This is a documentary about street art produced by famous British street artist banksy. The film focuses on thierry guetta, through close-up photography and interviews, showing his step-by-step process from a clothing store owner to a street artist. The film has a very strong irony, and the author wants to express his understanding of real street art and his disdain and contempt for the famous commercial behavior of cheating money through the cloak of art.
Thierry Guetta is a very ordinary French who immigrated to Los Angeles with his family in the early 1980s. He is a naturally shrewd businessman, and at the same time has a mad love for photography and is shooting everything around him all the time. Through his artist cousin "Space Invader" he came into contact with street art and got immersed in it, in the process of shooting he got to know more and more street artists and was lucky enough to get the chance to get in touch with Banksy. The two gradually became friends, and Banksy also had the idea of letting Thierry Guetta record his work and the production process. But in the end Thierry handed him the work that surprised him, and Banksy realized that Thierry was not the photographer he imagined at all, nor had any experience in making films: what he called films was simply a chaotic mess of his footage. Spliced together, like a nightmare for dozens of minutes. Banksy decided to edit the thousands of hours of video himself, and suggested Thierry go back to Los Angeles, put down the camera and try to become a street artist and have his own exhibition. But things didn't go as Banksy expected: Thierry, in fact, had no artistic talent but was a natural businessman who stole the work of Banksy and other artists, calling himself "Mr. Brainwash", mixing others' work and styles for no purpose. Together, they were very successful. Life is beautiful, this is the name of Mr. Brainwash's first solo exhibition, and it is also a phrase that he often talks about. A wall with this phrase written on it collapsed at the end of the film. The director's implication is self-evident.
People always mistake their creative impulses for their creative talents. The videos taken by Thierry before he came into contact with street art were also meaningless and skillful, but as his personal hobby, it was not a bad idea, but after coming into contact with Banksy and others, he slowly lost his original intention. He saw other people's works. After being auctioned for a sky-high price, he started his own business: he is a reseller who can sell a $50 Nike to $400, and it is not difficult to steal and tamper with other people's ideas and then sell them for a high price. For him, art is really just a tool for making money.
Street art is the biggest counter-cultural movement after punk. It is illegal in many areas, and it is mostly considered by the public as unreliable. But perhaps it is this environment that gives birth to the unique and powerful vitality of street art: artists are not bound by materials, except for brushes and spray paint, stickers, wax paper, and inflatable dolls can be used to create; Bondage, whether it's a wall or a railing, is a canvas for them. Their works are various, rich in themes, strong in appeal, and relatively low in creation threshold. This is different from traditional art forms such as painting and sculpture, but at the same time, it also makes many people think that street art is simple and without skills. of. Through this documentary, Banksy is obviously not only talking about himself or the street art itself, but also obviously satirizing the opportunistic businessmen and the ignorant masses. He considers himself to be orthodox street art, creating works of skill and meaning in order to express his ideas, and the money he gets is just a mere accessory.
In another documentary about Banksy, Banksy Does New York, we may be able to see more directly what real street art is. The film completely recorded an art project of Banksy in New York, and we can clearly feel the difference between the attitude of real artists and businessmen to art. Street art originated from protest slogans and graffiti on the walls. It expresses the expectations of the people at the bottom, expresses dissatisfaction, vents emotions, and accuses society. It also developed slowly in this process, and gradually became a faction in art from the original counterculture. But one thing remains the same: it always exists on the street, and being moved into an auction house or a museum will only make street art lose its soul. It is their destination and meaning that resonates and interacts with the public on the street.
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