This Bansky guy is the edgy middle schooler art
New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
411–420 of 615 posts
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#412Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm pretty sure the piece is a commentary on the recent phenomenon of people of a right-wing political orientation hanging up the England flag everywhere , to the consternation of local governments who have to spend money taking them down. From a British perspective there's no ambiguity, flag shagging is a right-wing activity.
Is it? Most people I know who have flags proudly displayed are left wing and their flags are usually one of: the Palestinian flag, the ukrainian flag, the LGBT rainbow flag, or the trans flag.
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Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#413Banksy is the patron saint of the “I’m 13 and this is deep” mentality.
You are the patron saint of "I'm doing jack shit except criticizing anyone that moves".
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#414Trust HN to turn a banksy into a Rorschach test. The statue is in Westminster, right by Whitehall. The heart of British government. It depicts a figure in a suit, marching off a ledge, completely blinded by a flag. Who wears a suit and marches through Westminster under a flag? - Businessmen? No. Merchants have no country. - Officials? They wear suits but don't march - Old-guard politicians? Rarely march or flag-wave…
I like the fact that one can scroll through the comments here and instantly spot the Brits who have just a tiny bit more context.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#415I 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.
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Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#416This Bansky guy is the edgy middle schooler art
This statue should be the symbol of "I am 14 and this is deep"
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#417Earlier quoted context omitted.
The flag is unadorned and I think you can extend your interpretation to include the proliferation of flags which have a minimal "history". Banksy is from Bris'l which is sort of north Somerset (Somerset keeps on morphing faster than a sci-fi shapeshifter). Cornwall has had a white cross on a black flag since 18something. Devon decided to adopt a black edged white cross on a green flag. I remember seeing Devon flag ca…
> what is Avon? Welsh for river.
Hah TIL. So it's the river Welsh river on the English side of the Bristol channel.
I often feel like I would understand a lot more names if I bothered learning Welsh. It's pretty popular for made up climbing route names too, because Wales is so good for it I guess. Allegedly some of the classics in the Avon gorge are Welsh derived but I could never figure them out to be sure.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#418Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it? Most people I know who have flags proudly displayed are left wing and their flags are usually one of: the Palestinian flag, the ukrainian flag, the LGBT rainbow flag, or the trans flag.
He’s a British artist, the sculpture is in London and the phenomenon of raising of St George’s Cross on every lamppost on every roundabout is a recent initiative of the British right. Most people will be linking the statement of this sculpture to this activity. (I’m more likely to see the white rose of the House of York in “opposition” to the flag shaggers than a rainbow or anything else, in my neck of the woods, but…
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Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#419Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
Every parish church in England (more or less) has flown the St. George's cross traditionally for as long as I can remember. There is nothing wrong with that. Conversely, Union Jacks are a major symbol of Loyalism and Orangeism in Ireland, and parts of Scotland, which is an extremely aggressive and "hands on" movement. Union Jacks can be seen in pictures of every far right movement going back a century or more.
The Union Jack is a symbol of empire and colonialism which the St. George's Cross isn't.
However, the football thing is more recent. If you watch "the Italian Job" from the 1960s, the England fans wave around Union Jacks instead of their own specific flag (as Scotland and Wales fans would). Clearly in the intervening years, England fans have discovered the England flag.
Scottish and Welsh people seem to be a lot more comfortable with their identity than English do. And that includes their flags. I have seen countless bits of research which suggest that ethnic minorities happily identify as Scottish and Welsh in Scotland and Wales, but in England, they identify as British rather than English. I suggest you read Billy Bragg's "the Progressive Patriot". He is an English socialist who has tried to reclaim English identity from the far right, which he is entitled to.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#420Banksy is the patron saint of the “I’m 13 and this is deep” mentality.
He's also king of the "I'll criticize the west but I'll turn a blind-eye to non-democratic countries' wrongdoings" . A trait shared with virtually all intellectuals and artists in the west. There are fights worth fighting: for example there are 300 million women alive who have undergone forced genital mutilation. 300 million ain't cheap change. There are also hundreds of millions of people who applauded the killing o…
Oh yes the classic problem of 'the west' always bettering themselves. If they would actually start focusing on the rest of the world, maybe the world would be a wonderful place. Right?
Or maybe, we should look at the problems in our society and try to make it better, instead of just shouting into the void about things we, as nations, can't and wouldn't be and perhaps, shouldn't able to change?