Exit Through the Gift Shop

This one chronicles street art and Thierry Guetta aka Mr. Brainwash (MBW).  Thierry was just some guy that followed street artists around filming them and then decided to become one himself.  But he tried to do it overnight and actually achieved instant success.  This documentary is really interesting and thought provoking.  It raises so many questions about art and how it’s perceived.

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.