I'll be the first to admit that I was never a huge Banksy fan. Sure, what he did seemed cool and all, but I never really looked into it much. Mike found "Exit Through The Gift Shop" on Netflix Instant Play a few weeks ago and I was compliant to watch it. While I may have always respected Banksy and other work of street artists, I finished the documentary with more of an appreciation for it. Of course then I reblogged the picture above and the following quote, and my adoration for him only grew. I know many may see Banksy and other prolific street artists as being cliche, overrated, and maybe even silly, but I'm glad I was able to see through my somewhat closed-off mind and find a new something to value.
“The people who run our cities don’t understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit. The people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. Any advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours, it belongs to you, it’s yours to take, rearrange and re-use. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.” - Banksy
I think the reason the quote above really struck a chord with me is because it is exactly how I feel about the advertising industry. Even in college, I was hesitant and a little resistant to my advertising class simply because I didn't really agree with it. We were told in school to make a list of our core values and morals as far as jobs go. What we would and would not ever do. One of my values was to never work for a company that seemed misleading... to me, the entire advertising industry is misleading. Maybe that seems a little overdramatic but that's truly how I feel. While I may enjoy buying material goods, being told one side of the story in an incredibly overwhelming manner isn't really my cup of tea.
Have any of you seen "Exit Through the Gift Shop?" If so, what did you think of it?
Who are some of your favorite street artists or projects?
