Banksy.: You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat Author: Gary Shove | Language: English | ISBN:
1908211083 | Format: EPUB
Banksy.: You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat Description
- Hardcover: 228 pages
- Publisher: Carpet Bombing Culture; 2 edition (August 15, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1908211083
- ISBN-13: 978-1908211088
- Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.2 x 0.9 inches
- Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
[Published in MIT's The Tech] - You know the dull wall of Building E38 (pink, cream, whatever) that runs between MIT Press and Cosi? The other day somebody had the audacity (dare I say, the good heart) to spray-paint two machine guns with barrels curved together in the shape of a heart. When I saw this act of vandalism, I smiled and nodded. For I have learned to appreciate this kind of art. Street art. And it's thanks to Banksy.
Maybe you don't know who Banksy is. Most people don't. This is a shame, for he is one of the most memorable visual artists of his generation. I call him an artist, but he prefers to be called a vandal. He's also a provocateur, a thinker, a poet, and Zen master of sorts.
In a new book on the elusive artist, Banksy: You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat, Patrick Potter describes Banksy as "an anonymous street artist from Bristol who rose to international fame in the late 1990s and the present day chiefly by illegally spray painting stencil designs across the major cities of the U.K. and North America." It's not street art if it isn't illegal, we are reminded, along with a quote from Banksy: "Crime against property is no real crime."
At this point, Banksy is anonymous by choice. Not only his choice, mind you, but the stubborn denial of his followers and fans: "Our myths are far more important to us than some **** with a real life." Banksy will live forever anonymously, writes Potter, "and that is as it should be. Even if he came tomorrow and revealed herself. We still wouldn't have it." Plus, anonymity is kind of handy; if you're going to play Zorro, you better damn well wear the mask.
As an artist, Banksy has tackled some of the most controversial topics of the day.
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