A Nicked Banksy or A Banksy Nicked?
Itâs half a million quidâs worth of my property, or it belongs to the community? When did Graffiti become so valuable? When the Art world got involved thatâs when.
When Banksy, the Ãber-cool underground graffiti merchant decide to deface the wall of Poundland in Haringey in the middle of the night, in the eyes of some, he had ceased to be a graffiti merchant and had become an artist of merit graciously donating his precious works to the community. Not that the work had any great technical merit, you understand, you canât achieve technical merit when you are dodging policemen with spray can in hand, but Ãber-cool is Ãber-valuable in the art world, and one is obliged to use pretentious foreign language prepositions like Ãber if you are going to write about it. It is also obligatory to refer to those who have to walk past this graffiti every day as âthe communityâ.
Naturally, communities have community leaders these days. So it is in Haringey. When someone (we will discuss later who âsomeoneâ might be) removed this graffiti and put it up for sale in America, âcommunity leaderâ Alan Strickland (who is what we used to call a local councillor in the pre-Ãber times, before we found out where the umlaut key was) invoked the might of the Arts Council to âexplore whether this art work was being exported appropriatelyâ (good luck with that one â itâs less than 50 years old thus not covered by the relevant legislation).
âPeople are rightly disgusted that a gift to the community could be privately sold for huge profit,â said Alan Strickland.
Why would they be disgusted at private property being sold at a profit? That apparently stems from them being terribly depressed at having destroyed acres of private property by their own hands during the 2011 riots.
Councilor Alan Strickland said the work had become âa real symbol of local prideâ in an area badly hit in Englandâs August 2011 riots. He said its disappearance had left residents âshocked and angry.â
Needless to say, an MP was soon legging it along behind the bandwagon, as fast as her little legs could carry her:
â(Itâs) totally unethical that something so valued should be torn without warning from its community context.â said Lynne Featherstone.
If I could be bothered, Iâd be out tonight painting some suitable graffiti on Lynne Feathestoneâs front door just to see how long it takes before an original Anna Raccoon, in fact possibly the only one in existence, is âtorn without warning from its community contextââ¦â¦
It has, of course, become incredibly down-wi-da-yoof (can I sneak another Ãber-cool in here?) to admire the skill involved in pulling your hoodie over your eyes, pushing your wooden handcart down the street in the middle of the night, attaching a stencil to someone elseâs wall and letting rip with the spray can – just so long as itâs not your million pound pile in Primrose Hill that gets defaced, and so long as its being done by someone who loathes the Royal family, (why even Murdochâs Sunday Times commissioned Banksy to deface a wall in aid of its front cover and actually filmed him committing this criminal act) and the âartistâ believes that all property is theft, everyone should get an upgrade in their dole money and all right wing politicians should be hungâ¦itâs a thrilling dip-your-toe in harmless anarchy and establishment poking. How naughty!
Add in a dollop of Pseudâs Corner from the art world, with a soupçon (Iâm getting the hang of this) of Liberal hand wringing mansion envy (so long as itâs not their mansion) and one stencil on the side of Poundland, that proudly iconic food hall of the horse-meat eating class, has become an artifact to rival the Elgin marbles. Only one thing missing from this trip through the left wing lexicon. What could it be? Weâve done âappropriatelyâ, unethical, Ãber, and communityâ¦ah so, a Twitter campaign!
âPls RT. Save our Banksy from sale. Letâs all email art company auctioning it on info@faamiami.com. Tell them to withdraw it from auction.â
And Yea! Councillor Stricklandâs Twitter campaign resulted in thousands of Retweets, and abusive phone calls to the auctioneers.
Critics have accused the auction house of dealing in stolen property but Thut insisted earlier in the week that the consignor, who he described as a âwell-known collectorâ, was the rightful owner and that the sale was legal.
He added that his gallery had been inundated with emails and phone calls from the UK, saying that many of them were abusive or offensive.
Poundland, meanwhile, had instructed their âsocial media executiveâ (every firm should have one) to send out a stream of Tweets denying that they owned the building, nor had anything to do with removing the graffiti.
Claire Kober, the leader of Haringey council, wrote to Arts Council England and the mayor of Miami, Tomas Regalado, to ask them to intervene to stop the sale but it appears the decision to withdraw the item came from the gallery owners in consultation with their lawyers. The FBI refused to confirm reports they were asked to investigate.
Yes, mob rule was successful. They had managed to stop an individual selling his property through a combination of emotive declarations and âthe power of the communityâ.
By this time the value of a lump of concrete defaced by an anonymous individual had soared to half a million quid. The Banksy PR department, whether controlled by him or not, was not finished yet. On Friday afternoon came news to horrify any left wing foot-soldier. Banksy had been arrested, named, and charged with vandalism and counterfeiting.
Were the troops horrified that their iconic artiste (I thought Iâd add an âeâ there for effect) proved to have such a love of the filthy lucre that he had taken up counterfeiting? Nope, they didnât even mention it. Were they appalled that his art was described as vandalism? One or two mentioned it, but only in passing â but to a man, they rose up in horror at the idea of the âbloody pigsâ daring to name their precious anonymous hero. They flooded Twitter. How could âthe pigsâ name Che Guevaraâs successor, Haringeyâs own freedom-from the-chains-of-capitalism (but donât stop my dole money yet) fighter as a boring âPaulâ from suburbia? They havenât been so outraged since the Daily Mail tried to claim that he was an ordinary cock-Robin from Bristol â and a public schoolboy to boot.
âBanksy is not one, but of the many, anonymous and embedded in the collective mind of the rationals. More valuable than any Picasso, Vermeer, Gaugain or smirking portrait creator, Banksy is among us, all.â
The Police station where he was alleged to be held was flooded with fake Banksyâs, all telling them they had the wrong Banksyâ¦âIâm Sparticusâ.
It was, of course, a hoax press release. So what, Banksy was once more trending on Twitter, the âBanksyâ is still to be sold.
Someone, somewhere will soon be laughing all the way to the banksy.
February 26, 2013 at 13:10
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Surely the fact that this original artwork has been removed validates itâs
credentials and those of the artist? The fate of all graffitti is to be
covered over â either by oppresive councils or other graffitti artisits in the
spirit of challenge and dare. Banksy, as a true graffitti artists, intends,
with his philosophy of underground guerilla art and his anonymity, to bring to
our attention the temporary nature of great art. He is anonymous (as an urban
artist is â graffitti artist is such a pejorative description), he seeks to
avoid the police and the uncreative law courts (as urban artists do) and so
his art MUST, in the end, be removed. There is a perfect circularity to this
momentous event â a Banksy original has finally achieved its higher purpose
and moved on to a new plane of artistry.
February 26, 2013 at 13:56
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Does the Eyeâs âPseuds Cornerâ print blog comments?
February 27, 2013 at 12:59
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Too many typosâ¦â¦ I shall take that as a compliment anyway
February 25, 2013 at 09:51
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On further reflection, if those protesting as to the merits of such artwork
were to stand in front of the trains to prevent their sale, we might be on to
something
February 25, 2013 at 13:39
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Only if they stand in front of the trains while the said trains are
travelling at speed between stationsâ¦
February 25, 2013 at 14:29
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âBetween stationsâ? You only need to stand on the edge of the platform
at Northallerton to seriously risk your flesh entering the food chainâ¦
February 25, 2013 at 09:50
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Letâs hope that no-one decides that there is more money to be made in
selling our artistically modified trains, than by running them
February 25, 2013 at 00:25
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Berlin street art is rather more ambitious, and highly unlikely to be
chiselled off by anyone
http://www.streetartutopia.com/?p=7497
February 24, 2013 at 23:12
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Sorry to seem so lacking in empathy for âCommunity Artâ, but as an on/off
Parish councillor (i.e very bottom of the food chain) over many years, Iâd
like think weâd have encouraged the property owner to have the daub painted
over pretty sharpish. I donât think too many would even need to be
asked.
Perhaps Haringeyâs different?
February 24, 2013 at 19:07
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Once again when logic and the English dictionary comes up against the
peoples republic of Haringey hilarity ensues.
I am of the opinion that graffiti is not art, but then having viewed some
modern âartâ one is inclined to observe that some graffiti requires greater
skill and better technique, it has also never been a crime to sell mugs
sub-standard goods provided the transaction is managed by an art dealer. As to
private property becoming public space perhaps by transubstantiation I thought
that was now well established in the various peoples republics. Therefore you
can very easily see how the hard-of-thinking (perhaps defined by areas voting
liebour) could become confused and easily enraged. After all similar methods
were used to convince the same âvictimsâ to loot and burn their neighbourhoods
two years ago.
Then again I am amused by the landlady, and would definitely contribute to
any out-of-pocket expenses she might incur to spray paint a bandit-like
raccoon on Lynn Featherbrainâs door, hopefully prominently signed
RAC-
COON
The art community and police community art co-ordinator would then need to
decide whether this was art or a hate crime, and whether the door could be
removed to the evidence locker or had to remain as a community art
installation.
Or more succinctly-what Julia just said.
February
24, 2013 at 18:19
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You can no more steal graffiti than you can steal litterâ¦
February 24, 2013 at 18:15
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O.K. I am being stoopid here but how did the âartworkâ get removed from a
wall, did they chisel out a slab of the building, did they dissolve the paint
from the cement and re apply it via some super trick technologyâ¦â¦.I am
confused.
February 24, 2013 at 17:39
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Why havenât âThe Councilâ started prosecution against the owner of the shop
for allowing the mural to be displayed without Planning Permission?
February 24, 2013 at 17:36
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Iâm worried (perhaps âShocked -nay appalledâ?) that the Council havenât
started prosecution against the owner of the shop for allowing the mural to be
displayed to the detriment of the environment & without Planning
Permission..
February 24, 2013 at 17:09
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Maybe he will visit the Raccoon Arms one fine-art dayâ¦.
http://www.archive-jmu-journalism.org.uk/#/news-77/4535527979
February 24, 2013 at 16:27
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Weekend urine murals freely adorn Yorkshire shop doorways and our village
walls are littered with some terrific Emins. We boast some of the finest
displays of used condoms, blood-stained underwear and stool sculpture, all of
which are simply abandoned to the elements.
The true artisan can rise above any vulgar interest in street Artâs
financial worth, Anna.
February 24, 2013 at 15:35
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Hmmmm I reckon that if someone put graffiti on a my wall of mine Iâd
consider it to be a personal gift and be fully entitled to sell it regardless
of who in my community could see it. An Anna racoon original? Iâve a good wall
here.
February 24, 2013 at 12:52
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Bloody brilliant, Anna.
Thanks for enlivening my Sunday.
February 24, 2013 at 12:50
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First shot of âcommunityâ interviewee by BBC World (News) on the âremovalâ
being a rather scruffy looking female who could only articulate âGobsmacked,
gobsmackedâ â wot âappened to the English language?
February 24, 2013 at 19:26
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The English language is rarely used these days, and when it is, the words
do not have the same meaning you were taught in elementary school. For an
explanation refer to Orwellâs 1984.
Haringeyâs yoof population speak a very peculiar language, which BBC
correspondents try to emulate to enhance their street cred. Street cred is
further enhanced by welfare-chic uncombed hair and jumble sale clothing.
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