Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Site number 3

http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm

I'm sure this isn't a revelation, but Banksy is pretty cool. This is his web site (or perhaps a fan site?) with a great deal of his work there. What's so great about him is the way he uses context. So much of the joke in these pieces is based on either the environment (a sign or building around it) or some other piece of graffiti, most of which amount to vandalism.

Graffiti is often an ugly tag or quickly rendered dirty picture, and Banksy is most fun when he uses that rather ugly stuff as a punchline for something far more interesting (like the painter and the penis). He takes what's a pretty static, boring image and builds it into something smart.

Great stuff.

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