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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

#431

Post by [deleted] »

card_zero wrote: post #376
leourbina wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And yet here here we all are taking about it. Art is about inciting a response, and he’s done it. Whether we think he’s a hack or not is irrelevant - he has the world’s attention.

Where does the "art is about inciting a response" theory originate from? I went and looked at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_art but couldn't find it there. The "anti-essentialist" section is good, though, I think. It has Berys Gaut listing ten properties of art, all of which are nice-to-have but none of which are essential. Then if a piece ticks lots of boxes it's a shoo-in, but if it doesn't tick many of t…

[deleted]

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

#432

Post by blitzar »

pjc50 wrote: post #404
blitzar wrote: post #403

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its because we have the metric system over here

Americans manage a further level of confusion by referring to the "pound sign" as #, rather than £, which isn't in US-ASCII nor on the US-102 keyboard layout.

You have to go to Amsterdam for the hash shop

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

#433

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

ggm wrote: post #2

The 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.

The position of the statue (notably the front foot) make it seem very much "walking unknowingly off the ledge of a tall pedestal" rather than marching into the void. I think there's a difference in that "marching into the void" can be seen as heroic, but unknowingly stepping off a ledge is generally seen as being stupid i.e. not using your senses to inform you about the world, but instead relying on nationalism (the flag) to guide you.

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

#434

Post by watwut »

Lerc wrote: post #62
wartywhoa23 wrote: post #39

Banksy's "anonymity" is a total farce at this point, thoroughly supported by those in power.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Those in power" there are lot's of people who know, but recognise that he has chosen anonymity and see no value in putting a name to the person. It's not so much a secret as it is simply not public.

Simple logic, if you make an anti-nationalist-war point and current mainstream politicians are against the war, you are just an establishment stooge.

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

#435

Post by master-lincoln »

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.

What makes you think so? I think it depends on what happens to the money extracted from the system. Do we know how Banksy uses it?

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

#436

Post by foldr »

pydry wrote: post #407
foldr wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As shown by this savage Charlie Brooker takedown: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2006/sep/22/arts.v...

This reads more puerile and jealous than savage. It's got just the right mix of highbrow disdain, unironic self righteousness and naughty language to titillate the average guardian reader though.

Well yes, but so does Banksy :)

(Also, if you're familiar with Charlie Brooker's output, he's not really a 'highbrow' type. He started out in games journalism.)

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

#437

Post by inglor_cz »

ggm wrote: post #2

The 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.

Imagine the torrent of wrath if it turned out to be the Palestinian flag.

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

#438

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

gerdesj wrote: post #264
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 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…

Hard disagree that Bristol is North Somerset.

I'm often surprised that Bristol (a lefty city) is surrounded by very right-leaning areas, but I suppose that's the nature of a bubble. I don't think it makes a huge amount of sense to try to lump us in all together, at least politically.

As an aside, it still annoys me when websites put "Avon" as the county - it no longer exists and even the Post Office does this and they're the ones who should definitely know about it.

As far as flags go, I'm very much against the "flag-shaggers" who go around putting up England's St George Cross flag - most of the time, the flags are seen as threatening to minorities which is very much NOT the general Bristolian attitude. (I actually live in St George, Bristol, so somewhat ironic that I'm cross about that flag).

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

#439

Post by inglor_cz »

zarzavat wrote: post #398
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…

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.

Every single left-wing march flies a lot of flags as well, only they are different flags.

Political movements in general don't seem to be particularly immune to flag shagging, only the colors vary a lot.

But I am pretty sure that Banksy means right-wing flag worship as well. He is a master of "provocative conformism" and wouldn't produce anything that would get him into a real risk of controversy. His art is very fine-tuned to the sensibilities of the English and American chattering class; same recipe for success as Paul Krugman or Malcolm Gladwell.

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

#440

Post by ndsipa_pomu »

mootothemax wrote: post #283
gerdesj wrote: post #264

Earlier 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.

The Welsh "afon" derives from the earlier Celtic "abona" meaning "river". Also related to the Celtic "afanc" which was some kind of aquatic monster.
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