‘Selling Out’
When I heard a few weeks ago that Banksy’s Exit Through the Gift Shop had been shortlisted for an Oscar nomination in the Best Documentary category, my interest was piqued, as you can imagine.
News just in is that Banksy has officially been nominated under the category, alongside documentaries pertaining to the war in Afghanistan, environmental concerns of landfill and gas drilling, and dubious connections between Wall Street and the Whitehouse (narrated by Matt Damon… a winner already).
Yes. I agree. One of these things is indeed not like the other.
If you ask me, however (I know you did!), Exit is well-deserving of the nomination, despite a lack of the ‘weightier’ subject matter inherent to its competitors. Described by the Los Angeles Times as “either a meta-textual rumination on the struggle between hype and authenticity, or an ingeniously conceived and executed hoax by the British guerrilla-prankster… Or maybe both,” Exit, in my opinion, is a brilliant example of post-modern, progressive, refreshing, deconstructive documentary-making.
Agreed, the state of art and popular consumerism in the contemporary art market (and in western culture in general) is surely not as ‘serious’ and important a subject matter as financial corruption and war, but the category isn’t called ‘Most Serious and Important Documentary’ is it?
Oh… wait.
No. It’s not.
While I’m on a roll: Banksy-haters - I have a bone to pick with you.
Honestly, I feel like I’ve been holding back all this time, partly because I was in denial and partly because I was perplexed by this attitude you seem to have.
Hear me out, Banksy-haters, because I’m not just talking about Banksy. I’m talking about your whole attitude.
You may recall that several months ago now I wrote a number of posts on Banksy. A spate, if you will. This was largely related to the increased news coverage he was receiving at the time, either due to record prices of artwork sales, or his film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, which I saw (twice) and rather enjoyed.
Also, I like Banksy.
In response to this ‘spate’, a good friend of mine remarked something along the lines of, ‘OMG Banksy is so passé, I was into him, like, 10 years ago when he was fresh and actually stood for something. He’s just a sell out now’.
This comment surprised me. Then, it perplexed me. Finally, it caused me to question this whole attitude and concept of ‘selling out’. Also, the term ‘mainstream’ as it is used in the pejorative.
Before you ask - no, I haven’t been holding on to these feelings in a passive aggressive (or otherwise) manner. I was prompted to reconsider the issue in light of more recent reading I have partaken in regarding Banksy’s potential nomination for an Oscar, and what it means for the now ‘sold out’ artist.
Get over it.
This whole attitude of quality being directly proportional to obscurity and ‘I knew him when he was unknown and untainted by commercial concerns’ only promotes a race to the bottom, where good art, good music, interesting literature is reserved for those on the cutting edge of popular culture. This only propagates a whole other kind of elitism.
Of course I’m not so naive as to not understand the polluting influences that naturally arise from being well-known and ‘popular’, or falling within the circles of the powerful. These things, however, do not necessarily go hand in hand, and should therefore be judged independently.
‘Is it popular?’ Yes, but ‘is it good’ is a separate question.
Banksy probably won’t win the Oscar, and if he does, who knows who will pick up the award. Suggestions have been made that Thierry Guetta (Mr Brainwash) should make the acceptance speech. Either way, I think this is a win for documentary makers, and the contemporary art world in general. And I’m sticking to my guns.
