Banksy - fair comment or kinda ironic, considering

old hippy · 07-09-2012 12:48PM #1

People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear.

They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else.

They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

F*ck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.

- Banksy

hairyprincess · 07-09-2012 12:50PM

Say what??

The Master · 07-09-2012 12:50PM

My cat's name is Mittens - Ralph Wiggum

SuprSi · 07-09-2012 12:54PM

Thanks I'd love an omlette right about now

Bipolar Joe · 07-09-2012 12:54PM

Banksy is rubbish.

EDIT: Do agree with him, though.

EDIT II: What I mean is, I agree with the statement as a whole when it comes to the media. Some of it, though, makes him quite the hypocrite.

Boombastic · 07-09-2012 12:54PM

'They should be paying us to eat this sh1t. The secret ingredient is crime' - Superhands

D1stant · 07-09-2012 12:55PM

old hippy wrote: »

People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear.

What do you expect with incoherent rants like that?

Larianne · 07-09-2012 12:55PM

No, cheesecake. Man, I'd love cheesecake.

Zab · 07-09-2012 01:00PM

I had no idea literacy rates were so low in Ireland.

Hardonraging · 07-09-2012 01:03PM

He's a talented artist, and i can see his point, i'd love some chesecake tho ..

Nichololas · 07-09-2012 01:05PM

D1stant wrote: »

What do you expect with incoherent rants like that?

What's incoherent about it?

davet82 · 07-09-2012 01:05PM

Thinking makes my head hurt - davet82

mauzo · 07-09-2012 01:06PM

Hardonraging wrote: »

He's a talented artist, and i can see his point, i'd love some chesecake tho ..

More of a robbo fan myself...

I hate cheesecake

RayCon · 07-09-2012 01:08PM

old hippy wrote: »

People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear.

They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else.

They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

F*ck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.

- Banksy

Bill Hicks:

By the way, if anyone here is in marketing or advertising...kill yourself. Thank you. Just planting seeds, planting seeds is all I'm doing. No joke here, really. Seriously, kill yourself, you have no rationalisation for what you do, you are Satan's little helpers. Kill yourself, kill yourself, kill yourself now. Now, back to the show. Seriously, I know the marketing people: 'There's gonna be a joke comin' up.' There's no ****in' joke. Suck a tail pipe, hang yourself...borrow a pistol from an NRA buddy, do something...rid the world of your evil ****in' presence

cloptrop · 07-09-2012 01:10PM

I totally agree with each paragraph but have no idea wherw he is going with it .
Do I have to go graffiti something .?

gara · 07-09-2012 01:11PM

I think he needs to be less offended by inanimate objects. I like Banksy and I think a lot of his work is very clever but the only reason he's playing the offended-by-adverts card is to justify what he does to them in the name of art.

I like his style but I'd prefer if it was delivered in a way that didn't interfere with other people's property

Bipolar Joe · 07-09-2012 01:12PM

cloptrop wrote: »

I totally agree with each paragraph but have no idea wherw he is going with it .
Do I have to go graffiti something .?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming

im invisible · 07-09-2012 01:13PM

Decco woz ere

-Decco

cloptrop · 07-09-2012 01:18PM

So we have to go deface adverts . Fair enough . Out to the shed to get me paint and me stick for stiring it so .

Zulu · 07-09-2012 01:20PM

Interesting! Fair play Banksy. Although by reconfiguring ad's you're kinda doing just the same.

gara · 07-09-2012 01:25PM

Zulu wrote: »

Interesting! Fair play Banksy. Although by reconfiguring ad's you're kinda doing just the same.

Therein lies the irony -it's not for him to decide what people should or shouldn't see no more than it is for greedy corporations.

Personally, I'm a little offended that they underestimate my ability to ignore all of them

Bipolar Joe · 07-09-2012 01:26PM

Zulu wrote: »

Interesting! Fair play Banksy. Although by reconfiguring ad's you're kinda doing just the same.

The idea is to point out how advertising, so on, can severely colour your perception of the world, how you look at yourself, how you look at the opposite sex, same sex, yadda yadda.

http://www.billboardliberation.com/2010/09/30/stella-artois-a-thing-of-beauty/

Bipolar Joe · 07-09-2012 01:26PM

gara wrote: »

Therein lies the irony -it's not for him to decide what people should or shouldn't see no more than it is for greedy corporations.

Personally, I'm a little offended that they underestimate my ability to ignore all of them

I'm surprised that you doubt the stupidity of the masses.

wilkie2006 · 07-09-2012 01:27PM

Zab wrote: »

I had no idea literacy rates were so low in Ireland.

EDIT: Whoops! I take that mean comment back. Wow, just realised what you were talking about (perhaps I should reflect on your words myself!).

Apologies Zab. Friends?

xoxoxo

Duggys Housemate · 07-09-2012 01:29PM

Banksy is involved in the advertising business himself, advertising brand Banksy. It's a good marketing model.

I presume that is what the OP means by the irony of his statement.

wilkie2006 · 07-09-2012 01:30PM

gara wrote: »

Therein lies the irony -it's not for him to decide what people should or shouldn't see no more than it is for greedy corporations.

Personally, I'm a little offended that they underestimate my ability to ignore all of them

But I think Banksy's stuff provokes thought. Whether you agree with it or not is immaterial. Marketing campaigns don't stimulate thought - they seek to enforce a series of corporate ideas, no?

wilkie2006 · 07-09-2012 01:32PM

Duggys Housemate wrote: »

Banksy is involved in the advertising business himself, advertising brand Banksy. It's a good marketing model.

I presume that is what the OP means by the irony of his statement.

But to what avail? I mean, he can't sell his canvases.

Duggys Housemate · 07-09-2012 01:34PM

Or can he?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17559526

gara · 07-09-2012 01:36PM

Bipolar Joe wrote: »

I'm surprised that you doubt the stupidity of the masses.

Where did I mention anything about the masses?

wilkie2006 wrote: »

But I think Banksy's stuff provokes thought. Whether you agree with it or not is immaterial. Marketing campaigns don't stimulate thought - they seek to enforce a series of corporate ideas, no?

You're not in a position to know what stimulates people's thoughts so your point is redundant

wilkie2006 wrote: »

But to what avail? I mean, he can't sell his canvases.

Just because he isn't reeling in profits right now doesn't mean he hasn't very cleverly and carefully constructed a brand and image that he may well profit from in the future

shanec1928 · 07-09-2012 01:38PM

Guessing he has run out of using other artists ideas so is ranting now to get attention

Oink · 07-09-2012 01:39PM

Let me see if I get this straight.

The ads are in my face, so he wants to fix that by pushing his art in my face instead.

Twat.

(I do think he is talented, but that's beside the point).

Banksy - fair comment or kinda ironic, considering

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