Street Art Defacement: Appropriate Media vs. Banksy

Photo: Appropriate Media. www.appropriatemedia.net

An early piece by graffiti artist Banksy has been defaced by a group calling themselves Appropriate Media. The piece, titled The Mild Mild West, was located in Stokes Croft, Bristol. Appropriate Media ‘splashed’ the piece with red paint. The group proclaims that they will continue to deface works by Banksy. Appropriate Media mockingly suggests that they will continue to present ‘alternative versions’ of works by the artist. The works by Banksy are often considered alternative landmarks and have been known to increase the value of property.

The actions of Appropriate Media are eerily similar to an individual-- though later revealed as a group-- known as ‘The Splasher’. The Splasher targeted works by Banksy, Anthony Lister, and other renowned graffiti and street artists on the streets of New York City from 2006 to 2007-- it is believed that two individuals who tried to sabotage a Shepard Fairey exhibit in 2007 by lighting a stink bomb were also members of ‘The Splasher’. At the time Fairey proclaimed that the duo were “just jealous" of his art. The group retaliated by leaving a manifesto at another Shepard Fairey exhibit in NYC.

The Splasher group often left manifestos near the works they defaced. These manifestos detailed the purpose of the group-- which often proclaimed that the ‘commercial driven street art movement’ is a ploy to further gentrification in New York neighborhoods. In other words, members of The Splasher felt that Banksy, Shepard Fairey, and other mainstream accepted graffiti and street artists were working alongside gallery owners and city organizers in order to push low income families out of neighborhoods due to the increased property values that result from more affluent individuals moving into the community.
Photo: Appropriate Media. www.appropriatemedia.net

Oddly enough, Appropriate Media’s manifesto covers some of the same issues. The manifesto, though short, can be found on the Appropriate Media website:

“In the early hours of this morning, Banksy's 'Mild Mild West' on Stokes Croft in Bristol (UK) was repainted by a member of Appropriate Media, presenting an alternative version of this 'alternative Bristol landmark'.

Through this action, Appropriate Media asks? What is the value of street art??. How much time and money will be spent to restore this urban 'masterpiss' by urban masterpisser, Banksy.

Come on, you only care about it cos its a Banksy and he sells his lazy polemics to Hollywood movie stars for big bucks.

Come on, you only care about it cos makes you feel edgy and urban to tour round the inner city in your 4x4, taking in the tired coffee table subversion that graffiti has become.

Graffiti artists are the copywriters for the capitalist created phenomenon of urban art. Graffiti artists are the performing spray-can monkeys for gentrification.

We call for the appropriate and legitimate use of public and private property.

We are taking matters into our own hands

We will not seek permission

We will retaliate”

Appropriate Media has described Banksy and other mainstream street artists as “poor little middle-class white boys”. The group suggests that mainstream street artists are “self obsessed” and that “Never in the field of human history has so much paint been used by so many to say so little.”. The group also suggests that mainstream street artists have exploited the struggle of minority groups, stating, “are you making parallels between the struggle of black people with centuries of racism and the struggle of poor little middle class white boys with the need to deface private property?”.

Needless to say, members of the group demand that artists, such as Banksy, stay out of their communities and return to their “leafy suburbs“. Again, the words of Appropriate Media are eerily similar to those of The Splasher.

Photo: Appropriate Media. www.appropriatemedia.net

I doubt that The Splasher and Appropriate Media are connected aside from their shared beliefs. After all, one group is located in the US and the other group is located in the UK. However, the fact that two organized groups have challenged world renowned street artists in this manner reveals the unease that some individuals-- even within the street art community-- have for the commercialization of street art and what can result from it.

I think it is naive to write these groups off as “just jealous”. After all, they are anonymous aside from having a collective name. They don’t profit from their actions either. One could say that their actions are selfish-- but the flip-side of that coin is that they can also be viewed as selfless. They are placing themselves at risk for something they believe in-- sound familiar? The only difference is that their actions are the essence of rebellion rather than a form of commercialized rebellion involving the fame and wealth of an individual. Food for thought.

It is common for people to compare mainstream street artists-- such as Banksy and Shepard Fairey-- to ‘Robin Hood’. With that in mind, one could say that groups like The Splasher and Appropriate Media are like Robin Hood as well. After all, they are driven by passion and take action for what they view as an attack on low income communities. In their eyes they are 'stealing' something from the rich in order to show support for the poor. The only problem with this is that these two groups have, in a sense, stolen from everyone. Or have they? What say you?

Consider this an open topic on street art, the commercialization of street art, gentrification, and the defacement of art as protest.

Links of Interest:

Banksy backlash as protest defaces 'middle class' grafitti -- Telegraph UK
www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/5124049/Banksy-backlash-as-protest-defaces-middle-class-grafitti.html

Somerville’s only Shepard Fairey mural vandalized -- Wicked Local
www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x549598518/Somerville-s-only-Shepard-Fairey-mural-ruined

The Splasher -- Myartspace blog
www.myartspace.com/blog/2007/05/art-space-news-splasher.html

Banksy Splashed Out in Melbourne -- Banksy
www.myartspace.com/blog/2008/12/banksy-splashed-out-in-melbourne.html

This gag sure stinks: Artist turns up nose as bomb ploy flops -- NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2007/06/23/2007-06-23_this_gag_sure_stinks_artist_turns_up_nos.html

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

myartspace.com

www.myartspace.com

Myartspace Blog on Twitter

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Controversial Art Damaged by Protestors

’The Duc, Viet Nam’ by Brian Doan was damaged by protestors

I recently posted an article about a protest involving an exhibit involving Communism. Over 300 protestors met outside of the controversial F.O.B. II: Art Speaks exhibit sponsored by the Vietnamese Arts & Letters Association Center in Santa Ana. There have been several disturbances at the gallery do to the controversial theme of the exhibit and the fact that it took place in a location near a Vietnamese American community.

Those involved with the protest felt that a similar controversial exhibit would not have taken place near other minority communities. For example, one rights advocate stated that a photograph of a young Jewish person wearing a Nazi symbol standing next to a bust of Hitler would not have been displayed in a heavily populated community of Holocaust survivors. Others have suggested that an exhibit involving African Americans wearing Ku Klux Klan (KKK) hoods would not take place in a predominately black community.

The actions of the protestors has sparked debate concerning what should be expected from curators as far as being responsible for the exhibits they manage. The story has caused a wildfire of comments from individuals online. Some support the exhibit as the perfect example of the freedoms shared in the United States while others have suggested that the exhibit was nothing more than a reckless publicity stunt. Some feel that support for the exhibit reveals that the “scars” within the Vietnamese American community are not acknowledged when compared to the “sensitivity” that is involved in discussions-- both verbal and visual-- involving the history of African Americans and other minority groups in the United States. One anonymous forum commenter stated, “if it involved slavery and the KKK the organizers would have been charged with hate crimes.”.

What is your opinion? Should artists, curators, and gallery owners be held responsible for damage that occurs due to protestors if the work displayed is overly controversial? Should the First Amendment be upheld even if a minority group is hurt in the process? Would the exhibit had been shut down before opening had it involved a different minority in a similar context? Should parts of history be "off limits" until the generation that experienced it are long gone? What say you?

Links of Interest:

Vietnamese Americans protest art exhibit in Santa Ana -- Los Angeles Times

Vietnamese Americans Protest Controversial Exhibit Exploring Communism

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
www.myartspace.com
New York Art Exchange
www.nyaxe.com

Gallery Patrons Throw Shoes at President Bush

It appears that more shoes have been thrown at President Bush-- only this time the target was hit. The art event took place during the opening of a small gallery in Ashland, Oregon. Visitors to the MAda Shell Gallery made donations to the gallery in exchange for taking a shot at an 8-foot image of George Walker Bush.

The shoes, provided by gallery owners Eric Navickas and Amy Godard, were thrown at the image after being painted red. Godard stated that the exhibit was intended to be a “statement of solidarity” in order to show support for Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi who was arrested after taking two shoe-shots at the President during a recent Baghdad news conference.

I‘m certain that other works involving Bush and shoes will pop up this month. The only question I have about this specific project is-- why the red paint? What does it symbolize… does it represent blood? Bush’s blood? Al-Zeidi’s blood? --apparently he was beaten after the incident-- or does it represent the blood of those who have died in Iraq? Maybe it was just a way to collect donations with no other symbolism attached? What say you?

In closing I must say that we in the United States should respect the fact that exhibits of this manner exist. I think we often take for granted the fact that we can express ourselves in this way-- we tend to forget that there are many people throughout the world who do not share that same type of freedom.

Art and sole: Patrons pitch shoes at Bush image

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin
Senior Editor
www.myartspace.com
www.nyaxe.com

The "War & Empire" Video Documentary

The "War & Empire" Video Documentary
Now available for free on Google Video

Combining engaging visual imagery with commentary and interviews, this revealing 15 minute long video presents an overview of "War & Empire", the groundbreaking exhibition now running at San Francisco’s Meridian Gallery. Participating artist Mark Vallen guides the viewer through the powerful exhibit - where art and social reality converge.

Not Our Children, Not Their Children - Mark Vallen, 2003. Pencil on paper. 20" x 22". Exhibited at the Meridian Gallery

On view in the "War & Empire" video are artworks by Fernando Botero, Sandow Birk, Mark Vallen, Bella Feldman, Guy Colwell, Eric Drooker, William T. Wiley, Mary Hull Webster, Phyllis Plattner, and some 40 other artists. The video includes brief interviews with exhibit curators Anne Brodzky, DeWitt Cheng, and Art Hazelwood, as well as interviews with participating artists. Commentary on socially engaged art is provided by Jack Rasmussen - the Director and Curator of the American University Museum in Washington, D.C., and Peter Selz - Professor Emeritus of Art History at UC Berkeley and a former curator of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. View and download the "War and Empire" video at Google Video:

[ Screen shot from "War and Empire" on Google Video. This image is a detail from one of six large preparatory drawings exhibited at the "War and Empire" show by Los Angeles artist, Sandow Birk. The drawings were used in the production of Birk’s "Depravities of War" print series. Consisting of 15 large-scale woodcuts, the prints are based upon "The Miseries of War", a suite of etchings created by the 17th-century artist Jacques Callot in 1633. Birk is an L.A. based painter and printmaker whose sardonic images of war and violence are inspired reinterpretations of classical works.]

The "War & Empire" exhibit opened at San Francisco's Meridian Gallery on September 4, 2008, and runs until the evening of the U.S. Presidential election - November 4, 2008. For more information, visit the Meridian website.

Protest Art... Your Thoughts?

Photograph of an installation that took place in Sydney, Australia. Each body bag represented a soldier killed in Iraq.

Photograph of a public art installation at Portland State University that acknowledged how many people had been killed in the Iraq war at that time. Each red flag represented 5 Americans killed. Each white flag represented 5 Iraqis killed.

Photograph of an ongoning installation on Peaks Island, ME. Each strip of plastic has the name and age of a soldier killed in Iraq.

What is your opinion of protest art-- specifically protest art involving the war in Iraq? In recent years there have been several mainstream exhibits dedicated to the exploration of war and concerns in Iraq. There have also been a number of anti-war protests involving the utilization of art on college campuses throughout the United States-- hundreds of installations involving the number of service people killed. Many art students have focused on the issue for school exhibits. With this in mind I ask the following questions: Do you think that protest art has the power to sway opinions about war? Or would you say that these works do little to change opinions as far as war is concerned? Do these works make a difference? Do they make an impact? If not, why?

Concerning the men and women serving in Iraq... should the morale of service men and women on leave and on the war front be considered when these works are displayed in public? After all, they realize the death in Iraq-- they see it daily. With that said, do they need to be reminded of it when on leave or by an image sent to them from someone back home? Should we be concerned that they may become disheartened upon viewing these public works while on leave or upon learning about them while serving actively in Iraq? Should these works be seen as supporting these men and women or do they cast doubt on what they have fought for? Where does responsibility fall concerning this issue?

I ask these questions because a good friend of mine recently came home from the war. He was offended that a local college had allowed the creation of a protest installation, similar to the images included in this article, in a high traffic public area and that the college had allowed certain student groups to hold politically driven rallies in the location. He learned that one of the rallies near the installation involved chants of “No more babies killed by our guns in Iraq!” and other chants that made assumptions about the intentions of the men and women serving in Iraq instead of the intentions of the US government. It troubled him.

One night while having a few drinks he discussed protest art and rallies involving protest art with me. I took the position that such works and events are protected by the constitution and that the people organizing the installations and rallies have that choice. He looked at me and said, “I chose to serve. I did not choose the war. And you guys wonder why there are so many suicides in Iraq”. Needless to say, his words have stuck in my mind. Are there ethical issues that we should be answering and responsible for aside from securing the right to create these works and to use them within the context of a rally? What say you?

Art student Tom Bylander created an installation in response to the 3rd anniversary of the war in Iraq. He attached an American 25 cent piece is on each eye of each skull which added up to $500 worth of quarters.

Wake by Carrie Iverson. Features images of American soldiers killed in Iraq.

Detail of Mission Accomplished, by Feizal Valli. The installation contains a toy soldier for each American killed in Iraq.

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Senior Editor

www.myartspace.com