When I think of the kind of creative person that inspires me, I first tend to think of what kind creative works I enjoy. My first instinct is to think of unique, edgy, and almost rebellious works such as graffiti or wall painting. When I create my own works I usually try to take different inspirations and put my own mix on them. This is a concept that many people my not see as creative but yet is widely accepted in the under ground world of graffiti and wall painting. The art of Graffiti has become less and less a symbol of vandalism and more and more an expression of social and political messages.
One artist I would like to focus on is the infamous graffiti artist known as Banksy. Banksy is a British street artist who’s identity has remained anonymous throughout his career. He is known for his controversial and subjective graffiti art that can now be found all over Europe, and can be seen in the form of imitation all over the world. In the video above Bansky gives a rare interview that explains his love for graffiti and why be believes it is such a positive art form. It is amazing how, with just a spray paint bottle and a stencil an artist can draw so much attention to such prominent political and social issues that otherwise would have been swept under the rug (which is a concept that Banksy does in fact illustrate in his work shown below).
Through his graffiti, Banksy is able to create didactic messages for his audience. He takes an art form that had previously been seen as negative expression of art, and makes it into an informative art form. This was a brilliant new way to speak to an entire new dynamic of people. Almost every piece of work that Banksy has done is meant to give off a moral message and inform the audience of social and political issues. By taking this new approach to street art Bansky is able to appeal to an audience that has not yet been touched by political activists. He has the ability to get the attention of the underground, rebellious, grunge crowd that is usually associated with street art, as well as the masses.
Since Banksy’s work is so didactic, it lends itself to be very subjective. When you see a Bansky work you do not just see in an objective manner; you see a deeper message that reflects his feelings on a certain issue, or that causes you to open your eyes to societal issues. In the piece below containing an image of the children dancing around the mushroom cloud, you can see that Bansky is not just making is art for the simple fact that he is a good artist, he is using his art as a medium for him to get peoples attention to the realities of the world. He is speaking out against the use and procession of nuclear weapons and is doing it in a way that people are going to notice and remember. It is inspiring to see someone use their creative ability for the sake of the greater good and to use it in away that speaks to people in a way that allows them to be subjective and form their own opinions or beliefs.
In the same way that Banksy is presenting his work in a subjective manner, he is also causing his audience, whether they like it or not to take a conscious look at the world around them and at the same time subconsciously take in the message that he is portraying. This is not an easy task but it is one that Banksy admirably does remarkably well. When someone looks at Banksy’s work, since it is so controversial and speaks such volumes, they are going to consciously evaluate their feelings on not only the art, but the message as well. It almost forces them to consciously decide how they feel about what they are seeing and cause many to question their involvement or opinion on the subject. This is also true for a lot of other artists and other art forms but what makes Banksy’s work stand out above all the rest is its affect on the viewer’s subconscious. What makes his work so strong is that it, whether the audience likes it or not, gets into your subconscious and ties itself to the association of whatever characters are in the photo. The picture (that can be seen in the slide show below) of the guard being patted down by the little girl has caused me to question who is really to be trusted with our safety and who is really running our political system. This photo may not give the same message to everyone especially those who find this work to be controversial, but it still causes them to make these decisions and think about them even after seeing the painting.
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