In my visual essay, I argue that Banksy is different from any other modern artist.

As a street artist, Banksy uses different media and methods that fall in to a legal grey area. While most artists work their way up through art shows and museums, selling their pieces, Banksy takes a different approach. As a street artist, Banksy began by painting and stenciling wherever he liked, often illegally. Any work of Banksys found in a museum was planted there by the artist himself, also illegally. To illustrate the differences between Banksy and other artists, the essay begins with a white Google page before switching to a blank Word document. The word document makes it easy to edit and change sentences describing Banksy. I could add and delete words to the sentence to expand on Banksys identity as an artist. Since I change and add words frequently, the word document conveys a sense of endless possibility for this artist. With the frequent changing of words, the blank page implies that this artist has utter freedom. A major source used was a documentary made by Banksy himself, Exit Through The Gift Shop. This film provided a lot of clips of Banksy creating his art in cities all over the world. It also showed the publics reaction to his work. I also use pictures from Banksys website, www.banksy.co.uk. Since Banksys work is generally illegal, the only way to find out what works are truly his is to visit his website, where he posts photos. I chose the song We Used to Wait by Arcade Fire because of its fast tempo and interesting beat. Since my visual essay had a lot of action and cuts, I wanted a song that could keep up with the essay without slowing it down. Though the song has lyrics, they are subtle and do not distract from the images.