Banksy

I watched British graffiti artist -Banksy’ much praised debut film- ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’ some while back.What I took from it was of course a look at the current graffiti movement . But I learnt something more. And that is -Your talent alone doesn’t count for much.How to exploit that is as important if not more.

See,if your book isn’t published, you are no writer.Your art will remain abstract and dusted not abstract and expensive until it reaches art galleries.Talent is like technology-its no use just having it,it is how and what you can do with it that matters.Take banksy as case study..

He has found a way to make a living out of graffiti which is seen as dirty and in some cultures an anathema and an ill function of the western world .Graffiti is perceived as an art form with no direction or purpose except for vandalism.Yet,Banksy is revolutionary with his new techniques with stencils, huge photocopiers to create them and advanced editing softwares to make instant elaborate graffitti.He has created a unique identity by his satire and chilling black humourin his artworks and accompanying epigrams.

Some of my favourites are –

· We can’t do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves.

• T.V. has made going to the theatre seem pointless, photography has pretty much killed painting but graffiti has remained gloriously unspoilt by progress.
• Think from outside the box, collapse the box and take a fucking knife to it.

And gradually expressing and speaking out in a manner like his ,with tools as rebellious as canned aerosol paint ,he has gained massive support and admirers.His work has cropped up all over the world in Bristol,London,Los Angeles,San Francisco,Toronto.In August 2004, Banksy produced a quantity of spoof British £10 notes substituting the picture of the Queen's head with Diana, Princess of Wales's head and changing the text "Bank of England" to "Banksy of England." Someone threw a large wad of these into a crowd

Those notes fetch a fortune now on ebay and selected art auctioning sites

As a caped anonymous crusader ,his auctions have raked in millions.Earlier this year he directed ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’ which premiered to rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival.Nobody for 1 second believes that graffiti artists don’t dcoument their work on camcorders and film tapes.But the genious of Banksy lies in fictionalising and scripting this underground graffiti movement ;documentary style in an entertaining package.Proof of it being that ‘Exit through the Gift Shop’ is loved by critics and fans alike and people rushing to see his film in a faint hope that it may give glimses of details of the person/personality himself.

Exit through the Gift Shop shows a lot of ‘how a graffiiti is actually done’ and what goes behind making it in his trade mark stencillling technique but remains cryptic.Banksy himself says of his technique.Banksy says

‘I use whatever it takes. Sometimes that just means drawing a moustache on a girl's face on some billboard, sometimes that means sweating for days over an intricate drawing. Efficiency is the key.’

He has cleverly used a psuedo documentary maker as a narrative device and the film has grossed way way more than its budget.So that is how you monetise talent.Encash the intangible.Make your work speak and make it earn too.Banksy has truly monetised his talent in inventive ways.