Exit Through the Gift Shop Review

           Though it’s marketed as a Banksy film, Bansky himself says that Exit Through the Gift Shop “is the story of what happened when this guy [Thierry Guetta] tried to make a documentary about me but he was actually a lot more interesting than I am, so now the film is kind of about him”. Thierry Guetta starts his journey as an obsessive film taker (not so much a film maker as he never felt the need to watch anything he recorded) and ends it as a commercially successful, but artistically controversial ‘street artist’.

            The film does a decent job introducing its viewers to the world of street art through Thierry’s incessant recording of street artists at work, but as Thierry and his art became more of a main focus the film became less about the purity of street art and more about its potential to be commercialized.\

            The clips of the film that showed artists like Space Invader, Sheppard Fairy, and Banksy working and actually doing the art they’re known for are what I consider to be the most interesting and informative part of the film. In this aspect, the film is a window into the world of street art. It provides an introduction for people who have no prior knowledge on the subject and conveys the rebellious, revolutionary nature of true street art. Some, like Space Invader, just want to add art, beauty and whimsy to the city they live in. Others, like Bansky, want to make a statement and ultimately inspire change in their community. No matter what the specific purpose, the film shows the power of these artists in taking control of their environment which is what street art is all about.

            After that, the film becomes more of a story about Thierry himself, which was interesting but doesn’t exactly fit perfectly into a documentary about the great street artists that define the genre. At this point the film starts to show a less ‘pure’ side to the world of street art. Unlike most other street artists, Thierry is all over the place. He appears to be doing art not for the message it sends, but for the fame and the money that he could gain by adopting the moniker ‘Mr. Brainwash’ and cranking out a ridiculous volume of art via an entire studio of artists he hires. At this point the film takes on an almost comical theme as the other street artists that were introduced at the beginning give their own thoughts about Thierry’s endeavors.

            Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the film and I think that despite the fact that it was not exactly a perfect documentary on street art, it gives the viewer a window into the world of street art; Exit Through the Gift Shop addresses the wonders of pure, inspired street art from artists who do the work for the sake of improving their environment, be it aesthetically or ideologically, and then goes on to show the commercialized version of street art. By showing both I think it emphasizes what is truly important better than if it had only been about the ‘true art’. In other words, Bansky’s art became all the more important and meaningful when put head to head with the mass produced art of Mr. Brainwash. 

Ai Weiwei

Ai Weiwei is one of the most well-known Chinese artists in the Western world. His work is simple but has a deep meaning behind it. This is the first time I'd heard of him, but I was fascinated to see the work he has done. His work with the traditional furniture and urns and with the porcelain sunflower seeds were my favorites.

In my opinion, he appears to be fundamentally against making anything sacred, be it history, art or any number of other things. One of his best known pieces were 3 photographs of him dropping a Han Dynasty urn (shown below).

Most people endow such valuable, historical artifacts as 'sacred' and 'untouchable' but Ai Weiwei felt no need to preserve it just because it is ancient. In that same way, his work with cutting up and reattaching ancient furniture shows a lack of reverence for the past. 

One of the most interesting discussions we had in class was about the porcelain sunflower seed exhibit (shown below). Why did Ai Weiwei allow people to walk on and destroy the thousands of handmade little sunflower seeds?

I think its because he feels the same way about art as he does about history. Art is beautiful and important, but it is not sacred. It should not be worshiped and preserved to the point where it loses the essence of what it should be. Those seeds are beautiful, but part of that beauty would be lost if they were so sacred that they could never be touched. The individuality and subtle detail of each seed would be impossible to fully appreciate without being able to touch them. I believe Ai Weiwei was not bothered by the idea that in allowing people to walk on the seeds was destroying them because he knows that art is not permanent and we shouldn't pretend like it is; we should appreciate it without making it sacred.  

Street Art

This week's in class discussion about street art was really interesting because I hadn't ever really thought about street art as anything other than random graffiti done by kids who just want to do something rebellious and illegal.

JR was one of my favorites. What he was doing was deceptively simple in that he just took photos and pasted them up on walls, but the way he used these pictures was what was so interesting. He was able to take on some pretty big social issues just by  posting up photographs in strategic ways. The photo below was taken of one of his projects in a favela in Brazil called "Women are Heroes".

Street artists like Banksy conformed a lot more to what I originally thought street art was, but the social relevance and specific purpose behind each piece was an interesting aspect that I had until recently failed to notice. The example below is one of my favorite paintings that Bansky has done. Its simple but clever which I appreciate.

I also enjoyed the whimsical aspects to street art, like how some artists like Invader and Shepard Fairey had one motif that they repeated and did variations of such that the painting itself was a signature.

I did some research after class and I found one more street artist that I really liked, an artist called "Swampy"; he is an example of the kind of street artist I mentioned above who use one repeated motif in pretty much all their work. Below is a piece he did at the "Living Walls Conference" in Atlanta. That skull face with the horns is his repeated motif; he is able to do quite a few variations that use that skull face, which is part of the reason why he quickly became one of my favorites. I like the way he uses color and simple shapes to make a vivid and interesting painting.

 

Overall, I've come to understand that because street art is inherently illegal and rebellious, it is a fantastic outlet for people to convey their desire for social or political change that goes against the mainstream or dominant opinions. In my opinion there are two ways that a street artist can become great. First, if they paint (or post) something that in order to challenge something they see to be an issue in their society, simply for the sake of bringing about change or awareness in the community. Banksy and JR are fantastic examples of this. The other way I think a street artist can be great is by simply doing art for people's enjoyment or interest. Anything that brings more art, beauty and color to the world always has the potential to make people happy or engage them in their environment.