The Loris Bite : Banksy

Banksy Directs Simpsons Intro

cstanton — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:54:00 GMT

If you're into pop art or even just pop culture, you've probably heard of a British street artist that goes by the alias Banksy. Banksy is known for being sort of a satirical, painter and graffiti artist, political activist, and counter-culture icon. He's made headlines when one of his paintings was purchased by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie for over a million pounds, for the documentary (that doesn't really focus on him) "Exit Through The Gift Shop," and now this past Sunday for directing the most intense intro to the Simpsons ever.

The intro scene throws a jab, no, a hay-maker, at The Simpsons itself and Rupert Murdoch's 20th Century Fox. At first, it starts out with a good bit of slapstick humor, but when the Simpson family sits down on the couch things get really dark. In a nightmarish but very imaginative sequence, the pop artist addresses outsourcing and working conditions for the network and the show itself, who outsources much of its animation production to companies in South Korea such as AKOM and Sunwoo Entertainment’s Anivision Studios.

"How did this ever make the air!?" is the first question that comes to mind. I guess that even though it's at a cost to the reputation of The Simpsons and Fox, the viewers and attention drawn, negative or positive, outweighs the number of viewers who will actually change their lifestyle based on the satirical introduction. I mean honestly, people aren't going to stop watching The Simpsons for anything, even this garbage Ke$ha stuff. Fox has already proven to itself that it can live just fine in the heat. They have had so many screw-ups that they've had to publicly apologize and they're status is still "dandy."

Ratings were probably even higher than normal, with all of the people that support Banksy's work watching. The double irony is really what's getting me. First the show airing images that bash itself for its morals and ethics, and then the Banksy crowd, who are all about counter-culture and political activism, sitting there watching and increasing the ratings, thus increasing the potential revenue of the corporation that they would love to see brought down.

The question is, can a political artist launch an attack on the media while using it to propel their own message? Banksy gets his work seen by the entire Simpsons fan base, which is HUGE, but Fox makes it out with the loot.

Banksy In San Fransisco

cstanton — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:21:00 GMT

New Banksy street art has been showing up in San Fransisco's Chinatown and Mission district.

Troy Holden took this great shot:

Banksy has been in the San Fransisco area since January when he was promoting the premier of his street art documentary "Exit Through The Gift Shop."

Just recently have his works been showing up around the city.

Warholian has been documenting the new art with photos and video.

Also, if you'd like to see Banksy in the Bristol Museum check this out.

Banksy Vs. Bristol Museum

cstanton — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:42:00 GMT

The very popular, almost anonymous, artist known as Banksy has been showing his artwork off for about 16 years now. Not much is known by the general public about his identity. He is believed to be born near or in Bristol, in 1974. This information was gathered from other members of the DryBreadZ crew, his first graffiti group, which was a big part of the Bristol underground scene. The DryBreadZ Crew is a graffiti clan that used stencils and freehand to create their tags

Bristol's underground scene is much like any other underground scene. A lot of artists and musicians collaborated to spread their message, which was basically anti-establishment like every other anarcho-punk group. I don't think that anyone is exactly sure of what Banksy's stance is on politics or ethics, but a lot can be deduced by his artwork. Most of his artwork is satirical and focuses on politics, ethics, culture, and current events dealing with the like.

Banksy's artwork has appeared around the world and more recently, within the last 5 or 6 years, he has been doing exhibitions. His work has actually been auctioned off by the owners of buildings for a decent profit, leaving the removal of the piece in the hands of the buyer. He once did a show where he painted on animals in a warehouse. It was monitored of course, and approved since the paints were non-toxic, but animal rights activists still chained themselves to the handrails at the entrance of the building. Now, he's doing a show back in his hometown of Bristol that will definitely provoke some thought. He's taking over the Bristol Museum and redoing the entire interior.

You can check out the site for the exhibition here.