Banksy is the patron saint of the “I’m 13 and this is deep” mentality.
What truly deep art would you recommend for us laymans who enjoy Banksy's works?
New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
361–370 of 615 posts
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#362So anyone can now place whatever they want in public space in UK or some people like Banksy are more equal than the other people? I find this statue offensive for double standards.
This should go quickly away unless they confirm he had official permit and he is just "anti-establishment" hipster.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#363Earlier quoted context omitted.
> engineered pro-establishment viral messaging I don’t understand this. What speaks pro-establishment in this piece?
It was installed in the middle of a street owned by the government. Police are guarding it to prevent vandalism or removal. Both the Westminster City Council and the Mayor of London have praised the statue and called for it to be preserved.[1][2] If the man holding the flag had been wearing a thawb instead of a suit, or if the statue had been of a woman, I think the establishment's response would be quite different.…
> If the man holding the flag had been wearing a thawb instead of a suit, or if the statue had been of a woman, I think the establishment's response would be quite different.
That's argumentum ad speculum[0]. You can speculate what the response would be if the statue was different in a way you imagine, but the thing is, it's not.
[0]: https://www.logicallyfallacious.com/logicalfallacies/Hypothe...
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#364I misparsed this headline as (Statue (of a man (blinded by a flag (put up by Banksy)))) in central London It is intended to be ((Statue (of a man (blinded by a flag))) (put up by Banksy)) in central London
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.
New statue in London. Banksy, maybe.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#365Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 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 This is part of what's obvious. The whole thing, including this oooh aahh Rorschach part, is obvious. It's thoughts that we all had in high school, and it is hack.
Lol, right now this comment declaring "the oooh aahh Rorschach part is obvious" is literally just below another comment declaring that the sculpture could only reasonably be interpreted as being anti-nationalist. So thanks for proving my point.
That just means you're both wrong. "Its location - Waterloo Place, St James's - is an area designed to celebrate imperialism and military dominance in the 1800s", says the BBC. Banksy is from Bristol, where they threw a statue of a slave-trading philanthropist in the river. The statue is wearing a suit. It's not very interpretable. We can wonder whether it's about the Conservative party or the Reform party, but nobody's suggesting it represents Hamas or the CCP.
※ I admit that Xi Jinping wears a suit, but I'm still classifying that theory under "plausible deniability".
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#366Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#367Earlier quoted context omitted.
Both Israel and Palestine are blinded by ideology. It is a very common failure mode for people.
When one is a colony of the other the flag of the colonized has added symbol of decolonization. The flag of the colonizers has no such symbol, quite the contrary in fact. These two flags are clearly distinct.
When one is an organization terrorizing the other the flag of the terrorized has added symbol of anti-terror. The flag of the terrorists has no such symbol, quite the contrary in fact. These two flags are clearly distinct.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#368The point is not just that he's blinded by the flag: He's boldly marching into the void, confident. "wrapped in the flag" is a great saying.
> He's boldly marching into the void into the void, or off the edge? "off the edge" is a clear interpretation of the statue. "into the void" is a bit more of a stretch. IMHO. But that's art for you. Everyone has their own take on it.
I you fall off the edge, you might soon be confronted with the void (of death).
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#369Despite 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.
Yes, London is famously free of surveillance and the Met is famously tolerant of political speech. Certainly, if someone had put up a statue of a pro-Palestine protester being blinded by a flag Sadiq Khan would just stand around being puzzled and letting things be. No question about it.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#370For some unknown reasons, the mainstream media wants to make sure i see this
Baby, psyop me, one more time