By tn1708
In the post published September 6thcalled “Monetizing Banksy, who decides?”, student xkandinsky has chosen to write about the famous artist Banksy and his work. The text describes the difficulties with public art and in what way it can affect the communities. Who decides the boundaries in art?
The famous artist Banksy has received a lot of attention in media for his artworks. As xkandinsy writes, Banksy´s pieces is not made to be sold or state funded. This can be describes as an anti-capitalist stunt. He creates street art which is art in public locations and his visuals is mostly set on walls. This has created many discussions, not just because of the art itself, but because where it is put.
As the blogpost informs us, Banksy´s artwork “No Ball Games” was cut out of a wall in Tottenham in order to be sold at a auction. This clearly got attention from the community and many people felt that a “community landmark” had been removed. The wall it´s set in a public place and it was a part of a building most likely owned by investors. This means that the investors decides over the property of the wall. In the other hand Banksy owns the art on the property and this creates a conflict on ownership.
I do agree with xkandinsy´s conclusion on that nobody fully owns it and that if the artist doesn´t claim the art, the property owner gets green light to monetize it. By removing the art to sell it at an auction though, is another case. By doing this, Banksy´s art is loosing its purpose. Most of his visuals has an anti-military and capitalistic message about the social culture, and these messages has a better purpose on public places rather in private areas.
Even if it´s hard to discuss the problem on who decides the monetizing of Banksy´s art because of gray areas, we could argue on behalf of the art. As xkandinsy mentions, the community felt like something that belonged to the area was taken from them. By this we can see his art as a cultural value based on the symbolic value that gives meaning conveyed by cultural good, which means more than attention in the art-fair segment.
Sources
Blogpost: https://designindustries.art.blog/2019/09/06/moneziting-banky-who-decides/
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