Chapter 6.

Your soul to paint

how can i… – p. 81
...link a document to a notion

J'applique Corrigé

Exemple de remarques qui pourraient être faites à propos de l’œuvre de Banksy

et de son lien avec l’axe ‘Art & Power’.

The document is a graffiti, spray-painted on a wall in London by a famous

street artist, Bansky. It is quite amusing since it features two British
police officers entangled in a graffiti. If we look closer, it seems like they
are struggling to contain the graffiti as it is trying to escape. The shiny
graffiti seems to be alive, pretty much like a snake, and its arrow-like
ends make it look like a scorpion. Therefore we can imagine that, to the
artist, graffitis, and more generally, Street Art, can be dangerous, elusive,
stubborn and unruly.
And maybe this could be what makes this type of art powerful. Indeed,
graffitis are fairly elusive since they are rarely permanent, can be erased
or altered or covered. Plus, the artists themselves are often elusive or
secretive – which seems necessary as what they do is often illegal.
Banksy is actually particularly elusive since he has always chosen to
remain anonymous.
Besides, Street Art in general is pretty stubborn and unruly since it will
simply go away any time. Street artists are very prolific and work almost
everywhere. And these are the reasons why graffitis can be considered
dangerous: they are easy to make (i.e. one just needs cans of paint…
and talent!) and very accessible. Indeed, graffitis can be seen anytime,
anywhere, and they are free.
Thus, when Street Art is used by the artists to denounce wrongdoings
or to sensitize the population to a cause, the message is bound to be
heard. Especially in the Internet era where no matter where street artists
have spray-painted or stenciled their work, it will be captured and shared
with the whole world, thus becoming permanent.
© Les éditions Didier, In Full Swing Tle, 2020