Bad news day
I have some bad news: some people are idiots.
Photo courtesy of Flickr: xmacex
It would seem that in the process of cleaning up Hosier Lane in Melbourne, cleanup crews —how do I say — ‘painted over’ a genuine Banksy stencil.
NICE ONE CLEAN UP CREW. That’ll be $40, 000.
This isn’t the first time this kind of thing has happened, however. So, is it just in the nature of street art that one day it will disappear?
Apparently ‘art enthusiasts’ are up in arms about the Melbourne Banksy paint-over. I’d probably self-identify as an ‘art enthusiast’ and I suppose I am up in arms, and if not ‘up in arms’, I’d definitely say that I’m sad about it.
But when you think about it, street art by its very nature is transient, and that is kind of the point.
In Banksy’s native London, Westminster Council says that “Banksy has no more right to paint graffiti than a child” and that it will “remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator”. Now I’m not sure I’d go this far.
I think perhaps Westminster Council is being deliberately obtuse, because there very clearly is a difference between Banksy and your average pre-teen delinquent. I see no reason to go around painting over the ‘graffiti’ of an artist whose works sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, just out of principle. Especially when they bring a little bit of a thrill to the lives of everyday people.
But if it is done by accident, or because of some kind of natural development in the area, I think that is okay.
Here’s the good news
A film made by Banksy will be screening in Australia towards the end of the year. Yay.
To read more about Banksy and street art, check out an earlier entry here.
