I have a huge amount of respect for artists like van Gough who kept their work extremely personal; the type who never really cared much for fame or wealth and created art merely for the sake of creating art – allowing time itself to establish their importance. Then there's Banksy, who I’ll admit, is gifted, but also goes against some of the movements he’s claimed to support. I’ve accepted his debut documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop as a farce, an outlet he’s utilized to propagandize society’s more susceptible nature, but in turn he's also stained his artistic integrity by displaying a fascination with status, international distinction and controversy – let's not forget the pink elephant in the room.
While the idea of artistic liberation via street art intrigues me, it really all boils down to a desire for recognition, and perhaps what that recognition will eventually blossom into; and to be frank, Banksy has generated a fair bit of recognition, become a global phenomenon, and now he's laughing all the way to the bank. I’m not calling Banksy a hack – although for an “anti-capitalist”, he certainly doesn’t mind profiting from his empire – but his critical expose on pseudo-documentarian Thierry Guetta (AKA, Mister Brainwash) is almost hypocritical.
For a documentary that supposedly observes the lifestyle of the elusive Banksy, Gift Shop oddly surrounds itself around Guetta, the man behind the camera who follows, and in a sense collects documentations of several illustrious street artists from around the world. We learn that Guetta is a French immigrant, a family man with a wife and two kids, and owns a vintage clothing shop in Los Angeles. He also has a unique obsession with videotaping virtually everything he comes across. This “passion” is what ultimately leads him into the innovative world of street art.
He’s introduced to a number of prominent figures in the street art scene including Shepard Fairey – the man behind the “OBEY” campaign and those influential “HOPE” posters – and even discovers that his own cousin "Invader" is an infamous street artist in France. He begins filming these artists under the pretense that he’s compiling footage for a documentary; a documentary he has no intention of ever creating. But soon enough, his “weird” enthusiasm pays off and he finally meets the most private street artist in the field – Banksy. After becoming acquainted, Banksy spontaneously challenges the inexperienced Guetta to host his own exhibition of street art; street art that he’s suddenly capable of producing. Guetta undertakes the daunting assignment which surprisingly turns out to be a huge success. But has Banksy created a revolutionary artiste or a fame-hungry monster?
Trust me. I’m on the same page as Banksy when it comes to attaining the general “message” of this film. He does an incredible job at ridiculing society’s susceptibility to hype and word-of-mouth, but his social commentary here is somewhat of a double-edged sword. He’s essentially trying to suggest that many overnight-success-artists who enjoy premature fame aren’t creditable and are simply splattering paint on walls to get noticed and commercialize their work. However, Banksy – who, granted, is beyond creditable – is not only enticed by public spectacle, but he's also profiting from it. It’s almost similar to how we view dirty politicians. There’s a huge disconnect in trying to relate to an individual’s platform when said individual contradicts everything his platform stands for.
Gift Shop, despite my minor nitpicks, remains the achievement many have come to label it. It’s deeply engrossing and practically circumvents the conventions of typical documentary filmmaking. However, while I found the film to be brilliantly structured – vacillating between the ideals of both the subject and the filmmaker – there seemed to be a sort of grey area or inconsistency behind exactly why Banksy decided Guetta, of all people, should shift his focus on complex pop art, but I suppose if we’re to take this “documentary” as pure satire, then Banksy’s plot development there proved to be quite effective by the end of the film. Overall, Gift Shop is highly recommended, but not for those seeking a factual documentation. I’d suggest maintaining a certain degree of imagination while watching Banksy’s “street art disaster movie”.
8/10
No comments:
Post a Comment