Banksy

Exit through the gift shop

Banksy is one of the most popular street artists of the 20th century, his images are notoriously dark humoured, and he places his graffiti anywhere; buildings, streets & bridges. He uses stencils to create his images, and they usually convey social or political messages. His work is highly controversial and because of the it's scale is described by the authorities as vandalism. 

Exit through the gift shop is a film by  Banksy, it tells the story of the French immigrant and shop keeper Thierry Guetta in Los Angeles and his obsession with street art and becoming a street artist. It's filmed in the style of a documentary, and tracks every moment of his adventures including meetings with artist invaider, fairey shepard & banksy himself.

'This is the inside story of Street Art - a brutal and revealing account of what happens when fame, money and vandalism collide. Exit Through the Gift Shop follows an eccentric shop-keeper turned amateur film-maker as he attempts to capture many of the world's most infamous vandals on camera, only to have a British stencil artist named Banksy turn the camcorder back on its owner

with wildly unexpected results. 

One of the most provocative films about art ever

made, Exit Through the Gift Shop is a fascinating study 

of low-level criminality, comradeship and incompetence. 

By turns shocking, hilarious and absurd, this is an 

enthralling modern-day fairytale... with bolt cutters.'

The film was originally supposed to be about Banksy, however he decided that Theirry's character (Mr Brainwash) was much more interesting.Although the film was put up for a 'best documentary' Oscar, it didn't win. In response to this banksy created an image of a young girl pouting whilst holding an oscar, as if to mock the award like it was nothing

 

Joseph Beuys

I like America and America likes me 

Joseph Beuys was a German happening and performance artist as well as a sculptor, instillation artist, graphic artist, and art theorist.

His extensive work is grounded in the concepts of humanism  social philosophy and anthroposophy. His career was characterised by passionate, even acrimonious public debate, but he is now regarded as one of the most influential artists of the second half of the 20th century.

'I like america and america likes me' was a performance he did in 1974, joseph beuys was a flux artist ( part of the fluxist movement in Germany). It was his first time in america when he did this piece, and it was a very different concept at the time. He wanted to show that anybody could do art. So he flew from Germany to JFK airport, wrapped in a felt blanket and put on a stretcher because he didn't want to step foot on america. His friends put him in an ambulance and he was then rushed to the site. When he was there, Joseph bueys was put into a room with a wild coyote and somevery particular items; a straw bed, a shepherds staff, and around his neck he wore a triangle, people say that these items represent different things eg. the Coyote was symbolism of a strong native american presence before westernisation happened in the US. What is really interesting though is the role he himself plays, insinuating a sort of self healing process on his part. Joseph stayed in the room with the coyote for 3 days, 8 hours at a time and on the 3rd day the coyote warmed up to him and stopped being so aggressive. When he was asked th said the reasoning behind his performance was to isolate himself, so that the only thing he would thing of america would be how the coyote portrayed itself, but he is also saying that he doesn't want to experience the westernisation of american society.

Shepard Fairey

The first aim of phenomenology is to re-awaken the sense of wonder about ones environment. 

Shepard Fairey is an american contemporary graphic designer and illustrator who emerged from the skateboarding scene. He first became known for his 'Andre the giant has a posse' (OBEY) sticker campaign. The sticker aims to stimulate the curiosity in people and question the sticker as well as their surroundings. Because this type of propaganda is not as common as it used to be the motive isn't immediately apparent, but the 'OBEY' logo has no meaning; therefore is adaptable to whoever questions it.

'The OBEY campaign is rooted in the Do It Yourself counterculture of punk rock and skateboarding, but it has also taken cues from popular culture, commercial marketing and political messaging. Fairey steeps his ideology and iconography in self-empowerment. With biting sarcasm verging on reverse psychology, he goads viewers, using the imperative “obey,” to take heed of the propagandists out to bend the world to their agendas.'

shepards range of clothing was formed in 2001, and is an extension of his work.Aligned with his populist views, clothing became another canvas for him to spread the word. 

Ai Weiwei

Subversion refers to an attempt to change the established social order and its power, authority and hierarchy.

Ai Weiwei is a Chinese contemporary artist that practises in architecture, sculpture  instillation, curating, photography, film and social and political criticism; he is a political activist. His main issue is with the Chinese government and their views on democracy and human rights, and he avidly seeks out conspiracies and makes his opinions very apparent throughout his artwork.

Back in 2008 Ai Weiwei made it his mission to uncover the truth about the number of student casualties that were made when the Sichuan earthquake hit China. He was incarcerated for 81 days in 2011 because of his investigation, Basically he found out the names of the natural disaster victims and tried to uncover any corruption about what really happened, he found that the school buildings were not structurally sound so even though there was a natural disaster, the consequences should've been no where near as catastrophic. His instillation 'Straight' was created out of 150 tons of steel rebar which he collected from the schools that were affected by the quake. Ai straightened all of these as if they were brand new; which took him 3 years, and stacked them up to create the immitation of a landscape; the way they are all different in diameter and the scale of the piece really makes an impact.Upon looking at this work you are compelled with a sense of somberness, in memory of the lives that were lost that day. A further insight is on this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USz6UG6J_gA