Last night, I watched a street art documentary called, “Exiting Through the Gift Shop.” This documentary is about the infamous British graffiti street artist Banksy. Banksy has literally left his mark in cities all around the world. His graffiti and art pieces have become a world wide phenomenon. In the documentary, he comes in contact with Thierry Guetta, film addict based in Los Angeles who videotapes various underground street art adventures. The documentary floats around Thierry Guetta, following Banksy, and finding his own artistic inspiration. His inspiration and admiration of Banksy is transformed into his own art phenomenon, being dubbed “Mr. Brainwash.”
As I was watching this documentary, I was in awe of the kind of art street artists like Banksy and Mr. Brainwash put out into the world. Street art is considered a crime however it is a form of freedom of expression. This documentary shows how far street artists will go to stay anonymous so that they can not get caught by the law. Along with being known for staying anonymous, Banksy has been known to pull pranks on the cities he has touched artistically. For example, in the last year, after one of his artworks sold at an auction, it immediately shredded within the frame of the painting, making the monetary work skyrocket.
Many people believe this documentary is a “mockumentary” due to Banksy’s history of pranks. As I was watching the film I do think this one of Bansky’s pranks. I wondered to myself, “Why is the documentary not showing how Mr. Brainwash creates his artwork? Is Mr. Brainwash some sort of character made up by Banksy to make fun of how street art or graffiti is over commercialized?”
Besides watching Mr. Brainwash use a can of spray paint I did not see any footage of him creating his masterpieces. One example is his first piece, which was his camera man sticker. He did not create the sketch for the sticker. A local artist did. When the documentary was interviewing one of Mr. Brainwash’s graphic designer assistants, the assistant shows a book full of Post It notes tracking pieces that they want to recreate and “rip off.” There were some other points that made me think this was a “mockumentary” but this was the one point that stood out to me.
Overall, the truth of this documentary is in the eye of the beholder. Personally I believe this is another one of Banksy’s articulated pranks. His work is phenomenal and I hope he keeps up his work of taking society for an artistic spin.
ENG 200: Writing Across Media 