Banksy on advertising

“People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs."

This is a letter written in response to the Banksy by advertising professional Craig Ward who blogs here. 

Dear  Banksy,

I read your recent open letter regarding ‘The Advertisers’ and I have to say I didn’t much like your tone, particularly coming from one of the art world’s greatest marketers since possibly Warhol.

Allow me to say from the offset that I don’t much care for the advertising industry as a whole either, though having worked at several agencies in my career (as a typographer), I’ve done OK out of it. I live in New York these days but when I lived in London I used to see your work all the time. I didn’t ask to see it – in much the same way as you don’t ask to see advertising – and I never much cared for it either. A lot of my friends did though, and several of them now own your prints, books and in a couple of cases, original works.

I should probably mention that, without exception, all of those people work in advertising.

Now, as far as I see it, the very act of putting your work in the public eye – say on walls, street corners, in alleyways and underpasses etc – is, effectively advertising it by virtue of people being able to see it at all. Exposure is advertising.  And unless I’m much mistaken, the only product you’re selling is yourself.

The last time I checked, The Advertisers at least had to pay a lot of money to use the public spaces that their wares occupy – unlike yourself who has decided to remove yourself from that model in the name of art and anti capitalism.

Another criticism often leveled at advertising is that it steals from artists and plagiarises ideas, where as your work is merely ‘inspired’ by one artist; Blek Le Rat. Which I guess is OK. And the fact that you’ve made a comfortable living from it is also fine. I feel like it’s a convenient irony though that the only people who can now afford to own your work are the ad-land Creative Directors and City boys that you so eagerly rail against, while at the same time selling your own brand of rebellious, anti-establishment cool.

If the Advertisers are laughing at us, then you are surely laughing with them.It’s all just so easy isn’t it? Big companies are evil; advertising sells stuff for big companies; ergo, the people who work in advertising are also evil. I think Bill Hicks had a similar thing going a few years ago. No, wait I’m sorry, exactly the same thing going.

As a child of the 80′s I grew up surrounded by cigarette advertising, yet I’ve never bought a pack in my life. I’ve seen car ads every day for 30 years and I’ve never bought one of those either. That’s as much as I can say about myself, but it’s clear to me that you’re ignoring the fact that people have a choice in what they buy – if they buy anything at all – and that they actually like buying things. They work hard for a living and purchasing something other than basic food, utilities or clothing gives them a sense of achievement; that their hard work has paid off in some capacity.

When I first read your letter I thought you were going to mount some stenciled horse and storm the castles of advertising with a well formed argument, but instead it seems like you were just inciting people to steal and vandalise ads that they saw on the street. Personally, I don’t have the time or inclination.

Regarding ‘the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen’ that you mention, you must be referring to the office fax machine? Having seen agency life, I can attest that there’s nothing Machiavellian going on; no illuminated map of the globe and no sinister plot to take over the world; just a bunch of people trying to make a living.

As it stands, there are only 1.2 billion formal jobs in the world for the 7 billion people that live on it. If advertising keeps a few thousand off the streets then let it be, eh? People who work in advertising are good enough to buy your work, so why not buy some of what they’re selling from time to time?

Kind regards and good luck in your future ventures.

Craig Ward

Now we have had the fun of reading the rant and its reaction. You are free to support who you want. Nonetheless, some brands like Ikea have actually gone on and used Banksy style of graffiti to promote themselves, just as Banksy has used say McDonald’s or Col. Sanders of KFC.

Graffiti Wars

Graffiti art changes constantly. Fresh coats of paint and newly pasted posters appear overnight in cities over the world. New artists, new ideas and newer tactics displace faded images in a perpetual process of renewal . Subverted signs, spontaneous drawings, powerful symbols and curious characters form the graphic imagery of graffiti art now as it grows form just being typographic to iconic with satirical and political undertones.

The most famous graffiti artist for the past few years has been the hooded and mysterious man from Bristol - Banksy, who made the Oscar nominated documentary ‘Exit through the gift shop’ and .Find my previous article on Banksy here.

Lately, Banksy has been involved in a battle on streets with another terrific and revered graffiti artist Robbo who was forced out of his self imposed retirement when Banksy allegedly went after one of his iconic graffiti at the Regents Canal in Camden, London.The graffiti has been there since 1985.Since then, there has been a no holds barred punch and counter punch, tit for tat, curse for ridicule exchanges between these two artists and their supporters.

Robbo, is a well respected artist among street artists and literally a giant at 6’8”.Now in the graffiti scenario, where London authorities are actively erasing new works Robbo’s work had stood the test of time .This was until Banksy decided to do a piece over it.

The original wall graffiti by Robbo done in 1985 below.

Now granted that it was losing the sheen but Banksy went over a ‘landmark’ piece and without the permission of the original artist, which is a complete no no according to graffiti ethos. Banksy’s attempt can be looked in two ways – first, a complete affront of street ethics and insult towards Robbo’s work as he paints over his work to create his own work. Also it can be seen as a retaliation from Banksy towards Robbo quoting for a book that how he slapped Banksy at ' Dragon Bar' for not acknowledging him when they met.

Or secondly, as Banksy supporters put it, Robbo’s was a terribly worn down graffiti and that by actually incorporating it into his piece he has paid a tribute to the original piece.If you notice, the original Robbo graffiti is made to look like a wallpaper that the man that Banksy painted is applying with glue brush onto the wall.Nonetheless, this slight to his iconic piece of art forced Robbo to retaliate.

He used the man painted by Banksy and his finished piece had him painting the wall instead of pasting a wallpaper with his name 'King Robbo'

Next came Banksy’s reply, which was under the belt.

Robbo painted over ‘FUC’

Banksy painted the wall black over it

Robbo painted over it with Topcat standing next to Banksy’s career tombstone

Banksy painted his 'freedom chair graffiti' over the wall using his trademark stencil work. The exact timelines can be found here on London graffiti site. Soon supporters of Robbo who go the name ‘Team Robbo’ went after several Banksy pieces.Like the Global warming piece and the fishing boy.

The village idiot to retaliate the boy fishing a gloopy Banksy tag.

They also used the rat which made Banksy famous and attacked his style .

Robbo's 'Banksy la rat' piece here implying that his rat work is copied from French artist Blek de Rat (Xavier Prou) who was the pioneering stencil graffiti artist in 1980s .Robbo also questioned the artistic integrity and that he is no graffiti artist as he cheats by using stencils instead of freehand graffiti that Robbo is a genius at.

It is an ongoing battle that is stalled at the moment because Robbo is in a coma and recuperating. Robbo can also be counter criticized to be aiming for Banksy as it gives him attention immediately. It makes for one great story captured in a recent documentary .Do check it out here ..

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.