Introduction

This paper is a cultural study of interactional occurrence that analyses how the idea, practice
and empowerment of visual communication of graffiti have transformed, by taking into
consideration the particular case of the mural ‘Slave Labor’ painted by Banksy in Wood Green
London and afterwards stolen and sold for $1,1 million. This case is not the first one that
presents this kind of occurrence, but it is a rather new phenomenon, this particular one being the
most covered and renowned in what regards the attention of the public and of the mass media.
This kind of phenomenon is spreading step by step and soon, it will become part of the
normality, as I aim in showing within this paper. In analysing this kind of phenomenon I hope to
demonstrate the fact that graffiti has been détourned in order to be co-opted by the dominant
culture, therefore extiguished as a countercultural practice.
The organization of my paper follows a logical order that confers understanding not only to
the reader but to the case itself. The first chapter treats theoretical concepts that have been
developed by past generation, in relation to the idea of dominant culture and counterculture. The
theoretical concepts are explained, critically evaluated in concordance to the study at stake and
afterwards exemplified by linking them to practices, gangs, ideologies and actual historical
events of their periods of membership. This kind of infusion is very important from the
perspective of how things were, how they evolved and how we understand them now, compared
to how they were understood by our previous generations. Chapter one ends with the short
presentation and explanation of two concepts that I convene into my analysis as explanatory for
phenomenon in question.
The second chapter starts with a presentation of the case study, with important data and
information gathered from press articles, press releases, declarations, interviews, protests, etc.
offering insights and a better understanding of the phenomenon. In the following part of Chapter
Two, I will present the methodology of my analysis, explaining on that I rely with this analysis, I
will describe the type of the analysis, and will address it with three research questions that will
be explained in their turn in order to confer the idea of what I aim at discovering, by
perspicuously answering them in the following analysis.
 After explaining the methodology and the framework of action, I will determine on what it is
based implying a data base content that I will be using in my analysis, as well as an explanation
that takes into consideration the reasons on which my data has been established, the criteria of
choice and also the efficiency of the chosen material. This is the point in which my analysis will
start, by answering the research questions very systematically, in order for the amplitude of the
answer to be understood within a certain area of development. The questions will be attentively
responded with the help of arguments that are based not only on the theoretical content but rather
have more complex ways of occurrence. After the research questions will be answered, I will
conclude by outlining what I have discovered in concordance to my case study and the
theoretical part by employing the analysis.
My paper has as major references the activist and situationist Guy Debord, which I felt that
helped me a lot in understanding numerous concepts that I discuss within this paper. He
represents an important figure in the countercultural history, and his book ‘The Spectacle’ is a
revelatory book for the subject that I have brought into question. His objective approach on ‘the
spectacle’ reveals an alternative way of seeing things under the sign of attributing a new attitude
that takes into consideration life as a bunch of situations that need to be countered or otherwise
accepted.
Another important book that I found very relevant for my study is Chris Jenks’ ‘Cultural
Reproduction’ that helped me in outlining the importance of the cultural reproduction that is
suffered from generation to generation through changes that are perceived according to the
context of interaction. This cultural reproduction regards the case I’m concerned with directly
since it reveals an explanatory reproduction of the factors that influence the character of cultural
development.
My personal contribution to this paper stands mostly in the part of the analysis where I have
developed comprehensive answers in trying to amplify the explanatory nature of my paper. The
novelty of this paper is best attributed to the novelty of this phenomenon that is still considered
something new and its course has not yet been made obvious, being still under the sign of
mystery and confusion. Altogether, I hope my paper will be revelatory to some extend in
understanding the phenomenon I aim at elucidating within this analysis.

2
 Chapter 1

1. The Polemic of Dominant Culture & Counterculture

The divergence of ideologies and perceptions between the two concepts separates the idea of
culture into the idea of dominant culture and counterculture. This bifurcation of culture is a
representation of the inequalities that separate the world in two sides, the one of ‘the spectacle’
established on the basis of the power relations and the one based on the experience of living
within the fake society of ‘the spectacle’, in search for the authentic way of living. The French
sociologist, anthropologist and philosopher Pierre Bordieu(1990) explains in his study this
phenomenon as follows “In any given social formation the cultural arbitrary which the power
relations between the groups or classes making up that social formation put into the dominant
position within the system of arbitraries is the one which most fully, though always indirectly
expresses the objective interests (material and symbolic) of the dominant groups or classes”1
This fixation of a dominant opinion by the holders of power is what rises the first arguments of a
counterculture that searches for the authenticity in life, that does not want to attribute itself the
opinions of people who don’t understand or put emphasis on their perception of life but live in a
homogenous, cold and narrow way.
The transmission of experience, information, habits and cultural background from one
generation to another is a reproduced product of humanity and of society. This kind of
reproduction can generate non-recognition of the dominant culture, of the ‘system of education’
imposed by it shaping the ideology of a new type of culture that has been reproduced from the
counter ideology of dominant culture since all its characteristics oppose it, coming as a
counterculture to the social and historical contextualizing. This reproduction of the social
structures is in a continuous alteration as the ideology and context of life are in a permanent
movement and evolution, the concepts of generation change in concordance to the dominant
culture or in contrary to it, evolving in the context of civilization.
“The idea of culture emerges from the noun ‘process’, in the sense of nurture, growth and
bringing into being—in fact, to cultivate in an agricultural or horticultural sense. Culture, as

1
Pierre Bordieu, Passeron, Jean-Claude, Reproduction in Education, Society and Culture, London, Sage
Publications, 1990, p. 9.

3
process, is emergent, it is forthcoming, it is continuous in the way of reproducing, and as all
social processes it provides the grounds and the parallel context of social action itself.”2 In this
paragraph, Jenks manages to outline four characteristics that define the idea of culture: one is the
fact that the act of culture is continuous descriptive historical perception of time and space,
secondly it is understood that culture is continuous because it is reproductive, thirdly is the fact
that culture is a compass that helps people understand and relate to something that is influenced
by the context in which it’s happening and fourthly it socially influences in its turn “generating
one sense of a causal chain’.3
The continuous aspect of culture represents the cycle of life, the preparation for a long run,
for reproduction and the need to evolve, the need for emancipation, discovery of the individual’s
self at the most higher level he can reach. The possession of a consciousness, “a cerebral and
cognitive category”4 as Jenks puts it represents the gift of thinking and the power to act and react
in a way that is granted by the choosing and judgment in concordance to the established values
and perceptions. The superiority given to the human perception is what gives it the sense of an
actual aspect of culture, it must grow and reach the individually imagined perfect stature because
unlike animals, humans have a wish that overcomes the idea of survival, it aims for something
greater, for something more spiritual or an imagined place of happiness that could reach the idea
of heaven.
“Culture then, for early anthropology, was the common domain of the human; it
distinguished our behavior from that of other creatures and it provided a conceptual break with
the dominant explanatory resource of biological and, latterly, genetic determinism.”5 Culture is
also a collective noun that involves the knowledge of human history and it involves the
belonging to a group that shares customs, conventions, habits, traditions, gods, ideologies and
artifacts. The idea of belonging to a group is a representation of belonging to a culture, to a
chosen value criteria/ that is established by the members of the community giving the individual
the belonging to origins, roots.
This means that culture is an evolutionary tracking device of humanity, something that will
give one a sense of membership, it is the main guide and the description of our journey on Earth

2
Chris Jenks, Cultural Reproduction, US, Canada, Routledge, 1993, p. 3.
3
Ibidem
4
Chris Jenks, Culture, London, New York, Routledge, 2004, p. 11.
5
Ibidem, p. 9.

4
passed from one generation to another and adapted to times, places and contexts of civilization
from past to present.
This representation of values and facts that make humanity remarkable are to be embodied in
art, literature, science, philosophy, music; all trying to capture the experiences and
understandings that humanity has reached in its evolutionary civilized manner. The distinction
between facts and values is to be measured differently, relating at a different level to the real
existing world. Values stand for representing human’s spiritual experience and its interpretations
which differ in a matter of perspective and perception, belonging to a more philosophical frame;
and facts which are rather material and can be proved through science(technology) or are simply
obvious/logical.
Inclined in abandoning humanism to a more systematic, homogenous, civilized lifestyle,
humanity advances in a more technological level than spiritual. The attribution of this kind of
impersonality to the human nature is understood as something unnatural, as standardized and of
mass production. The problematic of this characteristic humanity attributes itself is the fact that
instead of evolving in their own way – spiritually, the means of technology invade their lives as
‘facilities’, part of an easier lifestyle that is standardized.
The concept of culture emphasis a civilized society that bows to rules, is constrained by
boundaries of action and interaction, controlled by patterns and living a predictable lifestyle. The
modernist manner of evolution is technological and it foreign the human from his authentic
nature and purpose creating a new framework of living where the social status achieved is what
matters and is recognizable. This contradiction between dominant culture and counterculture
came as an interesting subject for many theoreticians, activists, anthropologists and philosophers
who tried to understand the processes of these currents and define their ideologies, their way of
influencing the character of life and the ideology of society through history. The theories are not
only numerous but also carry analysis, theories or perspectives from within the actual context of
action. The defining of these currents helps to better understand the world, the perspectives that
are offered within this social frame as well as to understand the fact that there will always be
something new waiting to be discovered, something that was never thought of before, something
that is awaiting its turn to becoming part of people’s lives as dominant culture or counterculture.
Dominant culture is represented through the technological evolution, by “This spirit, the
mentality of modernity, this shared set of values, establishes equilibrium at every level within the

5
social system, despite the constant, and allegedly inherent fractures of the material base.” 6 This
materialistic wish is what sits at the base of dominant culture. The idea of status within society,
of possessions, of wealth and differentiation from the rest is what drives dominant culture in the
first place. The materialistic wish is the spine that holds together the capitalist culture, the growth
of a system of economy, commerce, institutionalization, production, the emergent need of
development and the civilization’s subjection to a system.
Guy Debord(2005), a leading member of the Situationist International defines the modernist
evolution as ‘the spectacle’: “Understood in its totality, the spectacle is both the result and the
goal of the dominant mode of production. It is not a mere decoration added to the real world. It is
the very heart of this real society's unreality. In all of its particular manifestations news,
propaganda, advertising, entertainment - the spectacle represents the dominant model of life. It is
the omnipresent affirmation of the choices that have already been made in the sphere of
production and in the consumption implied by that production. In both form and content the
spectacle serves as a total justification of the conditions and goals of the existing system. The
spectacle also represents the constant presence of this justification since it monopolizes the
majority of the time spent outside the production process.”7
What Debord manages to outline here is the fact that these new modern devices manage to
create a new idea of reality, an unreality that establishes the new reality, alienating the viewer,
‘the spectator’ in creating boundaries and a pattern of thinking and living by molding values and
behaviors from an unreal perspective, a perspective that is intended to entertain and picture the
‘ideal’ lifestyle and not something that is realistic but rather imagined and controlled. The means
of propaganda, manipulation and control attributed to the new means of entertainment and used
through the help of machineries like Radio or TV which establish the modernist behaviors,
produce images, ideas, advertising and entertainment that will be consumed by the eyes of the
viewer, that will mold the minds of people and will make humanity a predictable force of the
system.
The idea of a culture that is controlled through the media and manipulated by any means – be it
that people should obey rules, consider things taboo, follow trends, act and think in a certain way
– and transformed into unreality that gives the impression that “consumer capitalism has taken

6
Ibidem, p. 55.
7
Guy Debord, Society of the Spectacle, London, Rebel Press, 2005, p. 8.

6
every authentic human experience, transformed it into a commodity and then sold it back to us
through advertising and the mass-media”.8 This kind of perspective gives birth to outrageous
attitudes, giving the fact that this imagined world is not real, is something thought to be seen in a
real manner because at it’s core inspiration is the humanity itself, not in its authentic, real,
unaltered form but in a modified manner, in an alienating manner where humanity is not on top
of the pyramid but society is, in the civilized, homogenous, conformed way.
Counterculture is born exactly from the feeling of control, from the feeling of being trapped
inside a rut where the driver does blindly as he is told, from conformity, exercising the need to
escape it. The idea of conformity is the representation of consumerism, of what is sold and
bought, from the idea of achieving and maintaining the status within society as “normal” to the
idea of “normality” that is understood within the social barriers of civilization.
Counterculture is not a representation of abnormality but rather an act of rebellion, a
repugnance towards conformity, an attitude of subversion regarding rules, consumerism, and a
superficial perception of life. It stands for an alternative way of living, other than the dominant
superficial corporatist one. It’s a search for reality, individualism, identity, freedom and
happiness, for the spiritual, for the authentic lifestyle that is not altered, influenced and corrupted
but real and natural.
Hebdige(1979), a media theorist and sociologist defines the concept as it follows: “The term
‘counter culture’ refers to that amalgam of ‘alternative’ middle-class youth cultures – the hippies,
the flower children, the hippies – which grew out of the 60s, and came to prominence during the
period 1967–70. As Hall et al. (1976a) have noted, the counter culture can be distinguished from
the subcultures we have been studying by the explicitly political and ideological forms of its
opposition to the dominant culture (political action, coherent philosophies, manifestoes, etc.), by
its elaboration of ‘alternative’ institutions (Underground Press, communes, cooperatives, ‘un-
careers’, etc.), its ‘stretching’ of the transitional stage beyond the teens, and its blurring of the
distinctions, so rigorously maintained in subculture, between work, home, family, school and
leisure. Whereas opposition in subculture is, as we have seen, displaced into symbolic forms of

8
Joseph Heath, Andrew Potter, Why the culture can’t be jammed, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Harper Collins
Publishers Ltd, 2005, p. 8.

7
resistance, the revolt of middle-class youth tends to be more articulate, more confident, more
directly expressed and is, therefore, as far as we are concerned, more easily ‘read’.”9

1.a. The Hegemonic and Repressive Culture of the 1950s and 1960s

The concept of ‘hegemony’ was a highly debated subject between the 50’s and 60’s since
people were feeling the need to understand and explain the events that were taking place
politically, economically and socially. Antonio Gramsci was one of the Marxist thinkers that
developed this concept emphasizing on human subjectivity not only economically and politically
but also through the control over society and the proletariat. Gramsci referred to the
transformation of ‘hegemony’ defining its political formation as follows: “it brings about not
only a unison of economic and political aims, but also intellectual and moral unity. posing all the
questions around which the struggle rages not on a corporate but on a 'universal' plane.'”10
It is obvious that Gramsci’s idea of hegemony was of ironic positivism, the domination of
the ‘bourgeoisie hegemony’ left behind the proletariat, aiming for more and more not only
economically but also politically since the status quo within the “political society” was greatly
appreciated, though creating a unequal development, exploitation and social status hierarchies.
This “internal division of the ruled”11 made by the government was considered by Gramsci as “a
state without a state”12 since no evolution was to be made within the entire idea of society, the
proletariat was considered an ‘independent bloc’ and was excluded from the bourgeoisie,
damned to a stagnation process.
The Frankfurt School was concerned with the same type of questions, having as main
preoccupation social philosophy as a study of historical cultural phenomena that offers precious
insight to the meaning of social life, of critical theories concerning social sciences “as the source
of important questions to be investigated by these sciences and as a framework in which ‘the
universal would not be lost sight of’.”13 The movement of the Institute was part of a wider
movement called ‘Western Marxism’ which was “characterized on one side by diverse,
predominantly philosophical and Hegelian reinterpretations of Marxist theory in relation to the

9
Dick Hebdige, Subculture: The Meaning Of Style, London, New York, Routledge, 1979, p. 148.
10
Adamson L. Walter, Hegemony and Revolution: Antonio Gramsci’s Political and Cultural Theory, University of
California Press, 1983, p. 161.
11
Ibidem, p. 168.
12
Ibidem
13
Frank Bottomore, The Frankfurt School and its Critics, London, New York, Routledge, 2003, p. 15.

8
advanced capitalist societies, and on the other, by an increasingly critical view of the
development of society and the state in the USSR.”14
In this period the neo-Hegelian theories “were firmly implanted as the guiding principle
of the Institute’s activities”15 influencing German social thought with their ideas of ‘critical
theory’ that later spread around Europe, the United States – the apparition of the New Left. This
third period, starting with 1950 was the most prolific with representatives as Horkheimer,
Marcuse and Adorno whom influenced intellectually and politically attaining the Frankfurt’s
School height in influencing the 60’s through the radical student movement.
Within the 50’s and the 60’s, the leitmotiv of the Frankfurt School was that of criticism
of positivism which represents the basic foundation of the Frankfurt school and also a great part
of its theoretical background over three decades. This criticism was formed from three main
aspects : “positivism is an inadequate and misleading approach which does not, and cannot,
attain a true conception or understanding of social life”; “the attending only to what exists it
sanctions the present social order, obstructs any radical change and leads to political quietism”;
“it is intimately connected with, and it is indeed a major factor in sustaining, or producing, a new
form of domination, namely ‘technocratic domination’.”16 These aspects of criticism represent a
revolution of thought against hegemonic power, a repression in what regards the hegemonic
system that imposes a positive attitude that is in disagreement with the realities of the social
context and life since rules are imposed and cannot be changed in concordance to the
population’s needs or wishes. The feeling created by the hegemonic empowerment is one of
criticism, of repression, of anarchism against a system that does not understand needs but creates
them in order for it to be a powerful force to which people are dependent and cannot live
without.
In opposition to ‘positivism’, Horkheimer defines ‘dialectical theory’ as the world where
“’individual facts appear in a definite connection’ and ‘which seeks to reflect reality in its
totality’”.17 Creating a new historical background on the ideal of reality at another level, at a
level of dialectical thought which accentuates the fact that “Right thinking depends as much on

14
Ibidem, p. 12.
15
Ibidem
16
Ibidem, p. 28.
17
Ibidem, p. 16.

9
right willing as right willing on right thinking’”18; claiming that this concept of ‘critical theory’
presents the world and the idea of society from an objective perspective, breaking away from the
patterns that are specific into a social context, instead putting emphasis on thought, experience,
purposefulness or spontaneity.
The rejection and criticism of positivism and domination was characteristic to the late
capitalism that created as a central preoccupation the idea of freedom in connection to a Hegelian
perspective: “from a standpoint, therefore, knowledge of the world and the determination of
authentic values coincide, or as Horkheimer expressed it ‘right thinking’ and ‘right willing’ go
together in a relationship of mutual support”19 which opens a door to preoccupations like that of
criticism of ‘irrational’ beliefs, attitudes of anti-Semitism within the modern society framework,
criticism of ‘scientific and technological rationality’ perceived as a new form of capitalist
domination. These new questions raised the interest in psychoanalysis and the psychology of the
individual, representing an elementary basis of any study concerning the relation between social
conditions – the working class and movements – the rise of fascist movement.
The ‘critical theory’ was supported not only by Horkheimer, Marcuse but also by Adorno
whom repeated the criticism of Horkheimer but also introduced new elements into his critical
theory. For Adorno, the critical theory implies aspects of ontology and epistemology; his critical
theory is a representation of pure criticism, lacking any kind of positive aspects and his notion of
‘totality’ “which was crucial in Horkheimer’s thought (one of his criticisms of positivism being
that it did not situate individual facts within a totality as did critical theory), is now rejected as
another manifestation of identity-thinking; in Adorno’s phrase, ‘the whole is untrue’.”20
This concern against totalizing hegemony was not affecting only theoreticians which
were rather having an objective perspective but it did put as subjects people in accepting
homogenous ideas, limitation and uniformity under the false pretenses of a unification of the
world. Still, the level of acceptance was to be decided by the individual himself, so that the
countercultural subcultures started finding their own way of living, not by the rules of the
hegemonic system but rather by their own rules, valuing their own perception and by
appreciating their individuality in defiance of the imposed system of revaluation. One of the first
active countercultural representatives were The Beats, a group that was not afraid of living their

18
Ibidem
19
Ibidem, p. 23.
20
Ibidem, p. 31.

10
life however they wanted, despite rules, opinions, status quos, etc. The Beats became the activist
counterculture of a generation, fighting for their freedom of expression, for the right of having
their own perspectives, individualities, wishes and creative lifestyles that came counter to the
idea of dominant culture.

 The Beat Generation

In the early 50’s The Beats, a group of young artists and intellectuals became popular for
their writings which were considered so obscene that the authorities felt like they had to take
action. The group represented a definition of non-conformity, choosing to express themselves
through their art and hedonist lifestyle, often questioning the values of society and government.
The group was formed, along others from Allen Ginsberg a poet and the writer of the Howl,
writer Jack Kerouac and writer William Burroughs who chose to live differently from the
masses. The group’s alternative lifestyle involved travelling, experiencing drugs, pushing the
boundaries of their art and sharing their ideas with people.
Allen Ginsberg became a known figure of the group once he had launched “The Howl”,
which came out as a controversial piece of art because of the obscene and sexual language which
unveiled unnatural and libertine relations between sexes of the same kind. The book was soon to
be banned and removed from the market and the publisher, Laurence Ferlinghetti was arrested
for printing and distributing it. William Burroughs’s novel “Naked Lunch” received the same
treatment, his book was also banned in USA only for it to become later an American literature
classics along with “The Howl” and Kerouac’s “On the Road” which represents a symbol of the
period.
The public viewed The Beat Generation as a controversial one because of their different
ideologies and hedonist lifestyle but as much as they were criticized by magazines, publications
or public influential characters like “Herb Caen, a widely read columnist for the San Francisco
Chronicle referred to them in 1958 as beatniks. This term, inspired by the Russian satellite
named Sputnik, implied that they were un-American, and the Beats themselves thought the term
was insulting because it trivialized them.”21 Even so, the more controversial something is, the
more it steps into the spotlight, given the fact that the group gained even more grounds in front
of the ones who felt inspired by their art, hedonist lifestyle and ideologies. The public and

21
Richard Brownell, American Counterculture of the 1960, USA, Farmington Hills, MI: Luncent Books 2011, p. 10.

11
consumers of their art became even more more obsessed with their newty and started imitating
not only the way they dressed, but also they started changing attitudes through their ideologies
inspiring future musicians like Bob Dylan or John Lennon.

1.b. The Situationism of the 1970s and 1980s

The Situationists, also known by the abbreviation Situs come from Europe’s organisation
the Situationist International that was founded in 1957. The situationists were concerned with
what Guy Debord, the leader of the Situationist International calls ‘the spectacle’ in the context
of a society that is dependent on what capitalism has to offer: on consuming, on comfort goods
and entertainment, on a false idea of reality and a general aspect of living. The rebellious stand
that the situationist took was out of the capitalist menu, was almost anarchic in thought and
consisted from a continuous question and search of a reality that was true.
Although it addressed to their existing environments, the situationists did not live only in
their present time but regarded their experiences as something that must be preserved and shared
from their point of view. “Our conception of a "constructed situation" is not limited to an
integrated use of artistic means to create an ambiance, however great the force or spatiotemporal
extent of that ambiance might be. A situation is also an integrated ensemble of behavior in time.
It is composed of actions contained in a transitory decor. These actions are the product of the
decor and of themselves, and they in their turn produce other decors and other actions.”22 They
addressed from their experience, from the decor they lived in but underlining the fact that
everything in transitory, the Situationists felt the need to examine their actual situation as
transitory and by determining causes that brought them in the place where they were to be found
as humans and as members of a functioning society.
The ideology of the Situationists was based on the transformation and transgression form
of culture and life, avoiding ‘static ideologies’ which tend to rigidify and become another
passively consumed product of the capitalist society. Instead, the ideal of the situationists is
based on the idea of a continuous activity within existence, on the actively reality that people are
subjected to, on creating and learning through experience, improving through exercise.

22
Ken Knabb Preliminary Problems in Constructing a Situation Internationale Situationiste #1, 1958, full article:
http://libcom.org/library/internationale-situationiste-1-article-6

12
 Alike many of the previous theoreticians, Guy Debord found himself in front of a
problem that spread at a concerning level, the alienation of the masses and re-creation of a new
false reality to live by. “The root of the spectacle is that oldest of all social specializations, the
specialization of power. The spectacle plays the specialized role of speaking in the name of all
the other activities. It is hierarchical society's ambassador to itself, delivering its official
messages at a court where no one else is allowed to speak. The most modern aspect of the
spectacle is thus also the most archaic.”23 This description of empowerment offered to
governments, to mass-media and television is what alienates the masses and creates these new
aspects of life to which humanity adapts by attributing patterns and lining in a hierarchical order,
from the top of the pyramid to its very base, to the proletariat.

 The Situationist International(SI)

The evolutionary progress of technology captured the entire world and started keeping it
under the sign of ‘commodity’. For the working classes which between work and sleep were
subjected to this reality of advertising and entertainment, of falsity and consumerism, of this
separate sector that “it is in reality the domain of delusion and false consciousness: the
unification it achieves is nothing but an official language of universal separation.”24This
separation from the real consciousness that bounds man with nature, creativity and naturalness is
to alienate him from his real path, from the authenticity that was transformed in concordance
with the new values attributed to dominate by the ‘spectacle’.
The passive role that is attributed to the modern society as a predetermined cause from
which the Situationists try to escape by recurring to activism where “The situationists set out to
devise ‘situations’, or experimental practices aimed at raising awareness vis-à-vis the general
conditions that prevail in a place or society.”25 This raise of awareness is a trial in establishing
human relations in the social context disregarding the social imposed norms, disregarding the
system and what it sustains and creating new situations, new perspectives that lack attention in
front of the positivism of the bourgeoisie.
The idea that there is a history developing in a way in which the core is lost, a history of
superficial materialism, of things and possessions, “an unconscious history that has actually

23
Guy Debord(2005), op. cit., p. 24.
24
Ibidem, p. 7.
25
Lucian Leahu, Thom-Santelli, Jenn Pederson, Claudia Sengers Phoebe, Taming the Situationist Beast, 2008, p. 2.

13
created and altered the living conditions of human groups - the conditions enabling them to
survive and the expansion of those conditions.”26 This idea of subordination pictured by Debord
gives the impression that humanity lives in a world of plastic in which one has to work and
consume in order to attain a level of happiness since these are the main activities that inscribe in
normality. From this point on, everything that is going on with humanity is wrong, the sense of
‘commodity’ has established, the main value that the emphasis is put on is material, economical,
and plastic. ‘The spectacle’ and the falseness are the point where everyone’s attention meets,
creating a false consciousness that guides the ideal of society.
The strategy that the Situationists undertake is the one of experimenting with situations,
with the world, giving birth to a new concept of liberation from the monotony of everyday life.
“The dérive was taken up by the Situationists as a strategy for exploring psycho geography, "the
study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously
organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals"”27 This kind of disobedience was
to change the idea of culture forever, deriving it from the sense of manipulation of information,
misinformation or omission of events to creating it from the core of rebellion. This activism and
fabrication of situation of the Situationists’ was aimed to disrupt the emergence of the ‘spectacle’
and reveal the real enactment that was going on behind the scene, demonstrating that everything
was only a scenario.
A tactic that had great significance for the Situationists was that of détournement which
represents a form of subversion where mass-media elements are changed and re-arranged in a
way that everything captures a new significance, a new meaning that is destined to change the
status-quo. The concept of détournement stands in the desire to raise awareness, to be an
nonconformist, to change the entire sense of something – like dominant culture – by making a
statement, by giving new alternative meanings in support of a critical reflection, to raise
awarness of the masses in disregard to the idea of a system.
The subversive activism that the Situationist appealed to raised the idea of a new
consciousness, of a countercultural movement that would oppose entirely the ideology of
dominant culture or ‘the spectacle’ by mocking the mass-media, by reinforcing with activist art
that was critical and reflexive regarding aspects that people live by. This innovative

26
Guy Debord, op. cit., p. 19.
27
Lucian Leahu, Thom-Santelli, Jenn Pederson, Claudia Sengers Phoebe, op.cit., p. 3.

14
reinforcement of subversion tactics with strong political, economical and social messages
represents the imprint of the Situationist movement that attributed a symbolic power to the
people by giving them the right to expression of a new perspective, other than the dominant one.
The symbolic power attributed to the people started growing into subcultures(punks, rockers,
grungers, rappers, etc.), attitudes, activism, artistic poetry, graffiti, music creating the idea of
‘Hip’ which represented the new fresh underground movement, the representation of the ‘cool’
in its most authentic way or, nowadays, everything that its called ‘old-school’.

1.c. From 1990 to Present

By the 90’s, the corporate revolution has settled and established for the long run with
small and creative advertising agencies and firms, but this time from a new perspective, “a new
company of creative rebels came to dominate the profession; and advertising that offered to help
consumers overcome their alienation, to facilitate their nonconformity, and which celebrated
rule-breaking and insurrection became virtually ubiquitous.”28 This kind of approach differs from
the revolution of the 60’s, as the Advertising Age’s retrospective claims, “Baby Boomers,
Creative Boomers”, a perfect fit to the previous problems, the corporate theory expressing the
idea of the counterculture experience now integrated into agencies and in charge with the
management of the Hip, and a creative way of expressing, better than it had gone down before, in
the times of the Baby Boomers; Now, the Baby Boomers expressed their revolutionary
ideologies in creating and selling for the corporations.
This new era brings a new perspective of counterculture in which “Advertising people are
deeply immersed in the tastes, the music, and the slang of young people, obsessed with the rapid
movement of youth culture. And, being an industry that bums out creative talents in an
extraordinarily short time, it is a world populated largely by actual young people.” 29 The values
attributed by the 90’s generation are determined by the ideas of taste and distinctiveness. The
transformation of time, things and the rapidity with which the world evolves has brought this
generation in a place of concordance with the system, at least at a level of functionality.
Still, like their previous generations that found the need to revolutionize against these
‘commodities’, the generation of the 90’s was to change this aspect by working from the inside,

28
Thomas Frank, The Conquest of Cool, Chicago, London, University of Chicago Press, 1998, p. 28.
29
Ibidem, p. 35.

15
“As the discovery of the rule-breaking boomers merely cemented the victory of the creative
revolution, so the discovery of their rebel successors in the 1990s has breathed new life (and new
imagery) into the basic wisdom established during those years: hip is the cultural life-blood of
the consumer society.”30 This characteristic of ‘hip’ is what describes best the imagery of the
young generations because no matter what is mainstream, they will always try to find whatever is
underground and will try to create their own wave, their own characteristics and identity.
Still, the countercultural idea “served corporate revolutionaries as a projection of the new
ideology of business, a living embodiment of attitudes that reflected their own.” 31 This is when
counterculture lost its entire sense and ideology, being co-opted by the dominant culture and
embodied in corporations and advertising agencies. The idea of co-optation is what explains
everything and the processes in which it happened. The countercultural idea was co-opted, the
Baby Boomers chose to get involved and share their ideas of ‘taste and distinction’ that separated
them from the popular culture and made them special in order to sell it to the ones like them.
The 90’s became a new era of corporations and advertising but it mostly increased the
idea of consumerism through the sharing of new values and creativity, offering a new variety of
products and attitudes that left behind the ideas of plasticity and homogeneity created by mass
production which co-opted the countercultural ideology in order for the system to function
properly. The attribution of new qualities and the identification with the consumers gave mass
production a new fresh force that gave a new sense of consumption to people. As Chris Jenks
observes “The consciousness, and self-consciousness, of youth were adopted by both cultural
analysts (and the mass media) as a vector of instability in relation to systems of stratification but
also the social structure as a whole. Any shift in patterns of consumption, lifestyle, leisure and
self-presentation by youth might signal a collapse of the old order.”32, reference the collapse of
the world order couldn’t mean anything else than the birth of a new one, a more rebellious and
hip one. Subcultures are the result of countercultural attitudes that resemble in ideologies: stand
for the identity of a new generation, a generation searching to define itself in accordance to the
world they live in, to the system that offers perspectives, and being co-opted represented a great
perspective for every countercultural that could pick his brain.

30
Ibidem, p. 234.
31
Ibidem, p. 27.
32
Chris Jenks, Subculture: The Fragmentation of the Social, London, Sage Publications, 2004, p. 122.

16
 The idea of co-optation of the counterculture raised “Regardless of the tastes of
Republican leaders, rebel youth culture remains the cultural mode of the corporate moment, used
to promote not only specific products but the general idea of life in the cyber-revolution.
Commercial fantasies of rebellion, liberation, and outright "revolution" against the stultifying
demands of mass society are commonplace almost to the point of invisibility in advertising,
movies, and television programming.”33 From that moment on, there was no real revolution to
take place since the feeling of alienation disappeared, incorporating and integrating common
people into the action of production. The market is still a market though so the real rebels chose
to transform into anti-consumerists, feeling like everything was a hoax, but once again, as the
pattern shows, this was just yet another of the same thing, meaning that the anti-consumerist
public was a segment of the market, like any other.
The mixture of art and politics brought ahead a creativity that was off charts, constructing
and giving a new sense to the meaning of culture. The subversive messages incorporated in art,
in pamphlet publications and the culture jam were clear signs that a new attitude was born and
unleashed among rebels but also common people. Still, this war does not concern the idea of art
itself but it rather takes further the idea of counterculture in that this kind of activism is not
concerned with the idea of art but with the nature of life, with the class wars, inequality and
injustice in what regards the culture of dominance within society.
As the world separates the status of classes into the empowered one who is also dominant
and the excluded poor enslaved class, likewise, the idea of art is divided in two, the high culture
and low culture. “High culture has been understood as an expression of exclusion and
dominance, an attempt at distinction, the enforcement of true beauty and as forced pretense.”34
The ideology of highbrow culture sits in the fact that once one gains money and power, that one
also gains a certain taste that cannot be acquired by anyone, especially by people with low
income. This idea of high culture sits in the fact that it is very hard to attain it, since it is less
accessible to a normal public therefore it is exclusive and expensive. The more expensive and
unattainable, the better since this kind of high-status taste decide the degree of quality and good
taste.

33
Thomas Frank, op. cit., p. 4.
34
Giselinde Kuipers, Media, Culture and Society, Rotterdam, Sage Publications, 2006, p. 363, full article:
http://mcs.sagepub.com/content/28/3/359.abstract

17
 Low culture is represented by the lower-middle class and “has been interpreted in many
conflicting ways, from resistance within hegemonic culture to the expression of false
consciousness, from authentic self-expression to a creative and confident dealing with mass
modern culture.”35 It is in some way a stand of the counterculture, representative for ‘the
underground’, for the unseen part of the picture, of the poor who are rather survivors than art
experts. The idea of highbrow culture and lowbrow culture come in opposition to each other, like
the ideologies of dominant culture and counterculture.
The brand image and identity became things that separated the idea of kitsch from the
real deal. Of course, this does not make anyone feel special with anything because brands are
also a mass production, but this kind of mass production is one of taste. The idea of being born
with this sixth sense of understanding and separating hip from kitsch, low from high culture,
represents what authenticity is supposed to mean. This identity of the self and distinctiveness
given by the fine senses one has is understood as authentic, as what people from previous
generations were looking for, for something that could be representative and distinct at the same
time, something that was in the DNA, that nobody else shared. This sense of distinctiveness and
taste is what created the idea of ‘hip’ in the first place and secondly, put it into practice
advertising and production for everyone to share it. Being the launcher of a current and a trend
setter is certainly better and much more satisfying than being a conformist, it gives one power
and rises the status quo within society, makes the creator recognizable and appreciated, gives the
product an identity that identifies with the consumer, establishing a connection and not
alienating.
The sense of humanity is easily fading away, as Debord speculated, ‘the spectacle’ not
only took over but it developed and became something dependable, which is now viewed in
another manner, it addresses to all kinds of publics, managing to attract the attention of a large
number of consumers. In their turn, consumers are charmed by the idea that they can create
identities, they can be different from other people or even different than they really are. Of
course, this is just another ‘spectacle’ but this time, the feeling of commodity is not considered as
a waste of time but rather as socialization, as part of the community, as part of the functionality
of everything.

35
Ibidem

18
  The Hip Generation

Hip hop grew into a national and nationalist attitude, the urban African-American music
being inspired from the “post-civil rights era” offered an insight within verses of the culture’s
historical past experiences and wars for civil rights and a decent living. In a very unique and
urban manner, the new wave was accompanied by rap music described by the theorist Gelder as
“black talk” brought with it new visual forms of expression like graffiti and breakdancing.
With a very strong history of its past, coming from the underground, rap music is
concerned with ghetto life expressing the thug life from the hood in unconventional manners.
With the immigrations, “the dream” of succeeding within USA was bigger than ever but that was
a long way to go. They had to catch up with the world since Bronx, their main home was filled
with gangs, drugs, junkies and violence. Price describes the importance the lifestyle of gangs and
graffiti had in his book “Hip Hop Culture” the connecting the life in the hood with the new
countercultural currents: ”As territorial associations, gangs identified their turf by “tagging,” that
is, by leaving written identifiers (usually on public property) demarking the perimeter of their
geographical space. Turf dens or meeting chambers were usually held in abandoned buildings
taken custody by the gang, often with eventual renovations. Many gangbangers dropped out of
high school and then had more time on their hands to strategize, recruit, commit crimes, engage
in war with rival gangs, and, most important, get in trouble with the law.”36
The rules of the local were made in the hood and recognized by their own, the rules of
other kind of system applied here. The tagging stood for marking gang territories, proving
authenticity in an illegal way while also marking the start of a new form of affirmation and
disrespect to the rules of the authoritative system. Graffiti was considered by the authorities as
vandalism of public spaces giving people a sensation of being in danger, of crime, dirt and
poverty, of low culture and misery.
With such an ample background of experiences, activism against law and the system, the
black nation had much to outline on the artistic field. Inspired from their Jamaican past of

36
Price G. Emmett, Hip Hop Culture, USA, ABC-Clio, 2006, p. 9.

19
experiencing with the massive systems spreading dub, the new beats of rap and hip hop easily
assaulted the dance floor with a new and original rang of moves. The new currents were meant to
change attitudes and discourage the negligent educational behavior “Former and present
gangbangers and drug dealers would lay down their weapons and drug paraphernalia for a time
at Zulu Nation functions and join the burgeoning Hip Hop community. Armed with the motto
“Peace, Love, Unity, and Having Fun,” Bambaataa, through his “Infinity Lessons,” not only
aimed to offer an expressive outlet but also encouraged intellectual pursuit via study,
affirmations, and a systematic process of getting to know one’s self (ibid., 105).”37
While in the 80’s, hip hop and rap had made their way to radio stations around the world
with life studio performances, release of singles and interviews with artists, by the 90’s hip hop
was already in ascension. With a new kind of message containing “explicit content”, rap music
raised interest among young people while parents were outraged because of the ghetto life
message it was relating to. This was only the beginning of a new era, since the development of
hip hop was now supported not only by locals’ pride of representing but also by the album sales
that were increasing. The new current brought with its’ new attitude a new style of clothing
which highlighted urbanism in a “cool” way and consisted of baggy pants, large t-shirts, caps,
etc.
Hip hop, rap and gangsta rap had already evolved to numerous artists becoming, from an
underground movement pop cultural icons. It is to be kept in mind that this countercultural
movement was launched as an expression of culture an identity, as Emmett describes it “One of
Hip Hop’s greatest strengths is that it has ignited conversation around the development of new
cultural aesthetics and renewed approaches to the formation and expression of artistic endeavors
as a culture. Jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, and numerous highly popular and tremendously significant
genres from the past all had characteristics and elements through which they could have been
expressed and presented as cultures.”38, having no certainty of success and sometimes not even
aiming at it, the current spread and became the refuge of a nation.
Even the advertising business came to be revolutionary, growing like never before and
applying new strategies and techniques like creating product identity or associating the image of
mainstream pop stars with their products. One case was Pepsi which brought out stars with

37
Ibidem, p. 13.
38
Ibidem, p. 17.

20
weight like Madonna and Michael Jackson, the real deal of pop music. Still, the product was
addressing to a much larger public, coming out with “defying repressed nerds and stuffy
authority figures; and grunge kids moshing on a beach and mocking sedate oldsters under the
stripped-down slogan, "Be Young.”39, a total countercultural message that addresses with
actuality to ‘what is in’ so anyone drinking Pepsi was considered a rebel.

1.1. Historical recovery

The period of Hegemony in which the higher class dominated by ruling and manipulating
society will never be over. In this world, money is the key to everything and this is what is the
main observation of this historical recovery. It’s true that power can be hold not only by money,
as it can be observed in the case of the Situationists who take the problem into their hands and
mold it however it feels right, acting in the moment. Still, this type of behavior is a solution only
for present times while the future and transformations of the present are still under a question
mark that can be answered only by time.
It is to observe the fact that the criticism of positivism had opened new perspectives
among the thinkers of the 50’s and 60’s and had changed attitudes and lifestyles, stimulating the
creativity and thinking within the members of society that understood the power that holds them
together and the images that are pictured for them to remain like that. The actions took by the
‘New Left’ through the 60’s were an attempt for a regain of power, an attempt that gathered
together a public consciousness and created the idea that together something else can be
achieved, like the stopping the war, social justice, equal rights, etc. This exercise of power
represented a class struggle to a system that is in opposition with the ideologies of the people.
The revolution managed to establish some new boundaries but this act of co-opting society’s
attitude was not done according to the people but to the system itself, like something was added
to what existed already and would change. Still, the system would remain the same, the same
subject of criticism for the counterculture.
The sense of homogeneity, of need for identity, of unleashing from the imposed values
and fake cultural production came to activate in concordance with the ideologies once the
Situationists started the revolution of their generation. The countercultural activism was more
about finding a purpose, about expressing individualities apart from what dominant culture

39
Ibidem, p. 173.

21
meant for the social context, they were searching for happiness in a spiritual way, in a way that is
progressive and helps one find the moment in which to act; it was about finding a new
Consciousness and theorists of the movement supported this point of view, Charles Reich
theorized it “The counterculture had given rise to no less than a new "Consciousness," a way of
envisioning the world that was utterly at odds with the prevailing mores of the over-organized
society. Under the "corporate state," Americans had been trained in the ways of what Reich calls
"Consciousness II": they became automatons, thinking of themselves in terms of their duties as
workers and consumers. They endured "a robot life, in which man is deprived of his own being,
and he becomes instead a mere role, occupation, or function." But unlike their parents, the young
of the 1960s retained a "capacity for outrage," a sense of "betrayal" of the "promises" made by
the postwar society of abundance, the vast gulf between the official talk of "freedom" and
"liberty" and the dreary, conformist lives of their parents. The youth counterculture was thus the
historical bearer of "Consciousness III," which encourages people to pursue their own liberation
from the imposed values of the "corporate state," to choose liberation and self-direction over the
conformity and other direction of the mainstream.”40
And since the mainstream was a representation of cultural hegemony, the Situationists
started jamming their culture of domination. Still, by creating all these situations and
communicating all these messages, the Situationists managed to demonstrate their freedom,
power of expression, of action, of thought and also managed to transmit their message publicly,
creating a new kind of consciousness, a group consciousness that opened the perspectives to
regard the world with different eyes. Still, this new Consciousness, based on all these different
views of a paradise world that lacks control and empowerment seem rather utopic and unreal but
open new horizons creating patterns which helped to establish the new world order. The fight for
individuality transformed itself into a reaction of classification of the masses, succeeding only to
create a new views in the advertising world. Since there was only a kind of ‘brainwash’ that
addressed the masses, the new improved world gained the insights of rebellious attitudes and
behaviors that were ready to be created and put into new advertising products.
The hip culture was to be known by everyone through the countercultural sell out that
took place around the 90’s when everything was to be changed forever. Countercultural
representatives joined the Dominant culture in a fight that had no winner but the system who was

40
Thomas Frank, op. cit., p. 14.

22
never even endangered to losing. This transformation was to change entire ideologies, behaviors,
lifestyles, patterns, culture, production, advertising, etc. ‘The spectacle’ had just took new, larger
dimensions by co-opting the countercultural movement and by doing this, it showed that
dominant culture was never headed in some exact place but it ripped the sense out of any
sentence it touched with a style that mocks itself only to be productive.
The co-optation of counterculture enlarged the vision of dominant culture and got the
chance to create not only patterns for the new co-opted categories but the production, marketing
and advertising were prolific and addictive even for people that held anti-consumerist attitudes.
This was a new segment of customers that had just landed exactly where they were needed.
Creating new products, new needs, and adopting the creative and imaginative attitudes of the
countercultural activists represented a gold mine for mass production.
It’s true that the attitude of the counterculture are still surrounding but nowadays, after
we sold everything, everything is sold back and the feeling of authenticity became to be just a
myth. The globalized production of goods does not have the problem of expressing identities
because nowadays, the complexity of things is for sell anywhere you look. People are not
concerned with the idea of identity and domination anymore, people want to possess in order to
gain domination and to reach a status quo that signifies their identity. “Beyond the comfort and
leisure having lots of stuff affords, men soon found that the accumulation of property could be a
source of both status and domination, and so the pursuit of wealth became a means of acquiring
prestige over others.”41 This sense of empowerment by possessions is still present today and
establishes the status quo that one gains within society. Humanity has not changed but its ways
since the dominant class is still in control of establishing values, beliefs and perceptions, now
more than ever before, it dictates what the trends are, what colors should one wear this summer
,etc.
People are still protesting because of government or system injustice since everything is
going downhill for some time now. The economical crisis had people enslaved working for poor
money that would not be enough to make a living out of. Production of goods is imposed by the
state, people are addicted to whatever poisoned foods, beverages, clothes, and so on and so
fourth are produced.

41
Andrew Potter, The Authenticity Hoax, USA, Harper Collins Publishers, 2010 p. 60.

23
 Technology has absorbed every inch of attention people have, with new devices, new
products, new offers and hip usages that nowadays seem indispensable. People do not care about
the aspects of culture, about the realities of life but had become self-involved and selfish, leaving
behind any touch of humanity they had. All in all, humanity has reached the exact point of which
the previous generations were talking about timorously. This is the evolution process of things
and the direction in which they have grown little by little.

1.2. Co-optation and Détournement

The term détournement has been invoked once the Situationists came into the picture,
creating new situations that raised awareness of the ones that felt ‘asleep’ in the middle of ‘the
spectacle’ of an unreal reality, a reality pictured by consumerism and entertainment meant to
alienate the masses from their purpose of living. The concept of détournement “aims neither to
give voice to the impoverished life lived in pseudo-cyclical time nor to speak from the
perspective of historical time. Instead, détournement takes place in the gap between the two; it
attempts “to take effective possession of the community of dialogue, and the playful relationship
to time” (§187).8” 42 This relationship seems to be the victim of a state of commodity instigated
by needs that are unreal and unnecessary since “there are only needs because the system needs
them”43, in other words, the system needs the people to need it, to be addicted to what it
produces, to obey the rules and live a lifestyle that is imposed and pictured in a way that
diminishes the freedom of the people living by it.
The ideology of détournement spread quickly and soon became a new way of expression,
the culture jamming and the dominant culture became a mixture of art, politics, social and
economical messages that would make people put a second guess before conforming or reacting
in a way that was predetermined. This new device was to show the un-shown part of the culture,
the ‘underground’, the poverty, the experience of true reality, the injustice of the system and
attitudes that have been hidden for too long; all in all, it became a strong part of the
countercultural movement, a part that became a competing ideology for the already established
one. Therefore, since the cultural heritage of humanity was used for propaganda purposes and
now was negated through an act of interference of another type of reality.

42
Patrick Greaney, Insinuation: Détournement as Gendered Repetition, The South Atlantic Quarterly, Duke
University Press, 2011 p. 76.
43
Joseph Heath, Andrew Potter, op. cit., p. 107.

24
 There are two main types of détournement: minor détournements and deceptive
détournements. “Minor détournement is the détournement of an element which has no
importance in itself and which thus draws all its meaning from the new context in which it has
been placed.”44 And “Deceptive détournement, also termed premonitory proposition
détournement, is in contrast the détournement of an intrinsically significant element, which
derives a different scope from the new context.”45 From these two types and definitions of
détournement one can understand that in its pure sense, détournement means to distort the sense
of something by giving it a new, totally different meaning from a new perspective. “The
distortions introduced in the détourned elements must be as simplified as possible, since the main
force of a detournement is directly related to the conscious or vague recollection of the original
contexts of the elements.”46 The main context in which the act détournement takes place is the
one in which the sense of something already existent is changed, picturing the discovery of new
aspects, new perspectives on social, political and economical conventions. The purpose of
détournement is that of a gun that attracts everybody’s attention because it’s so loud and could
kill at anytime, in the case of détournement, it could only kill ignorance and “it cannot fail to be
a powerful cultural weapon in the service of a real class struggle.”47
The act of détourning phrases in posters, radio broadcasts, films, records, writings,
paintings, and so on and so fourth became a powerful innovative methods of subversive
expression against masses, against the established ideologies, against a culture that is
predetermined by only one world although there are so many other worlds, only one world gets
to be in history, excluding all the others, and all the other aspects, “Détournement’s goal is
communication, which is not the transmission of a message but the simultaneous appropriation
of language, historical time, and community.”48, therefore, détournement treats everyone the
same, with the same distribution of attention and historical power.
Debord regarded the act of détournement as a “mutual interference of the two worlds of
feeling, or the bringing together of two independent expressions, supersedes the original
elements and produces a synthetic organization of greater efficacy.”49 Re-creating dominant

44
Guy Debord, Wolman J, Gil: From Les Levres Nues #8, 1956
45
Ibidem
46
Ibidem
47
Ibidem
48
Patrick Greaney, op. cit., p. 77.
49
Guy Debord, Wolman J, Gil, op. cit.

25
culture in a subversive way carries indeed a strong message, giving a new sense to a an already
established cause and showing aspects that naturally are hidden by the public eye. This was a
threat to dominant culture which was redirected in ways that was not supposed to, in ways that
unveiled the unseen and created a new consciousness. And what was the solution for such a
cause? Co-optation.
The co-optation ideology stands beside the phrase: “If you can't beat 'em, absorb 'em.”50
Which manages in defining a concept as it is pictured in reality by past historical events and
present situations. When the countercultural movement started rebelling against the system,
against capitalism, against the idea of a society of ‘spectacle’, against status hierarchies and a
general aspect of living, dominant culture co-opted counterculture. This was the beginning of a
new era, of an era of technology, of the people that were willing to change their views and get on
the other side of their worlds, of the ones who ‘sold out’ in exchange for a decent living, for a
more satisfactory workplace and a place within society, it was the time to chose the destiny of
the world.
The mixture of the wanted world and the already existing one happened in the frame of
co-optation of counterculture, so détournement became the new fashion since “Co-optation is the
process of absorbing new elements into leadership or policy-determining structure of an
organization as a means of averting threats to its stability or existence.”51 The acceptance of the
jamming of culture became its own irony, it would have been ‘criticized by others’ or ‘let them
know whatever we want them to’ once again. Therefore, the act of co-optation does not unleash
counterculture in freedom as it should be, but rather it becomes one with it, it adopts it to its own
ideologies and system giving it the idea of power while creating a pattern for it to function after.
“Co-optation reflects a state of tension between formal authority and social power. The
former is embodied in a particular structure and leadership, but the latter has to do with the
subjective and objective factors which control the loyalties and potential manipulability of the
community where the formal authority is an expression of social power, its stability is assured.”52
Therefore, by co-opting the idea of détournement the dominant culture is no longer endangered

50
Thomas Frank, op. cit, p. 7.
51
Philip Selznick, Foundations of the Theory of Organizations, American Sociological Review, Volume 13, Issue 1,
1948 p. 34.
52
Ibidem, p. 35.

26
but it makes the subversive message no longer subversive, changing its belonging only makes it
part of the system, part of the propagation and manipulative messages that it fights against.
The simultaneous occurrence of détournement and co-optation is not accidental but it is a
transcendent moment in the history of culture since “Co-optation remains something we vilify
almost automatically; the historical particulars which permit or discourage co-optation or even
the obvious fact that some things are co-opted while others are simply not addressed. Regardless
of whether the co-opters deserve our vilification or not, the process by which they make rebel
subcultures their own is clearly an important element of contemporary life.”53Consequently, the
apparition of subcultures, of groups that did not share the exact feelings of dominant culture but
rather functioned against them. This representation of a subversive group was pictured by
producers and corporations as a new kind of public, a public that needs to be co-opted, that they
need to produce for. Eventually, that is exactly what happened.
This change, the idea of co-optation within history makes one wonder about the
provenience of everything, about the roots, about the authenticity because the idea of co-optation
creates this difficulty in understanding what is the real authentic counterculture and what is the
co-opted one? Since it has been co-opted, the counterculture was no longer understood as
counterculture but became dominant culture, imprinting the ‘mass homogeneity’ tag on the
ideology of the counterculture, only to make it for sale. And since the counterculture was co-
opted, corporations had to make new products and new departments for their new segment of
clients. Including rebels in the act of creativity and advertising was part of the question and
really it hold a very important role in what just happened.

1.3. The place of graffiti in the binominal Dominant Culture – Counterculture

The word graffiti comes from Graffito which stands for “a drawing or writing scratched on a
wall or other surface”54 but it changed its form to plural due to contemporary language and its
usage. Nowadays, graffiti stands for any kind of unofficial painting/writing on public property.
At first, graffiti was not conceived by the idea of making art; it stood for marking territories
by ‘tagging’ walls to make people know where they stand, and usually, if they should run or not.
Being born in the ghetto, graffiti mostly gave the impression of insecurity and underground,

53
Thomas Frank, op. cit., p. 8.
Alice Burns, Art as a crime – Does Crime Pay, a dissertation submitted to the University of Ulster, Faculty of Art,
54

Design and the Build Environment, 2009, p. 7.

27
holding back the entire history of ‘the hood’. Even so, the cultural mark quickly spread and it
even became an art since graffers started developing distinctive styles and which took sometimes
hours of practice in order for the name to look as they pictured it, wearing masks and acting
against the law, since graffiti is considered a crime.
Still, graffiti never ceased to exist and it continued developing in contrary to the opinions that
needed it to be ceased but it didn’t. Instead, it continued as a form of protest expressing wishes to
change the existing system with political, economical and social content messages. The
countercultural phenomenon developed its own mark that stands for representing the
counterculture symbol of CND which is still used and it is the symbol of peace.
In the late 60’s, during the revolution, graffiti was heavily used by the Situationists in order
for them to deliver messages whereas “graffiti like ‘Be Realistic, Demand the Impossible!’ were
painted on the walls in Paris. Students and academics took over the print workshop at the Ecole
des Beaux-Arts and produced posters and notices that were printed on a daily basis then pasted
on the streets of Paris. We can see from these early examples of Graffiti Art that graffiti was
often associated with counter-culture.”55 And indeed it stood representing counterculture, acting
against the law, not demanding but voicing opinions, injustice and free will.
The early 70’s were prolific in what regards the development of graffiti and its expansion.
Subway trains began to change colors, becoming the art platform of graffiti artists who wanted
their works to be seen, and now it had become something more than just writing your name, the
number of competitors had grown and so did the styles; so if one wanted to stand out, his art
needed to be something special. Developing your own style was something that would
differentiate one from the others and would make the design memorable.
So begins the history of graffiti as an art. Graffers started mixing their names with designers
developed by themselves, leaving their prints and imagination behind along with their art. So, by
the late 70’s new styles and new methods had flourished. Jenny Holzer’s street art was
constructed from posters consisting messages pasted on buildings. Some of his messages are
controversial and contain powerful ideologies with countercultural substrate like “money creates
art”56. The identity of the designs resembles the ideology that is now used in branding but
graffers were not selling anything; they just wanted their art to be seen and if it was memorable,

55
Ibidem, p. 9.
56
Ibidem, p. 12.

28
they would become familiar to the place in what regards their art and style since they would keep
their identity anonymous.
By the 80’s, graffiti phenomenon had already gone to the sides of Europe accompanied
by Hip Hop rhymes and making a big entrance into the scene. “In Bristol Robert Del Naja, aka
3D, was a major force in writing and bringing crews to paint in the UK. Writing is still very
strong in Bristol today and this tradition has had a major influence on Graffiti Artists such as
Banksy. “When I was about 10 years old, a kid called 3D was painting the streets hard... I grew
up seeing spray paint on the streets… (8Swindle 2006)”57
From locally and internationally, graffiti started expanding from the subway trains to the
streets spreading the idea of urbanism and underground, creating styles, imagery and art in the
imagery of a whole new perspective for people to see. Graffiti had already gone in different
ways, different styles and addressing different causes, transforming the environment completely
from advertisings and billboards to art for the people, free and unleashed in the eyes of the
world. “Many different styles and genres have developed during the last 30 years including cake
graffiti. The great cake escape is the brainchild of cherry bakewell and fondant fancy, who when
asked why they do this reply “taking the space and changing how you perceive that space”
(11Bablegum 2009)”58
Even so, regarded from other perspectives, graffiti is still a crime that is handled in
different way across the world; for example, ”In the United Kingdom the main laws that deal
will graffiti offences are; 12 The Antisocial Behavior Act 2003 and the Criminal Damage Act
1971.” 59
,“in the US a Georgia statute involving criminal damage states: “(b) A person
convicted… shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than five
years."(UsLegal.com 2008).” 60 Therefore, every state has the right to establish what to do and
how to take action with this kind of behavior. Some states come to accept graffiti but to actually
do it, one needs approvals or special arranged spaces; but in some states, with time, people
started even loving the idea of graffiti and perceive it as an art. “In 2005 Bristol city council let
the public decide if a piece by Banksy should remain. The Bristol public voted overwhelmingly
to keep the piece. Since then other Graffiti Art has been the subject of this public vote most

57
Ibidem, p.10.
58
Ibidem, p. 13.
59
Ibidem, p. 14.
60
Ibidem

29
recently a piece in Croydon. (15Guardian 2009). Bristol City Council defines this change in
policy on “Graffiti as Art” in its 2009 Policy with Legal document. Of course this only applies to
a small number of graffiti works, the majority are removed .”61
Even though the authorities take measures and have laws against graffiti, the current was
never abolished successfully, rather it developed and grew larger and larger. The idea of graffiti
is communicating a message to the world, visually and that gives it a great power that holds it up
even though sometimes it’s erased or people pay for it by being caught. It’s worth it. The concept
of power is very important throughout history and it shows that whoever holds the power, that
one can exercise it on other individuals, on nature, over space and that can change or determine
the ways and meanings something is understood. Of course, power can prioritize interests or a
difference of ideas(that might be cultural) but “it also raises the question of the forms of
resistance (again often cultural) which contest the exercise of power.”62, most commonly in
governments or in a relationship of hegemony where one holds the power and leads an entire
population. People who do graffiti have this kind of power, the power to influence a community
or to raise awareness in what regards a political, economical or social cause.
This kind of power represents a social and cultural construction where “Power is
involved in constituting identities (including those of the individuals or social groups who are
understood to ‘hold’ power), social relations (such as the relationships between men and
women), and cultural geographies (such as the definition of national identities, or of ‘East’ and
‘West’ in Orientalism). Most analyses of power in cultural geography combine these senses of
power to make arguments about how the active cultural construction of places, spaces and
landscapes are part of relationships of unequal power between social groups.”63 This unequal
attribution of power is usually expressed through forms of graffiti and street art and this
expression creates a social relation within a group or community which feels involved,
understands and identifies with the situation that is presented.
Most often graffiti is a power that expresses many aspects of the world as it is and
sometimes its too straightforward, fact that can lead to altering attitudes or outputting problems
that could easily amplify. This kind of power is what makes graffiti a counterculture, a

61
Ibidem, p. 16.
62
Alison Blunt, Pyrs Gruffudd, Jon May, Miles Ogbord, David Pinder, Cultural Geography in Practice, Edward
Arnold (Publishers) Limited, Great Britain, 2003, p. 9.
63
Ibidem, p. 9.

30
subversive “act of subverting existing advertising”64, of recreating something by giving it a new
sense, a new attitude, ideology which not only changes the initial sense but criticizes it and
“operates as critical public pedagogy”65, exercising it’s power. Culture jamming is a practice that
has been around forever, building up the idea that everyone should have the power and
opportunity to express opinions and individualities alike and as an answer to corporate
advertisements. This kind of culture jamming cannot be understood otherwise, it provokes
thinking and the power of identity within a world that is in control by a larger idea of
behaviorism, it “(1) fosters participatory, resistant cultural production; (2) engages learners
corporeally; (3) creates a (poetic) community politic; and (4) opens transitional spaces through
détournement (a “turning around”)”66. It is a strong weapon of articulation of the freedom of the
individual, of the power of thinking and expression by its ways of activism within the cultural
history of the counterculture, by leaving a personal imprint of creation in concordance to society
and context, by creating the idea of a community that is not based on the angular definition of
society but by a feeling of empathy and exchange of perspectives, by turning the phrase around
and making it real instead of accustoming to an idea that is imposed or created through means of
manipulation and propaganda.
This mean of expression represents the pattern of counterculture and its vigor reinforces
the idea of counterculture in its every sense. From the beginning of the movement, the place of
graffiti was set in the sphere of counterculture, of bringing out an attitude that is not in
concordance with the imposed ideals and lifestyles. This need of improving relations, of
communicating, of identity and evolution at a level of community startles generations in
exploring and creating something powerful and substantial to determine the fact that people are
independent, free and have their own power of expression, of individuality and perspective. This
consciousness is never forgotten and it is the core of the countercultural ideology that re-creates
with every generation in different perspectives, styles and contexts.
The representatives of this current stand for an alternative counter corporate form of
media, with denominations as AdBuster, a non-profit magazine through which activists,
pranksters, entrepreneurs and rebels altogether manage to express an alternative way of thinking

64
Ibidem, p. 25.
65
Jennifer A. Sandlin, Jennifer L. Milam, Mixing Pop Culture and Politics, The Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education of the University of Toronto, Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc, USA, Oxford, p. 323.
66
Ibidem

31
and acting within the parameters of society. AdBusters succeeds in alternatively creating a new
perspective and consciousness by launching international campaigns as Buy Nothing Day and
Occupy Wall Street, celebrations that have a subversive character and come counter to the
imposed ideologies of the dominant culture. This kind of publicizing targets a public that lives by
countercultural ideologies, that is against consumerism and the idea of mass production in
exchange for profit generally.

Chapter 2: Case Study

1. Introduction

As a case study I have chosen to examine the case of Banksy, the anonymous graffiti artist
and his controversial piece of street art from London, the ‘Slave Labor’(‘Bunting Boy’) mural
taken from the Poundland store wall in Wood Green, London, a property firm “owned by Essex-
based businessman Robert Davies, 60 and Leslie Gilbert,49”67. After being taken off the wall the
mural was put on art auction in Miami Florida on the 24th of February 2012, on a website,
valuing about $500,000-$700,000. “Speaking to The Sunday Times, the pair refused to confirm
or deny whether they were involved in removing the work or even whether they owned the
building.”68
The Banksy ‘Slave Labor’ depicts a child sewing the British flag at a sewing machine and it
appeared on the store wall last May just before the only second Diamond Jubilee’s celebration in
the country’s history, being seen by the public as a social and political criticism of the gala and a
protest against sweatshop usage and manufacturing for the Diamond Jubilee and London
Olympics. The mural disappeared in the same month in mysterious circumstances, later
appearing for an auction in Miami and being withdrawn at the 11th hour for no apparent reason,
although there have been registered protests of the Haringey Council and of the locals of Wood
Green.

67 The Huffington Post, UK: Banksy ‘Slave Labour’ Mural sells at private London auction for '£750,000’, full
article: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/06/03/banksy-slave-labour-sold_n_3377435.html
68
Ibidem

32
 The apparition of the mural generated excitement as it appeared on the wall not only for the
locals but also for people all around the world who traveled to see it. The mural was covered
with a protective screen so that it would not suffer alterations. BBC News article about the
apparition of the graffiti reports interviews of the locals who declared: “Jason Cobham, 44, from
Wood Green, said: "I definitely think it's a Banksy. It keeps you thinking about the plight of child
labourers." He added: "I'd pay more than a pound for it. If I could get it off the wall I'd pay a lot
of money for it. Haringey should celebrate it."; Tim McDonnell, retail director of Poundland,
said: "We are fans of Banksy and we are proud supporters of the Queen's Jubilee.”69 revealing
the fact that the mural signifies and symbolizes a lot for the London community.
After the mural was stolen, locals became furious and started going on the streets to protest
as they felt that the mural was a gift for their community and it should have remained in its
apparition context. Still, since the property was not a public one, the police enforcement declared
that the removal was not reported as a theft. The Haringey Council Leader, Claire Kober
declared that “it was "a true credit to the community" that their campaigning seemed to have
"helped to stop the sale of this artwork from going ahead". "We will continue to explore all
options to bring back Banksy to the community where it belongs," she said.”70
After being withdrawn from the Miami auction in February, on June the 2nd the ‘Slave
Labour’ appeared once again for sale at an auction made by the Sincura Group in London’s
Convent Garden at the Film Museum as an private, members-only event. The work was sold for
over $1,1million and the silent auction lasted 3 hours and a half, closing at 9:30 p.m. During the
auction, the “invitees sipped Taittinger champagne and listened to house music as they admired
the newly-framed mural flanked by a pair of security guards.”71
The people of Wood Green considered this new auction as a chance to bring back into their
community the Banksy mural or at least keep it in London where they felt that it belongs,
therefore the locals did not only re-launched their campaign for the return of the mural but they
had also petitioning to remove the it from the auction. The Sincura Group did not reveal who is
the mural’s owner but Tony Baxter, a representative of the Sincura Group stated that “The

69
BBC News, Banksy boy worker image on Poundland shop wall, 2012, full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
england-london-18075620
70
BBC News, Banksy artwork taken in north London withdrawn from sale’, 2013, full article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21562875
71
Scott Reyburn: Bloomberg Disputed Banksy sells for more than $1.1 million, 2013, full article:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-02/disputed-banksy-mural-sells-for-more-than-1-1-million.html

33
Sincura Group do not condone any acts of wanton vandalism or other illegal activity, however
after carrying out extensive due diligence with regard the works provenance and ownership we
are entirely satisfied that the mural was legally salvaged and that its current owners and its
representative are acting in good faith by consigning the piece to us to act as the centerpiece of
our forthcoming art show 'Banksy at the Flower Cellars'.”72 The work of art will be displayed at
the art show in UK for the first time since it was stolen, after which it will be returned to the US
where it will be part of a private collection of Banksy street work.
The case highlights the idea that the general public lacks the ability and power to keep for its
enjoyment street art which was designed in the first place to be public and in the context of the
streets. The tendency of the art collectors to make these works of art private contradicts their
actual meaning, value and subversive message since the art is not public and its capacity of
influence it’s diminished. The mural Slave Labor lacks Banksy's ‘Pest Control’ certification, a
system the artist devised to root out fakes — but that's likely because the service refuses to verify
Banksy works that are “removed from their original context."”73
Except not validating the mural, Banksy did not make any kind of declarations to the press or
publicly but after the mural was stolen, a little graffiti typical for Banksy with a rat asking
‘Why?’ appeared next to the place where the graffiti used to be.
It is unusual for a graffiti to receive this much attention since normally it would be a domain
of interest for the authorities. The illegal aspect of graffiti is what transports this case to another
dimension because as it can be seen, this particular graffiti artist is in progress to change the rules
of the game. He manages to step out of the line that has been settled by the authorities into a
whole new world that sees the idea of graffiti very differently than it has been seen in the last
century. This dimension of indifference to rules, of immorality, of money and the acceptance of a
re-negated current is what makes this case dignified of an analysis.
In this analysis I question as détournement the fact that the piece of graffiti was removed
from the wall only to later be sold for money, as the idea comes counter to the ideologies of
graffiti, changing its actual sense and gaining not only a new sense but a new way of
capitalizing in the market context. This transformation of the perspective and ideology can be
described as détournement in order for this countercultural current to be co-opted by the

72
Tony Baxter, The Sincura Group, full article: http://www.thesincuragroup.com/uploads/statement_11052013.pdf
73
Joshua Kopstein,The Verge, Missing Bansky Slave Labor mural sold at private auction, 2013, full article:
http://www.theverge.com/2013/6/3/4391522/missing-banksy-slave-labor-mural-sold-at-private-auction

34
dominant culture in the idea of production and profit. In this framework, I will try to understand
if this is what happens and determine if the process is of détournement and co-optation takes
place in the particular case of the ‘Slave Labor’.

2. Methodology

2.1. Case Study

The case study that I have chosen is a paradigmatic one since it represents an example of a
phenomenon that is extracted from a context of social interaction, since the case is an isolated
one it can be revelatory of key elements for the phenomenon considered. The case manages to
illustrate how street art, the derivate of graffiti, which until recently meant vandalism and crime
transformed its meaning into becoming so appreciated that people actually steal walls and
auction them for big money. The phenomenon is unusual and immoral since the public and the
authorities put the concept of graffiti under the sign of illegality and crime. The sudden disregard
of these two aspects is what made me refer to this case into the context of research, by attributing
it two concepts that are exercised in the actual case study. In order to do so I must refer to the
theoretical framework and concepts when deliberating and analyzing the phenomenon.
Within the research study I seek in exploring the paradigmatic status of this case taking into
consideration the positive and negative connotations that follow a well defined structure in the
venture of understanding whether there are signifiers that make the case one of détournement and
co-optation. The ‘Slave Labor’ case manages to outline general ideas upon the phenomenon in
question whereas the theoretical framework can show how and if the scientific paradigms
operate as reference pointing to the concepts and theories attributed. In order to demonstrate the
probability of the case study, I will attribute it many directions and points of view, from the one
that relies on the theoretical account to the ones that rely on social interaction, database collected
on the phenomenon and an analysis on how do all of these blend together into a real social
occurrence.
The main problem concerning the case study is the fact that the phenomenon is not only of
social occurrence, but it also takes place within the framework of social networks affecting not

35
only the community, the advertising business, the mass media but also the authoritative part of it
since the problem concerns laws, legality and more of all, morality. The drastic change that took
place in what regards the perception of this countercultural current transformed not only the mass
opinions but also attitudes towards this kind of art manifesto converting it into something
entirely new and giving it a whole new sense and value.
The research questions that I have formulated in relation to the case study are of explanatory
nature discussing the problem from many angles and different perspectives, by conveying
assumptions on the idea of arriving at a consensual point in which the understanding of the case
would be disclosed by answering the research questions and bringing a very elaborate
explanation of this new existent phenomenon. By doing this I aim at understanding how the
‘Slave Labor’ phenomenon has evolved and explain the magnitude it has taken in disregard to
rules, morality, the idea of community and even legality.
The understanding of how the phenomenon came to exist and what is the significance of this
kind of occurrence within the street art/graffiti phenomenon, if it is a problem of détournement
or/and of co-optation is what I am concerned with showing and demonstrating by choosing this
particular case study.
I have employed an in-depth objective analysis of the case with the help of the theoretical
framework I will endeavor to introduce concepts in order to apply them on the practical social
interaction and explain the actual case that regards this paper. The analysis is developed within
the established grounds, within the concepts that have been mentioned in the theoretical part, but
at the same time, in relation to other factors that have influential and manipulative empowerment
in order to better understand what is the size the case took, what is the pattern of this kind of
incident and how did it came to happen.

2.2.Research Questions:

1. What countercultural characteristics has Banksy's stollen grafitti?

Since the idea of graffiti belongs to the countercultural dimension, I will analyze the
countercultural characteristics that define the ‘Slave Labor’ mural so that afterwards I will be
able to determine if and how has the current been détourned and co-opted by the dominant
culture.

36
 As understood previously, in Chapter I, the ideology of détournement is explained through
changing the entire sense of something only to give new understandings, new perspectives, new
values and new meanings in order to raise awareness of the masses in disregard to the dominant
ideology that is perceived. To understand if this is what happens in this particular case, I need to
understand how is the graffiti perceived, what are its meanings, how is it understood and at what
point does it all change.

2. How was the material and symbolic value of the graffiti affected by its steal?

In order to demonstrate that the idea of graffiti is détourned by its theft, I will have to show
how the symbolic value was changed in order for the mural to gain material value, which in this
particular case is a sign of not only détournement but also of co-optation.
The changing of the ideological sense is made in order to set new boundaries on not only the
significance but also on the new value of the current which changes in concordance to its new
discovered ideology.

3. How did the mediatizing of the case affected the commercialization of the stolen graffiti
and Banksy's reputation, more generally?

Since Banksy is the one artist through which dominant culture manages to détourne and co-
optate the idea of graffiti, he has a great significance in my analysis. Not only he manages to gain
the notoriety of an artist by excluding the illegal aspect of his actions but also since he became so
re-known through the media channels, he manages to help in the commercialization of his own
graffiti which helps the current to be co-opted more easily.

2.3.Data

2.4. Press Articles

My analysis data is based mostly on press articles released by the BBC (British Broadcasting
Corporation) News since it is the world’s largest broadcast news organization, representing a
trusted source not only locally but Internationally. The news provided by the BBC on the subject
I’m interested in are the most comprehensive, explanatory and come from reliable sources, not

37
only because the area of interest is covered by the UK News but also because it is a subject of
prior interest in the UK.
The range of articles launched by the BBC News presents the case of Banksy’s ‘Slave Labor’
from its beginnings, introducing the reader into the actual context of the theft, providing currency
in the evolution of the case, in the protests of the locals, in the context of the auction and of the
actual selling of the mural.

2.5. Article Choice Criteria

I have chosen these articles because of the fact that they are the most conclusive on the case
providing more information than other news departments. The reaching objective in this case is
done with more ease since the area of interaction is strongly connected with the area of interest.
The BBC News bulletin provides the most accurate information about the case with insights that
connect the reader to the actual incident, to opinions of the locals on the subject and as well, to
other important opinions that have strong connections to the case.
The facility with which the BBC News suffices the subject is what determines the
importance of the sources and also the efficiency in helping me chose from many other sources
that presented the subject of interest. Still, other sources would present the case with
information quoted from the BBC News bulletin so I went straight to the best actual source.

2.6.Analysis

1. What countercultural characteristics has Banksy's stolen graffiti?

1.a. Contextual and Situated Character

Banksy’s ‘Slave Labor’ carries a very strong social and political message that hit with all
its power through the walls of Wood Green’s Poundland, a shop where “Everything’s £1”. The
mural depicts a barefoot child sewing the Union Jack bunting at a sewing machine shouting
national criticism that portrays the labor inequalities that have been covered up by celebrations
like the Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics.

38
 The mural appeared just before the 2012 Diamond Jubilee which celebrated The Queen’s 60
years on the throne, being considered a historic occasion since this is only the 2nd time in history
that it took place. The event was set to be celebrated together with the people, just weeks before
the London Olympics. The First Secretary of State Lord Mandelson underlined the importance of
this event and declared that "People across the whole country will want the chance to recognize
this remarkable achievement"74, in order to do so, the UK government “would ‘work closely’
with the Scottish Government ‘to ensure that people across the United Kingdom can celebrate
the jubilee together’”75. ‘The remarkable achievement’ was recognized with medals that were
given off to mark the event and also as a symbol for the “’tremendous service’ to the country.”76
In concordance to these celebrations, the ‘Slave Labor’ raised awareness of the falsity of the
appearances that media shows, and dug deeper into the realities and injustices of everyday life.
The countercultural character of this mural has various complex aspects that start from the fact
that the exploitation of child labor has been going on for decades in Britain and is part of the
country’s historical background during the British Industrial Revolution when in order for the
factories to attain a maximum level of production at a cheaper price, manufacturers hired
children to work in textile mills and as miners. This exploitation of children is part of the
evolutionary process of Britain even though there is no recognition given to those who wasted
their youth and childhood working as grown ups regardless of their age. Despite the fact that
their innocence was taken and sold for the good of producing and profit, many of the children
were exposed to dangerous situations that even an adult could hardly handle.
Not only were the children put to work but they would be brought from foreign countries to
be enslaved and still are. “A 2003 UNICEF study reported that 250 child trafficking cases had
been uncovered in the UK since 1998. It made clear, however, that this was just the tip of the
iceberg.”77So, even though Britain was the first to pass laws regulating child labor, the problem
did not stop since nowadays children’s rights are not taken seriously. Put in front of the idea of
profit and business development, childhoods are sold for cheap money and hard work while the
problem is still being ignored. The UNICEF ‘End Child Exploitation’ campaign reports from a

74
BBC News, New bank holiday for Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in 2012, full article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8441972.stm
75
Ibidem
76
Ibidem
77
UNICEF: End Child Exploitation - Child Labour Today, Hobbs and Printers Ltd, 2005, p. 37, full article:
http://www.econ.upf.edu/~lemenestrel/IMG/pdf/unicef_child_labor_2005.pdf

39
case study that covers UK that “What is certain, however, is that the child employment laws in
this country are not adequate and that thousands of children are exposed to levels of risk which
should not be acceptable, either here or in the developing world.”78 The exploitation of children
is not the answer to productivity questions nor to the undeveloped countries that try to evolve but
it is the answer to the fact that the world has no control when it comes about money; money and
power.
The ignorance that is attributed to such a serious problem is worrying but since children
are naive and malleable creatures, they are more likely to become the victims to this kind of
enslavement. The ‘Slave Labor’ manages to remind people, just before England’s great
celebrations the fact that the emphasis is put on things that matter less but are easier to handle,
unlike the theft of childhood and slavery. This kind of realities are refused and replaced with
celebrations like the Diamond Jubilee or the Olympics by the dominant culture, transforming a
mural such as ‘Slave Labor’ into gaining the characteristics of the counterculture.
The countercultural fights seem to go on forever, against the winds of dominance that
establish the state of the weather. Against the fact that even though The Queen reigned for 60
years, she did nothing to change the world, she did not suffer for the greater good and she does
not appreciate the fact that others did. The ‘Slave Labor’ is a celebration of the fact that people
did not forget where they stand, and who made those grounds for them to stand on; is a
celebration of those who worked against the nature’s course, is a celebration in order for the
people to remember them, be thankful and not let that happen again.

1.b. Iconography

This silent visual protest was to awaken the memory of those enslaved children, in a
subversive manner, in the eyes of the public, without any kind of curtain, but one of protection,
the mural stood greatly telling the story of a generation. Remembering the fact that life is hard
for many and they should be considered, they should be thanked and never forgotten. Against all
odds, the mural was one of the few symbolic monuments that recollected the memory of the
children’s slavery creating a mass conscience for the locals and not only.
This call of awareness gathered many people to recollect the children who spent their
childhoods inside factories, working to produce for the masses in exchange for little money and a

78
Ibidem, p. 38.

40
exploited life. The impact of their lives stays forgotten in the past even though it represents the
base of a culture that tries to evolve without looking back, and without being grateful, living in a
world that abandoned its roots for a comforting living. The symbolical nature of the mural
succeeds in constructing a countercultural imagery of the world we live in today; of the
dominance that manages in creating positive perspectives from negative foundations, manages in
bringing people to ‘the spectacle’ of the Diamond Jubilee and the sweatshops which make cheap
Jubilee decorations to celebrate the great life the Queen who lived in prosperity and wealth
gained on the back of 7 years old exploited children that should have been playing with their
dolls not working as hard as their parents. This kind of perspective strikes in the eyes of the
world and knocks down dominant culture along with the sense of conformity and imagery of
happiness that it offers.
This kind of visual communication is real vandalism on the assets of dominant culture, it
denies it, it unveils it for all the dark spots to be seen by the entire world openly. This kind of
strike stands for the definition of what subversive means, opposes the dominant opinions and
values, creates new concepts and an alternative way of thinking, an alternative lifestyle, an
attitude that concerns more than appearances, that it’s concerned with change and with matters
that are not superficial but are embedded in reality, in experience and enhancing of the quality
and characteristics of life.
In exception to the subversive message and the actual statement, the form in which it has
been delivered has its roots in the countercultural ideology, the form of graffiti has always been
considered a sign of poverty, of vandalism, of crime, relating to a past of hard living, of
inequality and enslavement. This aspect gives an even stronger meaning to the mural itself, in
succeeding to send the message clearly to the people, since the public aspect of a graffiti assumes
the fact that it’s free, it’s made in order to communicate something and it’s empowering
allowing one to express other perspectives than the dominant one, to create parallel realities in
which the emphasis is put firstly on the people, on the idea of community, on the idea that people
hold the power and are not conforming to whatever they are said but instead, hold their own
opinions and their own realities.

1.c. The Temporary Character

41
 This kind of expression re-creates the idea of community consciousness and not only that
it opens the eyes of those asleep but it brings together the people against the systems of
governance, it raises question marks on what’s the emphasis put on when it comes to leading the
humanity. Of course, nobody brought out the fact that Britain was build on children labor since
such a thought comes so disturbing to one’s mind but it’s true, it’s reality and it’s part of history.
So, what’s more disturbing? To have happened and mention it, be grateful and be concerned with
this kind of problem or to have happened and hid it from the eyes of the public, bury it deep
behind invented celebrations?
The fact that children labor it’s part of the history is something well known, it could be as
well accepted and used as an example of something that should not be repeated ever in the
history of mankind. Monuments to sit as symbols in sign of respect would not hurt either since
those children wasted their childhoods working and got nothing in return but a part of their life
that will never be returned to them. This should never happen to anyone again so it should be
remembered that it’s wrong to enslave, and exercise power over those who are weaker, in case
someone gets any ideas of how to run their business profitably would.
The ‘Slave Labor’ mural successfully manages to mention once again the fact that people
are only tools in the hand of the empowered, tools that are easily handled with the right set of
skills. Money and power are the values that are imposed in this century and as we can see, this is
not something new. It’s always been about the money, about the evolutionary road that’s build
on money, no matter what the consequences are.
Banksy’s ‘Slave Labor’ is a very interesting piece put in a context where its meaning
grows more and more with every look it receives. The flag’s symbolic power put into the context
of the Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics distracts the nationalism out of the
celebrations raising important questions regarding the morals and values of the dominant culture.
The exploitation and labor should not be celebrated in such a way, a way that disregards the
substance of human life and purpose in favor of figures that could change these aspects but
instead is too superficial to even be considered. The lack of importance to these kinds of
inequalities and dysfunction of the system establish a disconnection between the human rights
and the value system on which life is governed. People get born in a world that exploits them in
the name of evolution, for the good of the country’s imagery, not population since the population
is treated in such a regardless way of their rights, needs and identities only for a greater idea of

42
civilization to be reached. But since the idea of civilization has been exchanged for the idea of
luxury and wealth and not for the people and the future generations, the concept concludes in
defining the irony itself.

The criticism of society, of the politics that dominate life is a strong subject, specific to
Banksy’s street art. It’s not only just paint on a wall but it resembles to a declaration of war that
should not be seen as a individual threat but as a countercultural act and movement that stands
out in the eyes of the public, showing ‘behind the scenes’ footage of how history was made, if
anyone was wondering about something more than what was the Regal family doing at the time
or when will the London Olympics start. The mural was something to strike at the heart of
Britain’s nationalism, at the roots of their ancestors who have been forgotten in favor of the
present, in the lap of commodity, celebrations without

2. How was the material and symbolic value of the graffiti affected by its steal?

2.a. The material value

First of all, never before was granted so much importance to a graffiti piece, except for when
it was too large to be removed. Indeed, this case became to be something special since the theft
became immediately a popular subject discussed by the mass media and largely debated within
the locals of Wood Green. The fact that the graffiti became so attractive was to put on it even
price tags by the people talking about it. Not only did the mural become so much more renowned
internationally but it also gained the notoriety of a art collector piece, of something that was to
set the first trends within a new sort of appreciated artwork.
The mass media started even speculating prices in order to set the starting price of the mural
and put it in the top must-haves of the moment. The first auction helped at raising the price of the
mural since people were bidding for it but the fact that the auction stopped made the price grow
even more and the media started again speculating how much the mural is worth, for how much
was it auctioned and probably that if it will be sold again, it will cost much more than the already
set price.
Of course, these were not exaggerations but it did represent a new ‘trend-setting’ current set
by the media. The fact that the media is such a decisive force in influencing not only new trends
but also values and the system of needs, leads to the fact that, as Thompson pointed “ideology is

43
viewed essentially as a kind of social cement which circulates in the social world via the
products of the media industries, and which integrates and incorporates individuals into the
social order, thereby reproducing the status quo.”79 This ideology is what mass media inserts in
all it’s imagery, in those carefully chosen words, introducing these concepts that represent the
ideal attitude that people must have in concordance to what should be going on, not what does
actually happen.
The continuous aspect of reproducing the status quo is evolutionary, transitory and
influential. If something changes entirely, as graffiti in this particular case, it means that a new
status quo has been obtained within the social ladder and that the rules have changed for the
moment, as they will change again and again following a road of acceptance and cooptation by
détourning actual ideologies, values and criticism and by incorporating it into the old aspects of
the world.

Of course, people are what make this circle spin and practically, they represent the circle and
they do the spins according to the rules of the game. “The idea of the public sphere does retain
some value today as a critical yardstick; it calls our attention, for instance, to the importance of a
sphere of social communication which is neither wholly controlled by the state nor concentrated
in the hands of large-scale commercial organizations.”80 Indeed, Banksy’s criticism stood for
representing his own vision but it was a vision that concerned the social norms after which
people live today, without being concerned about the past or if what should have changed
actually did change. His graffiti is a social communication of criticism, of satire, belonging in the
eyes of the public, reminding people what should matter and invoking their community
consciousness, their humanity and their awakening from the slumber. This triggered the alarm of
the public sphere, of symbolism and of ideologies inspired from real life.

2.b. The symbolic value

The implication of graffiti has a very strong symbolism in this frame of co-optation since
graffiti has always been something that manages to expresses the empowerment of having an
opinion, the freedom of speech, of public space, of sharing content within the public sphere, with
people on the expense of one’s act elaborated and projected in a public manner. The whole idea
79
John B. Thompson, Ideology and Modern Culture, California, Stanford University Press, 1990, p. 117.
80
Ibidem, p. 119.

44
of graffiti is to express private opinions, criticism and powerful messages in order for people to
open their horizons to new perspectives, to be subjected to other types of messages than those
send by the mass media.
The public sphere is to be classified somewhere between the domain of public authority and
the civil sphere of social privacy, fabricating a new kind of outlook, combining private
individualities within the public sphere, therefore creating a new dimension, a dimension of
debate that puts emphasis on the civil society administration and the state’s contribution. This
active criticism of the civil society and state authorities usually carries very strong messages that
succeed in raising many questions and problems for people to reflect on, realize or consider.
Therefore, alike the concept of media messages destined for consumers, the active participation
and the sharing of a content with individualistic characteristic which concerns a nation of people
can be understood as being characteristic for the sharing within a public sphere as a critical
debate and involvement in the problems that society is concerned with. Once removed from the
context, the symbolic value of a graffiti decreases in a considerable manner, since its main
feature has been changed and it no longer accomplishes its main purpose.
Still, there are to be considered the limitations that this mass communication offer us today.
“As Habermas shows, under the conditions of a relatively restricted circulation of printed
materials and the discussion of them in public for such as salons and coffee-houses. The original
idea of the public sphere was thus bound to the medium of print … the media of print have
increasingly given way to electronically mediated forms of mass communication, and especially
television; and these new media have transformed the very conditions of interaction,
communication and information diffusion in modern societies.”81 This diffusion is to be noticed
in how the mass media forms the opinions regarding the ‘Slave Labor’, transforming the graffiti
artist Banksy into one of the most famous artists of the 21th century, and one of the best known
artists of graffiti. The devices of the new media do not limit people’s right to reply since people
can activate through the virtual platform and express their opinions but does succeed in
spreading and creating a new subject of debate for many people, developing a starting point of
the conversation by creating a frame for the subject by designing a pattern for it to conform to.
This influence used by the media is “the second reason why the idea of the public sphere is of
limited relevance today is that the idea is linked fundamentally to a notion of participatory

81
Ibidem, p. 119.

45
opinion formation. The idea of the public sphere assumes that the personal opinions of
individuals will become public opinion through, and only through, participation in a free and
equal debate which is open in principle to all … is far removed from the political realities and
possibilities of the late twentieth century.”82 Even though there were many opinions on the
subject, the notoriety of the subject and the main opinions created about the value of the mural
and about its importance were just speculations of the press in order for the mural to be sold for a
big sum of money so that the détournement of the current would be co-opted by the dominant
culture and graffiti would be attributed a totally new sense and posture, and will be viewed as
another form of art, would be produced on a large scale, commercialized and sold for money,
instead of being full of meaning, personalized, individualistic, free and subversive.
The ‘Slave Labor’ case was chosen wisely by the mass media since there is a much larger
problem at stake, a problem that calls into question the morality of attributing a materialistic
value to something that is considered free speech, while decontextualizing it and restructuring its
value. The social historical character of the mural was to be embedded in a certain context for it
to symbolize something. The context in this particular case includes also the strong idea of
nationalism, since the mural its addressed to a specific public, with a specific subject that is best
understood by the people from the certain contextualization. The fact that the ‘Slave Labor’ was
received with enchantment and pride by its public shows the importance that the mural has
gained in its natural context, assuming a major role within the public sphere by creating the
conception of community that it had offered. Since the message of the mural was a subversive
one and hit at the base of the nationalist’s conceptions, it was perceived as an important symbolic
feature that stood up for the civil rights, recalling the fact that people come before money and
regaining the society an old feeling that has been forgotten, the feeling of belonging to a
community.
Still, the symbolical character of the graffiti stands not only in the message that it distributes
but also in the way that it was made and the attributes of a graffiti are the fact that if it’s written
in stone, or sprayed on a wall it will be more durable; that it is allowed for the graffiti to carry a
symbolic form of reproduction and that it is an active participation in molding new points of
view, opinions, values. All these aspects have been changed in the case of the ‘Slave Labor. The
piece of wall was taken so it will last long but not where it was supposed to; the symbolic of it

82
Ibidem, p. 120.

46
was ruined once it was removed from its actual context and it did succeed into molding opinions,
but for such a short time that it did not count, in comparison to the fuss that it was made after the
theft by the mass media who took into its attribution the manipulative and creative employment.
The interference of the mass media will always impact the ways in which interaction happens
at a social level, determining the limitations in which the reciprocation takes place, settling new
boundaries, constructing new forms of interaction and transforming old ones, therefore
reorganizing existent social relations. This new possibilities offered by the media are new forms
of living and perceiving life. Leaving behind the old symbolism, sense and value of things
changes their entire sense for the future generations and re-invents concepts in a way that is
rather superficial, commodification and as Debord calls it, a ‘spectacle’ in its entire sense.
The devaluation of the symbolic character of graffiti, of its authenticity through its illegal
manner, brings into the problem the superficial valorization of money, the question retrieving the
old polemic between counterculture and dominant culture. Once the symbolist devaluation has
happened, the materialistic one can intercede and establish a new functionality of things. Of
course, this kind of co-optation is what people have fought with over the years but even though
they could not stop it, there were people who rather helped it advance in the sense in which, if
the people of Wood Green had not made such a big case from this graffiti, the case would have
not received as much attention as it did.
In other words, the symbolic value of the graffiti was reduced to zero from the moment in
which the graffiti was removed from it’s context where it was carefully located. The problem of
public/private property is irrelevant from the symbolic point of view since it does not matter who
owns it but how it is preserved in that exact spot. This depreciation of symbolic value made the
idea of graffiti for sale, for mass production, for art collectors and from free, public and illegal to
expensive, private and highly appreciated.

3. How did the mediatization of the case affect the commercialization of the stolen graffiti and
Banksy's reputation, more generally?

3.a. Banksy’s reputation before

Banksy is the best known graffiti artist of all times and he has managed to create a well
known style, with specific characteristics which distinguish his art and has a large public of
supporters. He is known for his political and subversive messages that criticize the world we live

47
in and as Sarah Benet-Weiser outlines in her study of the Politics of Ambivalence in a Brand
Culture, “His work challenges hegemonic institutions such as the military and state practices,
exposes hypocrisy in advertising and marketing and questions the fundamental premises of
advanced capitalism. Yet while he critiques the world in advertising and branding – calling such
practices as ‘brandalism’ – he is clearly a brand in and of himself.”83 This brandalism that Sarah
Banet-Weiser brings into discussion is used by her as if Banksy would try to make a brand of his
name. Still, brandalism stands for the defacement of corporate iconography having as a purpose
the mockery, vandalism, protest, parody or even just a social commentary not typically used in
the benefit of marketing purposes. This kind of brand is rather an act of corporate and advertising
vandalism, and of course anyone is able to make himself known through this kind of activism,
coming as an irony to the concept itself.
His messages do have strong political and subversive messages but although he is a
master of political and social criticism, he himself is the product of a society that has co-opted
him and made him be the imagery of street art and graffiti. Being such an iconic figure, Banksy’s
artwork is sold somewhere between $10.000 and $200.000 therefore the ‘Slave Labor’ is not the
first graffiti piece that has been stolen or sold. Banksy refused to authenticate the graffitis that
were put for auction supporting the idea that street art should remain on the streets, as the
spokesman for the auctioneers declared in an article by BBC News, “Banksy hasn't said they are
fake. I don't know why he's not authenticated them ... He's saying that street art should stay on
the streets."84 Still, it is one the first which managed to create such a sensation around it. This is
due not only to the fact that Banksy has gained so much notoriety but also to the fact that he is
from London, he is a very loved and appreciated artist within his community and also, the ‘Slave
Labor’ has social, historical and nationalist content that created the impression of belonging and
contextualization of the mural to the community. Therefore, the ‘Slave Labor’ became a
substantial subject for the mass media and also for the locals which were very proud of their new
Banksy, since they did consider that the mural belongs to their community.

3.b. The local protestors

83
Sarah Banet-Weiser, AuthenticTM. The Politics of ambivalence in brand culture , New York and London, New
York University Press, 2012, page 94
84
BBC News, Banksy refuses to back artsale, UK, 2008, full article at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7638493.stm

48
 Because the feeling of belonging was so strong, after the mural was stolen people of Wood
Green launched a campaign to get the mural back in its place of occurrence. The people took the
problem to the streets and protested with placards that said “Bring our Banksy back” creating
even more excitement for the mass media. Still, the locals believed that they own the Banksy and
as Council Alan Strickland declared that “Banksy gave our community that painting for free.
Someone has taken it and plan to make a huge amount for themselves, which is disgusting and
counter to the spirit in which it was given. No doubt Banksy will be horrified.”85
Indeed, graffitis are made to be public and for the public but in this particular case, the
property on which the graffiti was sprayed was not public property but private and as the police
authorities declared, there wasn’t any theft reported which allows one to understand the fact that
either the owner did not care or he took it and deliberately wanted to make it profitable for
himself. Frederic Thut, a representative of The Miami Fine Art Auctions offered a hint about
who the owner of the mural was, but refused to give his name saying only the fact that it was
offered by a well-known collector who “signed a contract saying everything was above board.”86
Still, Alan Strickland of Haringey Council claimed that carelessly of who owned the property
and whether it was taken legitimately or not, “This is an area that was rocked by riots less than a
year before this mural was painted, and for many in the community the painting has become a
real symbol of local pride."87 as for the locals, he described them as “residents are
understandably shocked and angry that it has been removed for private sale”88
The Haringey Council insisted that the Art Council would intervene in the case as “it was
‘wrong’ to export a piece of ‘local and national significance.’”89 But the Art Council could not
intervene in the instance, arguing that “as the mural is less than 50 years old and excluded from
Export Control under current rules”90, chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette also added the fact that “It

85
Adam Faulkner and Polland Chris, The Sun News, Banksy Robbers, 2013, full article:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4800007/Banksy-painting-hacked-off-wall-set-to-fetch-up-to-
450k.html
86
Haroon Siddique, The Guardian Weekly, Banksy mural torn off London Poundland store for Miami auction,
2013, full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2013/feb/18/banksy-london-miami-auction
87
BBC News, Arts Council urged to intervene in Banksy mural sale, 2013, full article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21517034
88
Ibidem
89
Ibidem
90
Ibidem

49
is a shame that a piece of street art that is well loved by the local community has been removed
for auction.”91
Yet, the protests that took place for the regaining of the Banksy did not stop there but
succeeded in stopping the first auction that took place after the theft, in Miami. In the 11th hour
of bidding the auction stopped with no apparent reason. The press speculated that it had to do
with the fact that people were protesting to get their mural back or at least keep it in London
where it belongs. The spokesman of the Fine Art Auctions Miami confirmed the withdrawal and
declared that “Although there are no legal issues whatsoever regarding the sale of lots six and
seven by Banksy, FAAM convinced its consignors to withdraw these lots from the auction and
take back the power of authority of these works."92
In the same article about the theft, the Leader of the Haringey Council, Claire Kober declared
that “‘a true credit to the community’” that their campaigning seemed to have ‘helped to stop the
sale of this artwork from going ahead’”93 and in the same optimistic atmosphere she also said
that "We will continue to explore all options to bring back Banksy to the community where it
belongs."94 The ‘Bring Banksy Back’ campaign proved to be efficient, at least apparently since
the people got another chance in June when a new auction was programmed, this time in the
UK.
The news gave the locals new hopes of regaining their art piece and bring it back where it
belongs, in the lap of their community and of its symbolic value. This time in the hand of the
Sincura Group, people have once again been informed of the fact that the selling and ownership
is done on legal grounds and that if it will not be auctioned for more than £900,000 within the
UK, it will disappear completely as well as it will never again be seen in a public space.
Ms Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green declared “So now I
make this direct plea to the owners of the Banksy piece: You have this one last chance to do the
right thing. You have deprived a community of an asset that was given to us for free and greatly
enhanced an area that needed it. I call on you, and your consciences, to pull the piece from both

91
Ibidem
92
BBC News, Banksy Artwork taken in North London withdrawn from sale, 2013, full article:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-21562875
93
Ibidem
94
Ibidem

50
potential sales and return it to its rightful place.”95 Still, no one heard these voices of despair and
the mural was sold at the London auction for $1,1 million to a person that is unknown for the
large public but it is said that the mural will leave London for the US after it will be once again
exposed within an Banksy art exhibition organized with the help of Sincura Group.
It is immoral for the piece to have been sold for so much money since it was destined to be
free and for public displaying, supporting a strong message, with nationalistic roots that would
enhance the spirit of community within a place of appreciation and symbolism. The fact that this
came became so famous is not unusual for a piece of news but it is unusual for a story of graffiti.
This is the start of a new current, the story is from an old chapter of co-optation of counterculture
since people were shown once again that their opinion is irrelevant and things are done in ways
that could not be affected since they are legal and unreachable.
The commercialization of the ‘Slave Labor’ was driven not only by the media but also by the
public restlessness of a common wish and unification for a cause. The war between the people
and the capitalizing of money and production is an old debate causality. The advertising and
notoriety gained for Banksy comes in contrary to his anonymity as well as the fact that he’s
created his own brand of himself. Still, this aspect is what made the artwork be sold for so much
money, his notoriety put him on to of the new trends and made him a most wanted not only for
people that appreciate high art but also by people who appreciate graffiti and art in general, art
that carries a deeper sense and a meaningful message.

3.c. Banksy’s reputation after

Banksy’s creativity and self-advertising is what made him this recognizable and appreciated
figure that is in the same time unknown and mysterious. “The recognizable anonymity of Banksy
is an important, if not the crucial element in his self-brand. His work is supported by brand
culture and the creative economy, even as he critiques these cultures. In his critique of
advertising, he is establishing his own brand using similar strategies of recognizable images and
slogans, catchy phrases, his name featured as a brand itself.”96 The Banksy name brand could
stand representative for a team of people for what I’m concerned since his hoaxes, his art pieces
and his advertising are done at such a high level. It could be possible that Banksy stands only for

95
BBC News, Banksy’s Slave Labour mural auctioned in London, 2013, full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
england-london-22741911
96
Ibidem, p. 95.

51
the image that it is to be understood by a public that appreciates graffiti as an art and is
concerned to the idea of illegality and endangering of one’s freedom. Since Banksy is such a
known figure, I wonder how is it that nobody ever caught him or that nobody is tracking him, on
the strength of his strong messages and their subversive well-known characteristic. He has
became such a familiar figure of the graffiti world that it’s peculiar as yet he continues in
keeping his identity hidden from the public eyes which seem to always be driven in the right
direction since he is always disputed and discussed by the mass media.
He could as well be one of the ‘sell-out’ of the countercultural movement or just another
product that has been attributed just a more personal and empowering identity than others, since
he stands representative for such a controversial character. It’s a well known fact that “Street art
is a brand culture that is mobilized by the ethos of morality of anti-branding. As branding
becomes part of an everyday lexicon in all cultural realms, expressed in creative production and
dynamic play within and between residual and emergent codes of capital and aesthetics, street art
becomes its own definition of a brand: it associates with graffiti not just aesthetically but in terms
of the ethos of vandalism, secrecy, illegality, risk.”97 And since it started selling so well, Banksy
is a successful concept and product of the industry that comes gathering a brand new public,
attributing new characteristics to an old current, re-establishing it’s rules, denying it’s symbolic
character and making it an immoral cause.
The anonymous character of graffiti permits one to change the rules of the game but does
not succeed in not creating doubts on the public view. Even though the people of Wood Green
were not concerned with this peculiar problematic, it is not excluded that they just wanted their
nationalistic artwork on the wall for their community and for their city to carry this symbolism of
London in its touristic attributes. Therefore, the problem is one with complex sizes in which the
truth is untold, unknown but it is just a matter of time before it will be unleashed completely.

97
Ibidem, p. 96.

52
 2.2. Case Study Conclusions

1. To what extent can we talk about the concept of détournement in the case of the ‘Slave
Labor’?

The matter of how the world is viewed depends on the filters it’s looked through and in
this particular case, it depends on how much money one’s determined to pay to look and see in
the first place. The ‘Slave Labor’ case carries with it indications to the concept of détournement
and co-optation since its controversial manner of action has generated so much fuss around the
idea that it was stolen in the first place and secondly that it was sold.
The way in which the detourning of graffiti happened seems to have been predetermined
in the first place but this is just a way of looking at things. Although this perspective is not
something that is easily excludable, taking into account the timing in which the graffiti appeared,
the curiosities that it aroused after so much time from its occurrence among the locals and
tourists that travelled only to see the mural is questionable. The symbolic force of the mural
brings it into another problematic that is concerned with not only the idea of nationalism but also
with the idea of community, unity in what regards a common interest or in this case appreciation
and empathy.
‘Slave Labour’ is probably the only graffiti that undermined all the characteristics of an
actual graffiti. It’s not about the actual art, it is about the fact that a piece of graffiti succeeded in
attracting this much attention and in creating this new sense and this new perspective that denies
all the rules and values that it’s attributed. This kind of behavior towards a countercultural
current represents the actual détournement and process to co-optation of one more of the
countercultural aspects. The problem of illegality takes the idea to another dimension since
something that is illegal is becoming part of the production process, of the market, it obviously
negates the actual sense of the word illegality. How can something be illegal if purchasing it is
legal? This kind of circle denies the idea of logic, denies the rules that people respect, and denies
the idea of morality, of a moral system of living.
This transformation and new value attributed denies the actual sense of what graffiti
means at a larger level, at a level of ideology that is perceived by the public and actual creator,
reinventing not only its meaning as expression but also the benefits, taking the whole problem to

53
a new level, to a level of production that can deliver profit and therefore introducing the current
to a public that is bound to accept it, otherwise consume it in its new form. And why would
things not function under this new form? It is not the first time that a countercultural current has
been détourned by profit passionate and therefore it is not the last. Corporations have always had
the need for novelty, for a new product, for a new concept and for something new to deliver in
order to remain above and keep the line straight. The act of détournement had always new
publics to gain, new perspectives to unleash, not only in the case of corporations but also in the
case of counterculture. So who is détourning the concept of graffiti by changing its ideology?
This can be considered a matter of exclusion by taking into account who would have gain from
this.
One on hand, it could be an act of détournement of the dominant culture, in order for co-
optation to be considered and money could be made, whereas the countercultural aspect of the
concept would disappear and the matter of cleaning walls would be perceived as past. On the
other hand, it could be an act of détournement of the actual author of the mural who tries to
establish new rules, and from where he sits, it is something that can be easily done since he
would have to benefit more than if he would otherwise. Since the problem of anonymity is under
the veil of mystery, this person could do anything, from painting it on the wall to display it, as a
form of advertisement and after it had gained enough publicity stealing it and than sell it for a
whole lot of money.

2. To what extent can we talk about the concept of co-optation?

This is the reigning of the dominant culture, of the idea of homogeneity, of the simple
production and institutionalizing capital for the sake of money, wealth, inequality and reaching a
higher status quo into the pyramid that settles the rules of the game and this is a representation of
everything that co-optation stands for. The idea of prioritizing the needs of the people is no
longer on the menu, it is a concept that is easily being détourned in its turn by all these senseless,
meaningless and countless actions of attaining a new level of commodity, a new level of living
within ‘the spectacle’ which is determined to take control of the world and change everything in
its benefit. This is a problem of empowerment that it is not balanced, the entire control sits in one
part, in the production department and the other in the consuming one, being the subject of this
system of operation.

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 Commercialization is the new way of interaction and communication within the social
platform, and in this particular case, as Thompson depicts it, “the commercialization of mass
communication progressively destroyed its character as medium of the public sphere, for the
content of newspapers and other products was depoliticized, personalized and sensationalized as
a means of increasing sales.”98 This is the best way of détournement possible in the case of visual
art, getting the sense right out of the sentence for it to be changed into a pointless illusion of a
message. This depoliticizing, immorality and the sensationalized perception that has been
released into the eyes of the public is what labels the idea of graffiti as détourned only to be
reinvented as something else, as something commercialized, as a product that is designed to be
wanted and bought, to be changed into a real marketing device that will bring new publics, new
ideas to be exploited, produced and sold back from where they came from. The mass production
and consumption of a message that is seen strong by the eyes of the public destroys its meaning
entirely by transforming it into something dull, homogenizing it instead of letting it distinguish
only to be seen as something else.
This co-optation is not surprising taking into account the image Banksy has build along
the years, the notoriety he has gained from tabloids, scandals, hoaxes and wars within the graffiti
world. He has managed to construct himself a real brand to rediscover new senses in the world of
graffiti, to establish new perspectives of this disputed subject that has been rejected for over a
decade by authorities and the public. Banksy managed to become addictive in the old fashioned
way, advertising himself creatively, under the sign of the countercultural ideology to gain
authenticity in order for him to impact the public in a genuine manner.

98
John B. Thompson, op. cit., p. 113.

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 General Conclusions

After an in-depth analysis of the positioning of graffiti between the two concepts of
détournement and co-optation, I have arrived to the conclusion that the phenomenon is not
totally elucidating since some aspects of it remain under the veil of mystery and will be able to
be uncovered only as time passes by, as they will continue or stop at the point of being just
particular phenomenon. Still, the matter is to be taken into consideration as it follows particular
patterns that have been uncovered in Chapter I through the historical incursion that shows how
the reproduction of culture takes place from generation to generation changing the context of
social interaction by creating new values and even re-creating the old ones. This kind of
transformation happens not only due to the need of novelty but also due to the fact that the
continuous reproduction takes place in a context of an evolutionary society which permanently
presents a new frame that is to be understood in new ways and changed in its turn.
This kind of behavior does imply the détournement of certain aspects of life, of values,
ideologies, by adapting them to a new framework which attributes them new perspectives and
new meanings. By their functioning within these new frameworks, their malleability increases,
since they are the ones that are adapting to the framework, reacting within the context of social
interaction and being understood in different manners by people who altogether absorb them into
their rutine and make them part of their everyday life. Therefore, the co-optation of innovation
comes naturally not only to the context of social interaction but also to a system of authority
which must adapt to new frameworks, new phenomena and new currents that are continuously
developing in all directions.
Due to the this reproductive device that is exercised continuously, the world’s
transforming character will never cease to stop the evolutionary process which continuously
develops and changes taking different shapes and dimensions, like it has been noticed in the case
of counterculture and dominant culture. The countercultural movement not only did re-negate all
aspects of dominant culture but it also adopted a contrary position to all its characteristics and
attitudes towards the character and quality of life. Still, after some time of fighting against the
winds, dominant culture managed into absorbing currents that stood representative for the
countercultural movement, by adapting them to its own definition, to its own way of action.

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 This kind of example can be traced back to the countercultural activists that became part
of corporatist agencies of advertising or to those countercultural believers that stroke publics
with strong messages put in hip hop lyrics that were supposed to raise awareness towards
injustice and inequality but fell into the trap of dominant culture, giving in their rights to choose
their own destiny and values, in exchange of money and fame. This is how dominant culture
operates, it seems to do whatever is best for the people but in fact it forces its power to do
whatever works best and brings profit. Taking into consideration the characteristics that describe
dominant culture, it can be easily understood the fact that by being dominant implies full control
driven by a great deal of power. As it can be seen in my analysis, this power can be gained by
many devices that are put in use, devices that come helpful in establishing new trends, values,
and altogether, an imagery that should embody the idea of normality.
The phenomenon I have chosen for my analysis follows certain patterns that attribute it to
the dimension of countercultural ideologies that are easily being transformed through the
perspective of a new kind of visibility since their status has transgressed from illegality to a new
way of producing profit. This kind of phenomenon attains the particularities of concepts like
détournement and co-optation but their process is still at its first more serious occurrence, and
has not developed entirely. The fact that the case has some unanswered questions like who is the
one who stole the graffiti, who bought it and why would anyone steal it in the first place are
indistinctiveness that put the case in a place of debate and assumptions that cannot be proven
neither right nor wrong.
All in all, my analysis cannot be a defining one in what regards this new kind of
occurrence, this case can be a particular one, something that will never happen again or
something that has only just exploded but did not have time to spread and take real dimensions.

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