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Thu 22 Jun, 2006 11:09 pm
Quote:Art or eyesore? Public asked if Banksy's mural should stay
By Arifa Akbar
Published: 23 June 2006
The large graffiti image, depicting a woman in underwear, her jealous husband, and her naked lover dangling from a window ledge, would usually have been scrubbed off by council workers at the earliest opportunity.
This week in Bristol, however, the man responsible is Britain's most celebrated graffiti artist, Banksy, and the work was his latest offering to his native city, painted on the brickwork of the Brook Young People's Sexual Health Clinic.
The result has been a city-wide debate on the merits of the graffiti artist's work. The managers of the Brook clinic want it to stay. Bristol city council has now decided to consult the people. This week an online poll was launched as to whether it should stay or go.
The latest example of the controversial artist's "guerrilla graffiti" was painted in the dead of night using a ladder to reach more than 20ft off the ground.
Immediately, the Brook clinic's medical director, Dr Annie Evans, thanked the artist by e-mail and pledged to "look after" it. Ms Evans wrote: "The team at Brook Young People's Sexual Health Clinic are bouncing with joy.
"You've copied my consulting room window to create the scene! Did you realise how utterly appropriate your latest subject matter was, given what goes on in the building?
"Brook is one of the biggest providers of sexual health advice for young people in the UK ... and your stunning artwork is exactly what we needed to promote our service. Thanks a bunch and we will do our best to look after it!"
Ms Evans said Banksy had replied to her by saying "he hoped it wouldn't be removed straight away".
She added: "I replied saying they would bulldoze it over my dead body. We love it and really want it to stay. We are calling it the 'Brook Banksy'."
After receiving phone calls from the public, Bristol Council set up an online forum for residents to register their reactions.
Tamsin May, a council spokeswoman, said an initial response had been positive. She said: "It's quite a humorous piece and generally, the reaction has been very positive. So we are opening it up for public debate rather than going in there and scrubbing it off.''
An appeal to the public on the council's website reads: "A new Banksy has surfaced on the streets of Bristol. Some people feel that graffiti is a vibrant urban art form, others regard it as an eyesore that costs millions a year to remove and helps add to the rundown atmosphere of certain areas ... What do you think? Should Banksy be praised or prosecuted?"
Last year, Banksy courted controversy when he targeted a security wall in Israel, creating stencil sprays on the Palestinian side of the West Bank barrier. He has also pinned his own works up at a number of high-profile art galleries across the world.
Source
Source: Guardian, Friday June 22, 2006, page 14
In the town where my grandparents live there used to be a huge Mural painted on a brick wall on a building downtown of a series of windows. Each window had somebody doing something in it like talking to the guy in the next window or one guy fishing out of a bowl that was set on a lower window.
I always found that "grafitti" fun.
of course a couple of years ago a Papa johns pizza place bought the building and painted their logo of the picture.
That's awesome!
I love the reaction of the medical director.
It must be so fun to actually live in the area, go to work at the building, etc., and all of a sudden, hey what's that?!
Pretty well-done for overnight, too. Stencils?
I'm impressed that someone had the sense to organize a public opinion poll.
The poll ends 14.07.06 - will be quite interesting to read the outcome.
I thought I had posted on this thread, but I guess that was back when I was having computer troubles, though those turned out to be telephone troubles.
Anyway, for a few months I was dealing with a lot of computer freezes.
I enjoy this wall art, and will be interested in how the poll turns out..
I hope they've included a picture of the graffiti in question, cause if people just vote on the lines that were given, a lot of people might just vote against the principle of graffiti, without realising what it is they're voting to have erased.
nimh wrote:I hope they've included a picture of the graffiti in question, cause if people just vote on the lines that were given, a lot of people might just vote against the principle of graffiti, without realising what it is they're voting to have erased.
They have, indeed, plus some more infos about graffitti, art .... and anti -
social behaviour and fines:
Oh, cool. There's lots of street art here in Budapest - not graffiti, but paper, figurative mail-art type things plastered on the wall.
Last year Esquire had a great article on Banksy. There is speculation that there is actually a group of artist that work under the name Banksy.
I think (s)he/they make brilliant social comments. I'm a big fan.
The problem with this kind of art, is that exposed to the elements it fades over time. There was an advertisement for Coca Cola in my home town that was pained on the side of an old Vaudeville theater. It was almost 3 stories high and dated to the 1890's. But by the 1960's it had faded to the point that it was almost unreadable and by now I think it is gone.
Who is going to maintain this work?
Noone... it's part of the charm... the fleeting character
Although, true, I'm a big fan of keeping old mural advertisements, and would rather have them "renovated" than painted over when they fade. Its nice if a city has visible (recent) history...
I love this sort of art. Would like to see more.
On flickr are phptps of several
forgotten wall ads to be seen ...
I remember the Mail Pouch Tobacco signs on barns in Western Pennsylvania. In exchange for being allowed to post their ad, the Mail Pouch people would paint the entire barn.
This was high-tech advertising in the early days of motoring.
Related, from today's Chcago Tribune (Tempo, page 1)
Report online:
No saving these whales
Quote:...
For nearly a decade, the 17-story whale mural along the rear wall of the InterContinental Hotel has seemed like an oceanic daydream, a monumental mirage set strangely amid the skyscrapers of downtown. The five humpback whales swim in tranquil reverie, gliding through the peaceful blue depths.
But now, the clamor of construction threatens. Just below the mural, workers pour concrete and raise beams, slowly building a 27-story condominium tower.
The whales will begin to disappear, from the bottom up, in mid-August. Six inches of clearance will be left between the old mural and the new building, and by the end of November the whales will be hidden from view.
...
Perhaps no one was more disappointed than Wyland, the artist who painted the mural in 1997. "For this to happen in Chicago is terrible," said Wyland, who has legally dropped his first name, Robert.
A month ago, another Wyland mural was destroyed in the demolition of a courthouse building in Milwaukee. A mural in Detroit has barely survived attempts by a car company to cover it with car advertisements.
... ... ...
And incidentally I just got the following press releas from Bristol County Council by email:
Quote:
New Banksy to stay
Release Date: 18-Jul-2006
Overwhelming support from the Bristol public means that the new ?'Banksy' image will stay, although the council warns against ?'tagging' and graffiti as vandalism.
Following the appearance of Banksy's most recent creation on a building at the bottom of Park Street a month ago, the City Council invited Bristol residents to decide whether it should stay. Feedback gathered since indicates a high level of support to keep the image.
One avenue for feedback was a discussion forum set up on AskBristol.com. Nearly 500 people logged into the site during the discussion period, and of those choosing to respond, 97% supported the work. Common themes highlighted the fact that Banksy is a Bristolian, and that the city should be celebrating and embracing his internationally renowned work. A number of participants in the debate argued that they found Banksy's pieces entertaining and enjoyed the way they ?'brightened up' the urban environment.
Only six people on AskBristol wanted to see Banksy's latest contribution removed. Three of these were concerned that the work might encourage imitators and other graffiti that was less desirable. Others argued that graffiti of any kind makes the city looks scruffy, and promotes the alienation of communities in whose midst graffiti occurs.
Bristol City Council's Customer Services helpline was contacted by only 10 people, nine of whom registered their support for the image. Comments noted how pieces like this help set Bristol apart from other UK cities.
As of Friday 14th July, 467 people voted on BBC Bristol's website for Banksy to stay. Just 23 wanted it to go.
The large Banksy image shows a woman dressed just in her underwear anxiously standing behind a suited man who is leaning out of a window and straining to see into the distance. Beneath them a man hangs onto the windowsill by one hand, apparently trying to escape detection.
Graffiti - any unauthorised defacing of property by painting or marking it in other ways - is normally considered a criminal offence, and it should be reported to the police as well as to the council on 0117 922 3838. Therefore, the council took a very unusual step in asking the public to decide if this new Banksy should stay.
Councillor Gary Hopkins, Executive Member for Sustainable Environment and Neighbourhoods, explains, "Banksy's unique style and flair prompted the council to put the dilemma of whether to consider it as graffiti out for public discussion.
"It is fantastic that Bristol's residents have felt so strongly about it as a work of art that they have been encouraged to register their views. I have seen it bring a smile to people's faces as they stop to appraise it, so I personally am pleased that Bristol wants it to stay. As owners of the building, the council are very unlikely to remove it now unless a tenant asks us to do so."
Destination Bristol's Marketing Manager, Vicky Weir, added, "Bristol is a culturally diverse city and as a renowned contemporary and international figure Banksy is a big part of that. He adds to the city's appeal and his return to Bristol may encourage more tourists."
However, the council warns that the support of this Banksy piece is not support of graffiti in general. An extra team has recently been put in place to allow the council to get rid of graffiti quicker. An Enforcement Manager has also been employed and will be expanding the team to develop and implement action on graffiti as well as other issues including littering and flytipping. This work will include educating people about looking after Bristol's streets and but also bringing more offenders to court.
Further, Bristol City Council regularly works with local artists and communities to devise murals as part of a diversionary programme for sites that have been repeatedly tagged over long periods of time. The number of successful murals include St Paul's Adventure playground, Fairfield Bridge, County Street in Totterdown, Winton Street and a number of shop fronts in Southmeand and Ridingleaze.
Other graffiti busting exercises include events where local councillors get together with local partners including the Police and local residents to try and eradicate graffiti in their area once and for all. Graffiti-watch squads are also being developed where residents take photos as soon as it appears, pass them on to the council as evidence, and then paint the graffiti out.
Councillor Hopkins said, "The council works hard to combat ugly graffiti, tags and associated anti-social behaviour, and will prosecute those responsible. I stress that the decision to keep this Banksy image is not a green light for more graffiti in the city."
"It is only a matter of time until the criminals will be caught and dealt with though the criminal justice system."
Author:
Lynda Wookey
97%! Wow!
"Faith in humanity" gauge rising... slightly...
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