Earlier quoted context omitted.
Next Banksy artwork should depict paranoid people who delude themselves to the point where they think everything is about them.
A sheep is a sheep, biped or quadruped, it doesn't matter
Tinfoil is cheap.
New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
451–460 of 615 posts
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#452Earlier quoted context omitted.
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
Which are not very nationalists nowadays. Its mostly "we want to keep western values and culture".. which now is high treason i guess..
It's mostly about dismissing most of modern Western culture as "woke nonsense" whilst demonstrating fealty to the idea of it by showing they hate foreign cultures even more...
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#453Earlier 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…
> which is sort of north Somerset (Somerset keeps on morphing faster than a sci-fi shapeshifter).
The seats in parliament that represent it and the local authority structure have changed, of course, the same as everywhere else in the country, but the boundaries of Somerset have remained constant for a long time.
Bristol is absolutely not "North Somerset" as a general case (though certain suburbs do extend into Somerset counties, but on that basis Bristol is as much "South Gloucestershire").
> Ooh, BANES - Somerset? Not today thank you. It goes on.
Bath has always been in Somerset and "BANES" literally stands for "Bath and North East Somerset".
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#454Earlier 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.
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 fi…
I suppose it's true that the left-wing equivalent is the Palestinian flag, or the centrist equivalent is the Ukrainian flag, however this usually comes in the form of a sticker or the odd flag flown from a house window here and there, rather than a row of flags hung from every lamp post on a street.
Quantity has quality all of its own. Although many different causes use flags for promotion, the obsession that certain elements of the English right have with the English flag is at a completely different level.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#455Earlier 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.
St. George's Cross is football brawls and "England uber alles". Union Jack is stiff upper lip and kicking nazis out of Europe.
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Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#456Earlier quoted context omitted.
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 fi…
I suppose it's true that the left-wing equivalent is the Palestinian flag, or the centrist equivalent is the Ukrainian flag, however this usually comes in the form of a sticker or the odd flag flown from a house window here and there, rather than a row of flags hung from every lamp post on a street. Quantity has quality all of its own. Although many different causes use flags for promotion, the obsession that certain…
Not in the UK, but I was surprised by the abundance of Palestinian flags in the Basque country, Spain, last year.
There were definitely places where you had 7-8 of them in your view while walking random streets.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#457[deleted]
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#458I 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.
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…
There's nothing subtle about the things Banksy attacks either, in this case flag-shagging. Yes, he's about as subtle as a sledgehammer, but so what? We are definitively not living in an age of subtlety. Why should opposition be subtle when power isn't?
If anything, I'm more surprised Banksy didn't depict literal flag-shagging.
Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#459Re: New statue in London, attributed to Banksy, of a suited man, blinded by a flag
#460Earlier quoted context omitted.
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(What you call an "objective fact" here is - as you say - your report of your personal experience. Everyone else would probably use a word more like "subjective".)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cewnwgnqj2qo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Trans%2B_Pride
I'm seeing a lot of flags.