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New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#191

Post by nicoburns »

brookst wrote: post #149
ignoramous wrote: post #134

Despite the denials, the answer is most likely this was all coordinated with LEAs. Some artists have questioned if Banksy, once considered anti-establishment, now enjoys special treatment from Britain's powers that be. In 2014, Vice Media asked: 'Why Is Banksy the Only Person Allowed to Vandalize Britain’s Walls?' The story quoted David Speed, a street artist who ran a British graffiti collective. "It's very much one…

Not sure I agree it’s “most likely” when the linked article presents no evidence of LEA awareness or complicity, just one person speculating. I know firsthand what can be done with a hardhat, clipboard, and high-viz vest. IMO it is far more likely that Banksy is just really good at social engineering in ways that other street artists are not.

I imagine this just isn't that difficult to get away with. Most areas are basically empty in the early hours of the morning (even in the middle of the city). And people doing some kind of engineering or installation work at that time would also not be that unusual.

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#193

Post by fooqux »

ungreased0675 wrote: post #137
forgotusername6 wrote: post #4

I think it's a reasonable statue. But does anyone else think it's a bit obvious, more so than his other work? Like there is no doubt on the meaning at all, it's all right there on the surface level.

This one definitely lacks ambition compared to other works. Probably because his other work had a subversive undertone, this one seems sponsored by the powers that be. I also suspect it was installed with cooperation from the local authorities.

I think you took a wildly different interpretation of this art than I did.

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#194

Post by nephihaha »

MattGaiser wrote: post #74
miketery wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why nationalism? A flag can represent more than a nation. Can be blinded by any "flag" / ideology.

Flags overwhelmingly represent nations, groups considering themselves nations, that were nations or have some kind of individual governmental status.

They don't at all. Consider for example that every single city, county and local council in the UK has a flag. There are flags for the United Nations, the European Union, Esperanto, every major football team and most political movements including the CND and anarchism.

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#195

Post by danparsonson »

analog8374 wrote: post #173
bogdan wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no idea what you're on about

He's suggesting that there are several flavors of blindness going around so if we're going to point fingers then we might start with ourselves.

...which is a blatant false equivalence, to be clear.

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#196

Post by nephihaha »

philk10 wrote: post #135
wrxd wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since last summer a lot of flags appeared all over the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Raise_the_Colours https://manchestermill.co.uk/the-men-who-raised-the-flags/

I went back to England last year and couldn't believe how many flags there were, I was shocked and not in a good way

Every criticism levelled at the St. George's Cross can be levelled at the Union Jack. It is time people in England had a healthier relationship with their flag, more like Scotland and Wales, and less like Northern Ireland.

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#197

Post by vpribish »

dreambuffer wrote: post #170

England has a long history producing artwork against some institution, only for that institution to get worse over time. George Orwell wrote about the dangers of authoritarianism and surveillance, and since then the UK government has only ratcheted up their surveillance and authority. They also made a movie called This is England which straightforwardly depicts young English nationalists ruining their lives with nati…

almost as if "England" is more than one person!

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#198

Post by danparsonson »

daseiner1 wrote: post #88

seems missed in the general commentary that there is also an inherent commentary on the western tradition of “blind justice” https://i.etsystatic.com/13403651/r/il/40b0bf/6851322246/il_...

How so? The concept of the 'blindness' of justice is antithetical to blind patriotism.

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#199

Post by ignoramous »

wartywhoa23 wrote: post #34
tbrownaw wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> there is no doubt on the meaning at all Which flag? Or, what kind of flag? Or does it matter?

It is universal. The flag, the state, the man. Details don't matter.

In the context of UK politics, and given Banksy's previous socio-political work, this statue is probably a response to 'the nationalists': https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Raise_the_Colours

Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag

#200

Post by neonstatic »

hactually wrote: post #186
parpfish wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so why don't you share who it is with the rest of the class? why help perpetuate his (her?) secret identity mystique

> Banksy was born Robin Gunningham but later took the name David Jones long been known as establishment friendly

It's pretty obvious once you look at the art - it has a very specific political leaning, which also happens to have been the predominant one in the UK since Blair.
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