Banksy and Roo

The creative arts have always commentated on the political situation. Absolutely nothing new there, which is why some people take such exception to Banksy’s contribution because they are not politically in tune with his opinion.

But maybe they agree with say

Guernica by Picasso

Or 1984 by Orwell,

Or Masters of War Bob Dylan

The list is absolutely immense, and extremely interesting. Banksy is just one amongst so many creative artists who comment on the world.

Apparently the Roo was made by Merrythought, who’d made all the originals. I hope Merrythought is still going - presumably it is - they made Baby Bear which was given to new born dd1 by MiL - he was much loved and she still has him at nearly 50! And my Dbro had much the same, known as Tid or Tiddy, for many years.

I very recently found, among a lot of stuff I kept from my mother, a letter written by Dbro when very small - the last line reads, ‘Tidy has a new suet but it is to big for him hee har.’ 😂

Wyllow3

I do appreciate that point of view, Allira, but as a person of faith myself, I don't find it so.

I think his humility is the key to this in that actual picture: but I don't regard christian or other religious buildings as somehow outside the realm of "questioning".

Faith has done so much for people on the plus side, but some appalling things on the minus side - and still is, both.

I do see more to it, but that was my first reaction.

Perhaps "Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me,”
Or "For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners"

🤔

Well there is always Corinthians 1:13...

The stained glass window shows a hoodie (possibly Banksy himself trying to avoid identification) thinking whether he can fit any more graffiti on at the bottom of the picture.

I mean 13:1 !!!! ☺️

Mollygo, that picture is porn and is disgusting in full view of little children. The shopkeeper obviously has no sense. It reminds me of the obscene tat being sold in our shops and on our streets. Souvenir shops selling phallic bottle openers and suchlike next to sticks of rock and postcards. T-shirts with disgusting logos plastered across the front - Fat B*stard, F*CK Off 🖕, Ugly C*nt (all written in full.) These were being sold by a street seller in full view of children as we sat outside a coffee shop in Norwich last weekend. I don't want to see that, there should be a law against it.

Wyllow3, art that is beautiful to one person can be ugly to another. Art in the form of a picture in a frame or a piece of sculpture/ornament can be moved about, but Banksy's obsession with forcing his 'art' on us on public/domestic buildings etc. is self serving and arrogant.

This country is in decline in more ways than one, it's a beautiful island and admired all over the world. Its current state is down to its inhabitants, we are what makes this country great. Standards have dropped and people blame authority for the state of our streets, but it's the public who drop litter, fly tip, vandalise children's playgrounds, urinate in stairwells, smash windows, desecrate graves, shout and swear in public, cause havoc on e-scooters on the streets and shopping areas, fail to keep their property in a good condition ... I could go on and on.

We have enjoyed the best years of this country, it is going downhill fast. I am lucky to live in a home in a beautiful setting, I have created my own Utopia here, but I don't want to live like a hermit, I like getting out and enjoy fun days out with the family or on my own. Then I always breathe a sigh of relief when I drive through my gates and feel thankful that I'm home 🏡.

TheSunRisesInTheEast
Yes it is porn. It was porn when a similar picture was shown in the UK, though you probably missed posts from those who admired it. That picture, as you’ll probably have noticed, was in Germany, so evidently not much better.

But the thing with Banksy is he is reflecting the views of those with power, it isn't actually challenging at all. You could see that 'opinion' on those who fly the flag anywhere in places where the middle class congregate, 'oh the plebs and their flags' .

Wyllow3

Well there is always Corinthians 1:13...

Hug a hoodie?
😀

I love the vibrancy of inner city life certainly in my own city. I love in q quiet suburb and feel blessed to be able to afford it:

I take the view that change will always be with us, TheSunRisesInTheEast:

and recall a generation of older people decrying just as you have, what had gone, when I as young, and feel that it is generally a rose tinted spec job. Women could be raped in marriage: gay men were imprisoned for what was just natural: was it really you recalled past?

Yes of course, loss and gains, but whats the point in nostalgia? Instead go appreciating what is good now, and indeed has always been: the sounds of children at play: the bluebells that come out every year, come what may, the enduring power of love, again, come what may:

Had current medicine been as it has now been for 30 years, I wouldn't have lost my father when I was 19 and my younger sister and brother 14, and my mum going into mental hospital because of the shock a family falling apart in just 24 hours.

I recall housing with no indoor water or toilet facilities, and many more of us can recall what it as really like: rural scenes may have been very lovely and peaceful from the outside, but great poverty and deprivation was there too.

Its worth recalling, art wise, that there have always been trangressional artists:

goodness me, Van Gogh was ill thought of at the time, his bold brushstrokes and startling use of colour offended those who preferred a painting to look like a photo.

But Picasso, "Guernica"?

The surrealists (30's, 40's were much decried, but produced stunning work that widened what artists could do, as well as most being clearly anti Hitler and Franco. The women surrealists work for the first time produced challenging and for the time transgressive work on what it was like to actually be a women, as opposed to male portrayals of them, ground breaking.

Pic is by Frida Kahlo

Wyllow I understood TheSunRisesInTheEast to be saying more that the general state of our towns, cities even our countryside has deteriorated over the years. Litter and filth everywhere, even in the countryside and in AONB. It is truly depressing to witness.

We have friends who go out litter picking and they pick up bags and bags of discarded rubbish dropped by people who cannot be bothered to dispose of it correctly.
Dog poo bags hanging in trees, tucked into Hadrian's Wall?
Flytippers creating mounds of rubbish 50 metres long?

Watching programmes on TV, eg Race Across the World where the contestants visit countries which are much poorer than ours, it's evident that either people care more about their surroundings or that they employ huge teams of street cleaners to pick up litter, sweep the streets daily.

We really should be ashamed.

150 metre long fly tip.
It's not the only one.

Well yes, I agree with you there. We are a strange nation, it doesn't happen to this extent in Europe. I shall never forget visiting Cologne in 2002 for an Art show and walked down the city centre, full of footie fans.
Who were swigging beer, chants, then carefully going a little out of their way to put their cans in the right re-cycling bin!

Why is it different here? I really don't know.

Why is it different here? I really don't know.

Me neither but it is depressing.

Witzend

Apparently the Roo was made by Merrythought, who’d made all the originals. I hope Merrythought is still going - presumably it is - they made Baby Bear which was given to new born dd1 by MiL - he was much loved and she still has him at nearly 50! And my Dbro had much the same, known as Tid or Tiddy, for many years.

I very recently found, among a lot of stuff I kept from my mother, a letter written by Dbro when very small - the last line reads, ‘Tidy has a new suet but it is to big for him hee har.’ 😂

Merrythought is still in business and based in Ironbridge not far from where we live.

Sorry if this morning's rant went on a bit, I went off on a bit of a tangent.

Banksy defaced the gable end of a scruffy house right opposite our train station, so it was the first thing people saw as they arrived. Apparently the homeowner profited by selling all the bricks and the house looks better for having had a new brick gable end. The painting was awful, it was a massive seagull, in flight, and a skip was placed underneath it on the grass containing pieces of foam, made to look like chips, it wasn't even painted well, I wouldn't have thought Banksy would want to claim it as his, but he did.

Wyllow3, I can see your love of art isn't the same as mine, you are probably far more aware and cultured than me, I respect you and your opinion.

Allira, I'm glad I'm not the only one to have my view of things, thanks for relating. It shouldn't be necessary for people to go out litter picking, but I'm very grateful that people do it. It sure improves the environment.

We have a bunch of elderly people who turn up every week to clear the woods, you see them walking along the road with their wheelbarrows and garden tools. They have tidied the woods to be a very pleasant place to walk through, fantastic community spirit. I wonder how many of the next generation will carry on the work?

Here I go again. I'll shut up now 🤐🤫.

I love it when I see younger people "joining in". A good example is our local Botanical Gardens. It now relies on volunteers. It used to be one morning a week, and daily retirees, some pretty elderly.

Now it happens 3 days a week, and there are many young people who delight to come. the friendship, the sharing, the hands in earth for those in flats or student accommodation. And of course, some coming are learning disabled but well able to join in and feel the company and the sense of achievement.

I also know young people who are, for the sake of being able to buy somewhere, have moved into a previously deprived area. They do "guerrilla gardening" on waste plots of land, bringing green into rows of terraces with just backyards.

TheSunRisesInTheEast I am not more cultured than you, but I do have a Fine Art MA which I gained in my adult life. So my knowledge is substantial, but I dont regard that as making my view of arts the "right one".

For I am aware that an art work, whether it be visual, musical, or written, is made by two people: the creator, and the one who sees/listens/reads, and of course the second person brings their own unique life experience to that piece of "culture".

Even a photographically "correct" representational art work is open to interpretation: take landscapes or portraits. we still see it in our own particular way.

But when we see an art work which has a "meaning" we are bound to all see it through our own lenses, there isn't a "right" way. The cathedral picture is a good example of this. What is he praying for?
The colouring is like a valuable abstract painting, but if you don't like abstract painting...it has rude words - is that to be criticised, or is a reflection of the only language the young boy at prayer has access to....

Wyllow3, you are obviously very knowledgeable and interested in the art world. Why don't you start a thread about it? Forgive me, I don't consider Banksy to be in the same league as The Old Masters.

Sarnia

Isn't it strange how Banksy is never seen leaving his artwork. I can understand a small mural but a thumping great statue on a plinth and nobody saw anything?

This is what I think. It isn’t plausible.

There is a video on his Instagram showing you how it was done by his crew Gran22boys. He has a smart team.

Ah, so it’s a team, not just one graffitist.
That explains it!

I believe he’s responsible for the art Mollygo the team for implementation.

It's a team placing the statue. He will obviously need a bit of help!

I found it very interesting to hear different people's views about it on tv this morning. Many people (mainly American) thought it represented Trump, others were convinced it was Keir Starmer.

I'm going along with those who think it's an anti Reform statement.

Whatever it is, I like it. I've been a fan of Banksy for years.

Mollygo

Ah, so it’s a team, not just one graffitist.
That explains it!

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn4pvyw82exo

It's never that quiet in London, nor that dark as claimed.
Added to which, there will be CCTV cameras around and security guards in buildings.
However swift the operation, I'm surprised they were not challenged.