"If you don’t mask - you don’t get." – Image ©Banksy
Banksy Goes Underground!
14/07/2020: Street artist Banksy posted a video showing the 'defacing' of the interior of a London Underground tube train with his infamous rat stencils, coughing and spluttering green slime all over the carriage. There’s even a Banksy extinguisher throw-up too, ohh the irony…
Not bad stats eh?
So 'Banksy' claims responsibility, and is track-and-traceable. If it was organised and permitted, then it’s complete b@ll%cks. If the artist created it without permission, how should London Underground / Transport For London / The British Transport Police respond?
- Clean it, and pursue arrest for criminal damage
- Leave it running
- Protect it and put it in a museum
- Auction it for charity
- Other, feel free to make suggestions...
If authentic, it strikes a dilemma for authority. TFL claim to have already cleaned it. Should they now pursue arrest as they do with other cases of vandalism on trains, or wherever. Right?
TFL confirmed late on Tuesday evening that "the work was removed some days ago" due to its strict anti-graffiti policy but that it would welcome Banksy to recreate his message "in a suitable location" ... Errr, where exactly?
If it was left running surely all the street art fans would go hunting for it. Packing the platforms, queueing up for 'The Banksy Express', creating much unnecessary traffic on the underground, potentially further spreading the Coronavirus! Oops…
If they protected it, then this is condoning the act of non-permission art, ‘vandalism’? … Therefore surely all other cases of graffiti vandalism should be closed and charges/prison sentences rebuked.
No doubt, It would have raised a huge amount for charity if sold at auction. Suitably gracing the foyer of an art museum, or corporate orifice.
UPDATE 15/07/2020: Estimated worth £7.5 million !*%!? Shame TFL didn't tap-in to that! 😂
I would like to believe the artist achieved it illegally. This is the great irony of the piece, and surely the artists intention, to stir it up!
To all authoritative intents and purposes, it has been classed as vandalism, like every other case the authorities pursue? It certainly is one big bit of bait for all the various art communities to banter about.
'Subway Art' at its finest?
I still can’t decide if it’s graffiti or street art? … Graffiti Street Art maybe? 🐭
What do you think?
Leave a comment below, it's easy to create a fake ID 😉
Comments powered by Disqus