Transgress

this post was initialiy discussed via the community board on this web site. i posted it after i saw this documentary. because it became a wider discussion that also has to do with shepard fairey, who did initially the obama poster, i am copying it here.
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oliver
2 weeks, 1 day ago

I watched yesterday the street art documentary, Exit through the Gift Shop.


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

It is about the emergence of Street art focused mainly on Banksy and Shepard Fairey. But than this other guy named Thierry Guetta becomes the main character of the movie. There is a controversy about the documentary being a complete hoax. I have to admit i am not sure about that. But in any case this polemics only help to raise questions about street art, art in general and mainly about the "sell out" dimension of something that was/is authentic. Nothing really new, but this documentary is highly intelligent and i would say strong in any sense. If it is really a hoax, than even more.

Does anyone know more about this polemic? Have you seen it- do you believe it is a hoax?

image-shift
2 weeks ago

i was also suprised that i liked this film. i belive its quality actually lies in what you describe oliver: it leaves one behind with these questions on street-art-gallery hype and artistic authorship. it is very well done and funny.

inesnin
2 weeks ago

i really want to watch this movie, and likely will within the next days. it's sounding each time more intringuing, indeed. a friend of mine wrote about it recently saying that in none of the two reviews she read about it was mentioned the fact that bansky has become some kind of luther blissett. a condividual, she says. apparently there are rumors (yeah, hoax? sounds like, but still) saying that bansky could be a name of not necessarily only one person, but many.. i've heard things like this about other characters, like homer (from the odyssey, the ancient greek famous book).. well.. i'll watch it and comment back again. :)

oliver
2 weeks ago

ok, let's have a look at a few things about shepard fairey- most know for his "obey giant" street art and the obama poster http://www.posterpage.ch/exhib/ex216oba/p181484s.png

here is a little bit of what he says about Thierry Guetta, the guy who in the documentary plays the main role and might be fake: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e-F4MsBx_I

watching this video to me is interesting, because shepard knows how to present him self very well. doing he's "subversive" street art, he get help from several people he calls "we'll trained assistants."

having a closer look to what he does- his art, once can see there is not a lot to see. at least not a lot of original stuff. here is a good article about that:

http://www.art-for-a-change.com/Obey/index.htm

doing a bit more of research i came across he's commercial studio web site:

http://studionumberone.com/about/

this is interesting:

"The shop was founded by artist Shepard Fairey in 2003 as a means to extend his unique strain of innovative graphics, subversive self-promotion, and grassroots marketing to the world of advertising. In the ensuing years, SNO has grown to help businesses realize more meaningful consumer experiences through original storytelling, and innovative art-based design and marketing."

hmm, i understand he likes POP art etc... but iam starting to believe that the guy mixed everything up. comming from the skateboard scene, he does similar stuff than the first legendary skate companies. first, doing subversive business, later selling out and making a lot of money.

i am not saying that he's intention to capitalize is 100% false, but he speaks about using marketing and advertising! not sure he knows what he speaks about.

as with many things- its impossible to be totally in a place without contradictions, but watching the documentary, checking faireys work i dare to claim the following.

no matter if the french guy Thierry Guetta is true or false, fairey is using him to create distinction. in the process of overall comodification of street art bad examples, sell outs are needed to make one look authentic.

btw: i like now this poster even more: http://www.memefest.org/en/gallery/works2010-11/519/

oliver
2 weeks ago

hmm... more from he's company web site- here how he presents himself and his OBEY campaign:

http://studionumberone.com/about/


"Shepard Fairey is the artist behind OBEY GIANT, the graphics that have changed the way people see art and the urban landscape. What started with an absurd sticker he created in 1989 while studying at the Rhode Island School of Design has since evolved into a worldwide street art campaign, an acclaimed body of fine art, and a model of alternative marketing for a new generation of consumers."

danielmarcus
1 week, 3 days ago

I'm teaching the film this week in my class on Alternative Media. While I guess revelations could be forthcoming that show it is a fake, I haven't seen anything to really indicate that - just a lot of vague rumors. Seems real to me - and certainly what it depicts actually happened. Did Banksy put Thierry up to it? In one sense, that doesn't matter. And insofar as Banksy has questioned its own validity, that would seem like a canny marketing ploy - adds to the publicity through controversy.

inesnin
4 days, 11 hours ago

alright, so i watched the film. to me it's pretty funny this whole hoax talk all around, to start. first of all, no matter what's inside, this is "the bansky film" or "bansky's film", which would be more correct, and it's very curious this move towards its focus. but, still, thierry/mr. brainwash is the main character since the beggining, and you can see that from the point of view and the interviews.

i really want to watch his unreleased film "life remote control", even though it's said to be chaotic. i don't doubt it is, but i'm still very curious. bansky, while making a film 'about' thierry, his attempt of making a film about him, street art in general and later about his own mad art move, simply labels him as "crazy" and says the piece was unwatchable. well, if you take a glimpse in a lot of well known pieces of video art, most of it is unwatchable 'til the end, usually because of their time concept being too slow or because it's annoying or whatever. it may be much more aggressive or even absurd if put against pop art influenced pieces, including street art, that's usually so graphic and easy to get. i'm not defending it, just saying i'm curious.

one thing that's undeniable is that either mr. brainwash is a readymade by bansky or by himself. his insanely huge idea of becoming a pop star, uhn, artist, taking so much from andy warhol in some kind of obvious remix of what's in the media today - including grafitti - echoes in many artists around, since warhol actually, like jeff koons or damien hirst, who keep some kind of factory in order to produce works in large scale. i've heard reports in art class about koons' production process being very similar to thierry's, the only difference being that he does manipulate images in photoshop himself before sending to some assistant to paint or produce. and i'm not aware of details, but i believe someone like koons might have built his career gradually, not from one day to another, which of course makes someone a very easy target for being a hoax - or a readymade. well, still, he's a product himself. it's all part of the game, millions included. and banksy gets it all.

inesnin
4 days, 11 hours ago

just to make clear: i do like banksy and street art a lot, lol, and haven't made up my mind about sheperd, who you were discussing before.

inesnin
4 days, 11 hours ago

hmmm apparently not so much to do, or maybe, but i kept remembering of the documentary 'we live in public' http://www.weliveinpublicthemovie.com/ - have you watched it? perhaps it reminds me because it's also about people dealing with media, nonstop footage, hiding / showing off and the whole thing as a career. yeah. i watched it in a festival, but it's in the bittorrent fields, so there

It also reminds me of the statement "make love, not war" - nicely done.