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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

#341

Post by NekkoDroid »

at-fates-hands wrote: post #297
hristov wrote: post #292

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to make a political message it often helps to be obvious. This way the meaning of your message will not be misinterpreted either intentionally or un-intentionally.

His messages were always the same politically. He was always snubbing his nose at the crown, at the art world and other rich folks who would pay millions of pounds for his art. Back in the day when I discovered him, he came off as a rebel, as most graffiti writers do. Now? He makes millions off his work while still thumbing his nose at capitalism? Doesn't ring the same any more. You can't claim to be fighting against…

> You can't claim to be fighting against the same system that you use to make millions.

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/we-should-improve-society-som...

There really is no winning when you become famous. When people liked you before and you are effectively still the same but just richer they call you part of the problem, if you aren't richer people just don't know you and you most likely arent actually famous. Usually money follows the fame and vice versa (unless you specifically use your money to remain anonymous).

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

#342

Post by anon373839 »

squigz wrote: post #253
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strong disagree. First, like many of the other comments mention, Banksy is known for being clever and witty, but not particularly subtle. But more to the point, while you may think the meaning is a bit obvious, the fact that the flag is unadorned (which/whose flag is it?), and the man is unknown, makes me think this statue could be the ultimate Rorschach test. I'm sure there are tons of people thinking "Ha ha, this i…

The ambiguity - that this could apply to anyone, that people are so caught up in their belief of choice - is part of the obviousness, at least to me. I would expect more people to be aware of this, than to actually believe that it's talking about, say, Americans in particular.

One can’t say that proposition is obvious to the population at large. Else, “we” (as in Earth in 2026) would have very political dynamics. So maybe Banksy felt inclined to do a public service announcement.

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

#343

Post by Pay08 »

squigz wrote: post #253
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strong disagree. First, like many of the other comments mention, Banksy is known for being clever and witty, but not particularly subtle. But more to the point, while you may think the meaning is a bit obvious, the fact that the flag is unadorned (which/whose flag is it?), and the man is unknown, makes me think this statue could be the ultimate Rorschach test. I'm sure there are tons of people thinking "Ha ha, this i…

The ambiguity - that this could apply to anyone, that people are so caught up in their belief of choice - is part of the obviousness, at least to me. I would expect more people to be aware of this, than to actually believe that it's talking about, say, Americans in particular.

> I would expect more people to be aware of this

You'd be very surprised.

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

#344

Post by gib444 »

weavejester wrote: post #306
socalgal2 wrote: post #279

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you know it's "blinded by nationalism"? There are plenty of non-national flags which are just as blinding

In the UK there's been a recent spate of nationalist flag flying. Given the artist and location, "blinded by nationalism" is the most likely intended meaning.

> there's been a recent spate of nationalist flag flying

Which spate and which nation? The one the local flags were in response to, or the local flags?

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

#346

Post by arrrg »

seydor wrote: post #7

Anyone else leaving up a huge statue in the middle of the park would be arrested

Yeah, and that is precisely the point.

This contradiction at the heart of it does a lot of work and is a very valuable part of the art. This contradiction has led me to think a lot about rules and their role in society and to what extent pure strict rules based societies are a worthwhile goal and on the other hand what it means of we make exceptions.

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

#347

Post by petesergeant »

vscode-rest wrote: post #36
tolerance wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The actual headline is more coherent but I'm not too fond of it either. You really don't see any good ol' fashioned short and sweet headlines that read best to the ear in a Mid-Atlantic accent anymore.

Banksy erects central London statue of man blinded by flag, maybe?

> Banksy erects central London statue of man

It's an offence against public decency however you slice it!

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

#349

Post by petesergeant »

nephihaha wrote: post #196
philk10 wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Yes, that's true, if you completely ignore the reality of how they're used in practice today

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

#350

Post by contingencies »

This made me think of my favorite quote attributed to Einstein:

Nationalismus ist eine Kinderkrankheit. Er ist die Masern der Menschheit.

"Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind."

... quote via https://github.com/globalcitizen/taoup

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