Because MBW didn’t hone his skills for years and go through
a period of finding his own style the film’s director, Banksy (also a famous
street artist), resents him. And I’ll
admit that I felt that way too at first.
We learn that an artist should suffer at least a little for their
art. It’s all about emotion and
conveying that feeling or idea in a meaningful way. But what about lack of emotion? I guess that could be art too. Everyone responds differently to the many art
forms out there. If it means something
to you it’s art. If not it’s not art.
And that’s the ultimate question that the movie poses: what
is art?
If an artist seemingly puts very little effort into their
work but someone is willing to pay an exorbitant amount of money for it, does
that count as art? Is it all about
money? If so what’s the dividing
line? If I pay $5 or $5,000 for
someone’s painting does it make a difference?
Can an artist skip the suffering period and shoot straight to
stardom? Does having a gallery show mean
you’re an artist? Does the amount of
people that attend your show make a difference?
When is it a rip off and when is it something totally new? These are all questions that people have been
debating forever. I don’t know what the
answers are.
Art is an extremely personal thing. I’m pretty confident with that statement. The rest is a mystery.
At the end Banksy sums up perfectly the feeling that this
film gives you, he says that MBW broke the rules but then again there aren’t
any rules. What Banksy is implying is
that the popularity and success of MBW diminishes his own and others popularity
and success. The real kicker is that MBW
is kind of incompetent too. More than anything
he’s imitating and doesn’t really know what he’s doing. But the public doesn’t see that. All they see is a great new artist. At the same time you could argue that what
Banksy is doing also diminishes other artist’s works like Warhol or Picasso. I mean it’s sort of what Banksy is all
about. He’s a rebel that likes to make
fun of society and point out absurd notions.
And you might say that MBW is doing the same thing. If you think of Banksy’s work as anti-art
then MBW’s is like anti anti-art. MBW
was able to make a million dollars on his first show out of nothing in a couple
of months. It makes what others like
Banksy do look like bullshit that’s easily and thoughtlessly done. And maybe it is. Maybe MBW truly is creating some wonderful
works of art. It’s all in the eye of the
beholder.
I highly recommend this documentary guys. Some people might think MBW cheated at art
while others might think he’s done some beautiful work. It’s an extremely interesting debate.
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