23 January 2010

Banksy attacks West Bank Wall


Banksy is an unknown graffiti artist believed to be from England. He is thought to be from the town Yate, near Bristol but the public is uncertain. His style consists of mainly satirical stencils often a commentary on society or politics. A lot of it very similar to Blek le Rat. His art appears in cities all around the world. And he doesn't make any money off his work because he doesn't sell any of it. Some of his more famous works have been found on the West Bank Wall that separates Israel from Palestine. Stenciling huge windows, balloons, holes, and ladders all over the 425 mile long wall. The ultimate holiday spot for tag artists. But Banksy feels that the wall "essentially turns Palestine into the world's largest open prison."

Banksy's art is trying to get at the original purpose of humans. To live in community with one another. The graffiti he has created is his attempt to show people that this separation is not the way God intended them to live. This massive wall blocks community from occurring. It is meant to separate two different cultures. Jo Brooks, Banksy's spokeswoman, reported that "The security forces did shoot in the air threateningly and there were quite a few guns pointed at him." This was during one of his works of dotted lines with the scissors for the infamous symbol for 'cut out'. Another time he was told by and old Palestinian man that the painting was making the wall beautiful, but that "We don't want it to be beautiful, we hate this wall. Go home." SO the wall is hated by some, but it is still up.
  • Do you think what Banksy is doing is illegal?
  • Do you think any of his work is effective?
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2 comments:

  1. Scott Genzink25 January, 2010 00:40

    After reading this I decided to look up Banksy's work and after seeing it I was in awe. First of all, I have been very passionate about this issue in regards to the American-Christian opinion on the conflict. Many American-Christians support the Israeli side based on Political opportunities and twisted Christian beliefs about Jewish entitlement to the land. I am strongly in favor of reconciliation taking place between the Israeli's and the Palestinians and seeing this graffiti was truly a breath of fresh air. It reminded me of the beautiful image we get in Isaiah 11:
    "The wolf will live with the lamb,
    the leopard will lie down with the goat,
    the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
    and a little child will lead them."

    This art is truly apocalyptic in the sense that it speaks to the way things should be in that area and how it brings beauty into an ugly situation.

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  2. Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma25 January, 2010 20:26

    Interesting choice! Banksy is a fascinating artist who is definitely doing apocalyptic work (nice call, Scott). A lot of what he does could be referred to as culture jamming, which turns mainstream/dominant culture in on itself. Here's a pretty good article about him (with photos):

    http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.08/bansky.html

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