
There's not enough space behind that frame to hide a proper shredder.

 

[Coal]

...must care about this...must care...

Nope. Can't do it.

 

[hunck]

...must care about this...must care...

Nope. Can't do it.

You've got to admit [maybe grudgingly] it's a pretty good stunt though..

If someone actually has paid £1 million for a stencilled picture, as Vardoger said, the shredding may not have 'destroyed' it as an artwork & may actually increase the value.

He's poking fun at the modern art world. That's no bad thing in my book.

 

[Ermintruder]

This is all nothing but theatre. Do we really really believe that someone paid over a million GBP for that picture? Or that the cameras, and the 'auction' staff weren't in on the shredding panto??

Sheer vapid distraction for the masses. I'm sorry to be so cynical- but this is all just standard media candy-floss.

 

[Mythopoeika]

This is all nothing but theatre. Do we really really believe that someone paid over a million GBP for that picture? Or that the cameras, and the 'auction' staff weren't in on the shredding panto??

Sheer vapid distraction for the masses. I'm sorry to be so cynical- but this is all just standard media candy-floss.

No doubt the successful bidder was Banksy himself.

 

[James_H]

Do we really really believe that someone paid over a million GBP for that picture?

Yes, I think that Banksy is rubbish, but he is really, really famous, and there are a lot of rich people out there who use art as an investment. Someone paying a million for it wouldn't surprise me in the least.

 

[Ermintruder]

A contemporary artist who always seeks to remain anonymous is very nearly a contradiction in terms.

An artist friend of mine (who most assuredly does exist) has doubts as to the physical existence of a "Banksy" himself, pointing-out that the term 'Banksy' had always previously meant (to her, and her friends) the state of being art-house / South Bank / modernist / radical / rebellious. Much of "Banksy's" work utilises stencils and print master-copies used to create multiple originals.

Also (like many great artists) he (if he truly is an embodied person) has many emulators, that happily follow his style in a movement sense, and there now exists a cosy accomodation of presumed provenance between 'vandalised' local authorities and 'Banksy'.

As someone else said to me (in a position to know, and with tongue firmly planted in cheek) "he certainly gets about". Indeed.

Portobello Road, Portobello Road
Street where the riches of ages are stowed
Anything and everything a chap can unload
Is sold off the barrow in Portobello road
You’ll find what you want in the Portobello road

Rare alabaster?
Genuine plaster!
A filigreed samovar owned by the czars?
A pen used by Shelley?
A new Boticelli?
The snipper that clipped old King Edward’s cigars?

Waterford Crystals?
Napoleon’s pistols?
Society heirlooms with genuine gems!
Rembrandts! El Grecos! Toulouse-Letrec’os!
Painted last week on the banks of the Thames!

Portobello Road, Portobello Road!
Street where the riches of ages are stowed
Anything and everything a chap can unload
Is sold off the barrow in Portobello Road
You’ll meet all your chums in the Portobello Road

There’s pure inspiration in every creation
No cheap imitations, not here in me store
With garments as such as was worn by a Duchess
Just once at some royal occasion of yore

In Portobello Road, Portobello Road
The fancies and fineries of ages are showed.
A lady will always feel dressed a la mode
In frillies she finds in the Portobello road

“Burke’s Peerage” “The Bride Book” “The Fishmonger’s Guidebook”
A Victorian novel, “The Unwanted Son”
“The History of Potting”
“The Yearbook of Yachting”
The leather bound “Life of Attila the Hun.”

Portobello Road, Portobello Road
Street where the riches of ages are stowed
Artifacts to glorify our regal abode
Are hidden in the flotsam in Portobello Road

Tokens and treasures, yesterday’s pleasures
Cheap imitations of heirlooms of old
Dented and tarnished, scarred and unvarnished
In old Portobello they’re bought and they’re sold
You can eat like a king here in Portobello Road

 

[James_H]

Further to that, some artists have been accused of being Banksy's side projects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Brainwash

This sort of thing does happen, notably in electronic music...

EDIT:

Interesting piece here, which examines how the stunt might have been done.
https://www.artnome.com/news/2018/10/6/myth-busting-banksy

 

[Xanatic*]

There are some ridiculous money in the art world, so 1 million GBP doesn't surprise me. Especially with someone like Banksy, who is quite famous as you mention.
Likely this half-shredded painting can now be sold on for even more.

 

[Analogue Boy]

I like Banksy. And here, he’s pulled a stunt on those who know little of the value of art but plenty on the value of money. I don’t think Sotheby’s had a clue and them pulling a stunt like this would be more costly to their reputation as one of the world’s leading auction houses than any publicity attracted.

Banksy’s performance piece has made headlines across the world and I suspect many of us had a wry smile on our faces rather than a look of outrage.

 

[Mythopoeika]

A contemporary artist who always seeks to remain anonymous is very nearly a contradiction in terms.

An artist friend of mine (who most assuredly does exist) has doubts as to the physical existence of a "Banksy" himself, pointing-out that the term 'Banksy' had always previously meant (to her, and her friends) the state of being art-house / South Bank / modernist / radical / rebellious. Much of "Banksy's" work utilises stencils and print master-copies used to create multiple originals.

Also (like many great artists) he (if he truly is an embodied person) has many emulators, that happily follow his style in a movement sense, and there now exists a cosy accomodation of presumed provenance between 'vandalised' local authorities and 'Banksy'.

As someone else said to me (in a position to know, and with tongue firmly planted in cheek) "he certainly gets about". Indeed.

I suspect that the real Banksy is outsourcing a lot of the work.
He's paying street artists to go out and do the work, using stencils that Banksy has created.
The street graffiti doesn't earn him money directly, but it adds to his legend. His PR.
When someone takes apart a wall to sell a wall painting for a lot of money, that is good for the Banksy brand. The more money it sells for, the better it is for Banksy, because he can (later on) sell his works for even more money. This explains the fast price inflation for his works that are on sale.

 

[Swifty]

It's an old trick (by Ya What over at B3TA)

Da Vinci invented the shredder.

 

[Tribble]

According to the art experts at MyArtBroker.com, the owner of a Banksy print thought to be worth £40,000 has shredded it themselves with a Stanley knife, and is now demanding that it goes on sale for a minimum of £80,000.


While Banksy's stunt involved a built in shredder and a remote device, this 'do it yourself' attempt is reported to have had the opposite effect, and the people at MyArtBroker.com are saying that the mint condition print has now reduced in value to a measly £1.

https://www.indy100.com/article/ban...hred-sothebys-backfired-self-destruct-8575161

https://www.myartbroker.com/artist/banksy/darwin-alert-someones-just-shredded-a-40k-banksy-print/

(I suspect hoax on this one. Either that or humanity is doomed)