I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy • Hacker News Board

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#91

Post by camus2 » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:15 AM UTC

nikatwork wrote: post #86

JamesArgo wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s funny he contrasted Banksy with Pollack. I’ve always thought of Pollack (and many other modern artists) as a sort of charming guy who figured out that the art industry is a weird product of status games and so decided to create positional goods with the least amount of effort possible.

I find Pollock's works legitimately amazing, and I don't really like much modern art. Modern art is usually full of clever subtexts and messages that aren't apparent to outsiders. Like a really complicated and abstract piece of jazz music. Ask a knowledgeable modern art fan to decrypt some paintings for you sometime, it's quite interesting.

You are talking post modern art , not mordern art.Art died when it became highly speculative.But it did not die today, by the time of Picasso it was already dead.

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#92

Post by yetanotherphd » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:16 AM UTC

anabis wrote: post #76

yetanotherphd wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a criminal matter, not a civil matter. It's just like if a guy punches me on the street, but I decide it was cool and edgy and added to the gritty vibe of the neighborhood. The prosecutor can still bring charges.

You are right, my mistake. Although it seems hard to press charges without the property owner's cooperation. Can express permission to paint a graffiti given afterward?

You could always lie and say you gave him permission, but that would probably be a crime in itself.

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#93

Post by radley » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:19 AM UTC

camus2 wrote: post #91

nikatwork wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find Pollock's works legitimately amazing, and I don't really like much modern art. Modern art is usually full of clever subtexts and messages that aren't apparent to outsiders. Like a really complicated and abstract piece of jazz music. Ask a knowledgeable modern art fan to decrypt some paintings for you sometime, it's quite interesting.

You are talking post modern art , not mordern art.Art died when it became highly speculative.But it did not die today, by the time of Picasso it was already dead.

Lowbrow FTW

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#94

Post by radley » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:20 AM UTC

andrewb wrote: post #25

theoh wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, most art critics don't take Banksy seriously, so I wouldn't count on him having a place in the history books any more than a novelty musician like Weird Al, for example. In fact that comparison makes Banksy sound more important than he is. David Blaine, maybe? http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/20...

I made a recent trip to NYC and visited several museums and Five Points. I was more impressed by the artwork by the graffiti artists than the majority of items at say MoMA PS1. Unfortunately, I think graffiti art will be accepted one funeral at a time.

Our generation accepts graffiti. Previous generations didn't. It's when they die that objections will cease.

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#95

Post by jayvanguard » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:30 AM UTC

theoh wrote: post #20

iamben wrote: post #7

Mayor Bloomberg's reaction is interesting - I'm curious to know when a person transitions from vandal to artist. I don't think anyone could argue that Banksy hasn't cemented a place in the 'history of art' and the books our children read that cover this period will feature his work. In the UK a lot of people are genuinely gutted when a Banksy gets removed or covered - like something (a gift?) has been removed from th…

Well, most art critics don't take Banksy seriously, so I wouldn't count on him having a place in the history books any more than a novelty musician like Weird Al, for example. In fact that comparison makes Banksy sound more important than he is. David Blaine, maybe? http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/20...

Most people don't take most art critics seriously, so there is also that.

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#96

Post by nly » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:31 AM UTC

md224 wrote: post #53

foobarbazqux wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The job of an artist is to break the rules.

That's a nice aphorism, but it's too vague; obviously we wouldn't condone artists breaking rules against child abuse or murder. Figuring out where to draw the line is the hard part. One could argue that if an artist breaks a law to make a statement (about either the law itself or wider sociological issues), then your perspective of the morality of the act could be influenced by whether or not you agree with the artis…

I think it's an artists job to get the viewer to take pause and reflect. Whether that means reflecting on the state of society, the human condition, sexuality, property owner rights, or the raw beauty and majesty of nature, doesn't really matter.

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#97

Post by o0-0o » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 2:56 AM UTC

ojbyrne wrote: post #63

harryh wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mayor Bloomberg's reaction is obvious. If he says the city condones Banksy's work then he's going to immediately get asked "Who's job is it to decide which graffiti is art and which will get you arrested?" He's got 10,000 more important things to deal with so he just says it's vandalism and will be treated as such and then moves on to the rest of his day.

I found this interesting to compare/contrast: "For $41 million — what Citibank paid to sponsor the program for five years — our city bikes became Citi Bikes. To make certain you don’t forget this fact, a Citi Bike sign hangs in front of the handlebars, Citi Bike is printed twice on the frame, and a Citi Bike billboard drapes the rear wheel on both sides. The font is the familiar Citibank font and the Citibank signatu…

great point. bravo.... I would love to see banksy do something with those awful eyesore bikes.

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#98

Post by DalekBaldwin » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 3:01 AM UTC

saurik wrote: post #29

iamben wrote: post #7

Mayor Bloomberg's reaction is interesting - I'm curious to know when a person transitions from vandal to artist. I don't think anyone could argue that Banksy hasn't cemented a place in the 'history of art' and the books our children read that cover this period will feature his work. In the UK a lot of people are genuinely gutted when a Banksy gets removed or covered - like something (a gift?) has been removed from th…

Why can't vandalism be an artistic medium? I don't see any reason why someone can't be labeled both "vandal" and "artist". (edit: re-reading my sentence an hour later, I think even better wording might be "an outlet for artistic expression" rather than "an artistic medium".)

Remember when Karlheinz Stockhausen called 9/11 a great work of art?

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#99

Post by 80 » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 3:07 AM UTC

theoh wrote: post #20

iamben wrote: post #7

Mayor Bloomberg's reaction is interesting - I'm curious to know when a person transitions from vandal to artist. I don't think anyone could argue that Banksy hasn't cemented a place in the 'history of art' and the books our children read that cover this period will feature his work. In the UK a lot of people are genuinely gutted when a Banksy gets removed or covered - like something (a gift?) has been removed from th…

Well, most art critics don't take Banksy seriously, so I wouldn't count on him having a place in the history books any more than a novelty musician like Weird Al, for example. In fact that comparison makes Banksy sound more important than he is. David Blaine, maybe? http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/20...

Critical reception is far from the strongest metric for seeing which artists are going to stick around. "Who's buying his work" is a better question to ask.

Re: I’m the Accidental Owner of a Banksy

#100

Post by kbenson » Mon, Oct 21, 2013, 3:08 AM UTC

Theodores wrote: post #77

If the mayor was serious about catching Banksy then he would go to the phone companies and get all of the phones that were within a 200 metre radius on the night that the artwork went up for each and every piece. Then he could put them in a database, get his 'SQL for Dummies' book out and select just the phone records that are common to all incidents. He can then go back to the phone companies and get the billing det…

Requesting personal information is what warrants are for.

Denying overly broad warrants that infringe on many people's privacy in order to catch one person who is hurting no one and rather than costing the city is possibly generating value from thin air is what judges are for.