Banksy in New York City

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banksyny.com

Tyson Kelsall
Culture Editor

] November 2013 marked Banksy's
departure from an October
residence in the Big Apple. As the
world’s most notorious street artist,
Banksy ended up stirring the pot
while in New York. One of the
biggest lures this time around was a
painting he bought, customized, and
then donated back to a non-profit
thrift shop in Manhattan. What was
originally a typical landscape painting
(oil-on-canvas) became an expensive
art piece titled The Banality of the
Banality of Evil, after Banksy had
enhanced it by adding a Nazi soldier
sitting on a bench and gazing off
towards the scenery. The original
painting, of little worth, now had a

starting bid of $65,000 and eventually
was auctioned off for $615,000.

Banksy, more controversially, insulted

the One World Trade Center in a
blog post, saying it was * 104 floors

of compromise,” that it “clearly
proclaims the terrorists won,’ and that
“it looks like something they would
build in Canada.” This, of course,

put many prominent New Yorkers on
the defensive, but Banksy's role has
always been one of provoking people
to force them to think differently. The
artist once pasted up a tropical scene,
with vacationing children playing on
the beach, directly on the Israeli West
Bank barrier in order to make a point.

He also had some ‘mobile’ pieces,

the biggest one being a truck driving
through New York's meatpacking
district with stuffed animals hanging out
the sides, and sound effects of wailing
throughout. This was dubbed “Sirens of
the Lambs” and was a visual statement
on the ethics of producing meat.

Over the month Banksy did at least

one project every day (except one
due to “police activity”) that were
under the overarching exhibition title
of “Better out than in, October 2013."
Some were small graffiti pieces, and
some were larger such as the Sirens of
the Lambs, as well as a large Ronald
McDonald statue with giant shoes,
frowning and having his shoes shined
by an actual actor as part of the piece.
Of course, with such a shocking and
unique approach, Banksy is bound

to split popular opinion on what he is
doing; especially considering it often
falls on the thin line between being
legal and illegal. The New York Police
Department was actively searching
for Banksy, although his identity is so
well hidden, they did not really know
where fo start. Mayor Bloomberg
stated that “Graffiti does ruin people's
property and it's a sign of decay and
loss of control.” Supporters argue most
of the work Banksy did was featured

"Sirens of the Lambs", NY
gothamist.com

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on derelict and/or neglected buildings,
and that the ends (Banksy's statements)
very clearly justify the means. In many
neighbourhoods in New York, there is
already so much graffiti, that Banksy's
contribution hardly makes a difference
in terms to the quantity of street art,
and considering the price a Banksy
piece goes for, the quality must surely
have been intensified.

Either way, Banksy has left NYC now,
and it seems like he did so relatively
unscathed. The NYPD will continue

to scan video evidence and try to

put the pieces together, but surely
many more people will be watching,
waiting for the next Banksy to pop up
somewhere around the world. As he
becomes more popular, there will be
more imitators and the ideas of Banksy
will flow deeper and deeper through
the veins of our cities regardless if he is
really there or not.

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