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“Mobile Lovers” by Banksy - Sujay Rambajue

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“Mobile Lovers” by Banksy - Sujay Rambajue

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Mobile Lovers is a painting that speaks loud to the way society operates in present times. The mural depicts a couple who are showing affection to each other but are focused on their phones instead of each other. This mural sparked my interest because it is relatable to the climate that we as a society is hooked on. The perceived message from this artwork is the importance of living in the moment. In today’s day and age, we as a society are focused on creating a facade of our life to the world. We as a society often like to run from our harsh reality. Upon my research, I learned that the mural was created in April of 2014 in Banksy’s hometown of Bristol. Banksy used spray paint and handmade stencils to create the art piece. “This piece of art was influenced by this overpowering use of technology. Banksy feels that people are spending too much time on their phones and social media and not enough time living in the moment with the people they genuinely care about. The couple in the artwork are acting as if they are paying attention to each other, but their attention is focused on their phones.” ("Mobile Lovers” by Banksy", 2020). As a society, we tend to be obsessed with our phones and communicate with others virtually. However, society is starting to lose the face-to-face communication, because people are starting to resort to technology. This painting signifies the greater message of humanity losing its control to technology and allowing it to control our actions and thoughts. Personally, I have seen the way, we as humans feel allow social media and technology to control the way we think and behave. For example, there have been people that I have had full conversations with on social media, but when we meet in person, they can barely speak. Furthermore, this painting touches on us not appreciating life and the privilege that we as a society in a first world country have access to. In many third world countries, they are met with the harsh reality, as many cannot afford the technology that we have an abundance of. For us, social media and technology can be a method of “escape” from our daily lives. Technology has helped us positively and negatively in the way we make our decisions. We prefer to be absorbed in other people’s lives while we do not appreciate our own. After reading the lecture and analyzing my research on Banksy, it is evident that there is an overall message of political and social ideals that are prevalent throughout his work. Banksy touches on the issue that we as a society have of living our life through technology instead of in person. Furthermore, as mentioned in class, Banksy prefers to keep his identity unknown. It can be perceived that Banksy’s decision to remain anonymous comes from wanting to live his life in the moment and not be roped into what others think of him on social media. While Banksy is popular throughout social media, he prefers to be unknown so that he does not let other’s opinions, dictate the way he perceives and lives his life.

“Mobile Lovers” by Banksy. (2020). Retrieved 11 November 2020, from https://medium.com/@kdalkin/mobile-lovers-by-banksy-523b85dc3973

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Banksy is a British street artist from Bristol. He remains anonymous and became quite popular in the 1990’s for his provocative street art. Banksy’s artwork is characterized by slogans as well as striking images. His work engages with political themes, hypocrisy, capitalism and greed. He often uses subjects like policemen, children, rats and apes in his artwork.

The following image caught my attention due to the multiple symbols present. The image presents a doctor standing next to a heart and peace sign. He is holding his stethoscope up towards the heart while listening to it. I believe Banksy was trying to portray a deeper meaning related to trusting your instinct. The doctor is listening to the heart which indicates that you should listen to your heart in life. I believe this image is trying to tell people to listen to their heart, and not always their mind. “While unforgiving satire is typically Banksy’s style, optimism is present in this piece of artwork” (Johnson, 2018).

Banksy. (2020, June 15). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/artist/banksy

Johnson, B. (2018, January 17). 15 Life Lessons From Banksy Street Art That Will Leave You Lost For Words. Retrieved from https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/15-life-lessons-from-banksy-street-art-that-will-leave-you-lost-for-words.html

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The piece of the two policemen embracing in a kiss is a personal favourite of mine.  This piece was outside of a pub in Brighton. I believe the message Banksy is trying to get across is that love is love. It does not matter who you are, what gender you are or what your job is - all love is valid. I feel like that is why he used two police officers to show a vital figure being true to themselves.   Johnson (2018) suggests, "Banksy seems to be asking us who's to say what is appropriate? Whether conventional or not, love is love" (para 10).

I agree with this statement as I feel like he is advocating for the LGBTQ+ community.  After reading the lecture this week, just as he likes to keep his identity a secret, he never fully reveals the messages in his art either. To me, I find that even more intriguing because his artwork can be seen in many different ways. You can come up with your own story/message that you feel it is portraying, which I find is quite beautiful.

References

Johnson, B. (2018, January 17). 15 Life Lessons From Banksy Street Art That Will Leave You Lost For Words. Retrieved November 09, 2020, from https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/15-life-lessons-from-banksy-street-art-that-will-leave-you-lost-for-words.html

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One Nation Under CCTV - Harkunwar Sachdeva

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One Nation Under CCTV - Harkunwar Sachdeva

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Banksy is anonymous street artist that is known for his very symbolic art. He has a very distinct style of simplistic stencil graffiti with bold edges. Most of his art has deeper meanings than the picture itself. He has painted numerous masterpieces around the world but arose from Bristol, England

One Nation Under CCTV was seen on the Newman Street in London. It was painted on the wall of a building that is used by Royal Mail. This work from Banksy features a boy in a red jacket painting the slogan “One Nation Under CCTV”. His actions are seen by a policeman and a dog. The graffiti is situated in the line of sight of an actual CCTV camera where it makes us feel as if he is defying the government and calling them “Big Brother”. This work criticizes the excessive government surveillance which is compromising peoples privacy. In 2008, Westminster City Council deemed this as an illegal graffiti and painted over it. (BBC News, 2008)

Looking at this Banksy piece immediately made me think of Edward Snowden exposing how the government of United States was keeping tabs on people without them even knowing. In 2013 when he was working for CIA, he came across the surveillance programs that were being run by NSA and Five Eyes Intelligence Alliance with cooperation of telecommunication companies. He leaked the classified documents to the media, and when on the run from the United States government as he was guilty under Espionage Act of 1917. Snowden seeked asylum in Russia and his where-about has been unknown. (Biography, 2019) Edward Snowden has been talking to the media outlets in last few years discussing the matter.

Council orders Banksy art removal. (2008, October 24). Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Edward Snowden. (2019, September 18). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/

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Bansky has various creations with meaning but this one was intriguing to me because the meaning is based around this generation and the upcoming generation. This mural represent how the media is making not only adults but young kids are effected by the media. In this day and age having a certain amount of followers likes and etc. is important to people so they can feel more valued or "famous". This caught my attention because this has caused many people to be more insecure, get depressed and many more stuff that affects people mentally. This spoke out to me because these kids are seeing things on the internet and they think that they have to look a certain way and act a certain way for people to like them. This can affect a child in the future when they try to get to know themselves more.

Bansky is well known for his stenciling art. I found out that his often form of work is multilayered stenciling. I found this cool because with the layers it makes his artwork look like it has more dimensions. His work revolves around dark humor, a message, philosophy and politics.

Banksy Biography & Artwork | Artists. (2020, November 3). Street Art Bio. https://www.streetartbio.com/artists/banksy/
https://www.streetartbio.com/artists/banksy/

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Banksy has an array of miraculous and meaningful street art that speaks to you in an intriguing way. Although the context of Banksy’s street art is not direct there are many diverse meanings that can be constructed when viewing and analyzing the pieces of art he has made. One piece of art that spoke to me and really caught my attention was this piece. The quote on this piece of the artwork says “If you want to achieve greatness, stop asking for permission.” The artwork has a tough and grungy girl with a bandana over over face holding a can of spray paint and sign, looking like she is going to protest and/or stand up for rights and wellbeing. I believe there are many concepts when analyzing and dealing with this piece of artwork created by Banksy. This specific piece of street art constructs a new view indicating that in order to achieve the better and good for society, there are some cultures and norms that have to be broken. This alters the true meaning behind the street art and retrieves different reasonings behind what is trying to be conveyed by Banksy. Banksy did a magnificent and meaningful way of retrieving that exact reasoning behind this piece of art, by creating a striking image with an even more striking (and bolder) slogan attached to it; it will make society stop and stare, and make society examine what exactly Banksy was trying to express and convey in this piece of art he had offered to society and the globe.

Below is an article that helped me better understand the concept of Banksy's street art in reference to the image below.

https://blog.usejournal.com/if-you-want-to-achieve-greatness-stop-asking-for-permission-2c94e98d31c5

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Banksy - "Kissing Coppers" - Brooke Buller 

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Banksy - "Kissing Coppers" - Brooke Buller 

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Banksy Kissing Coppers is one the most controversial murals to date. This mural depicts two London embracing each other and kissing. I was drawn to this mural of Banksy's because of the nature of the content, I perceived the message to be one of inclusion and tolerance for everyone including those in authoritative positions. This mural has meaning that it doe not matter your social status or job that you are capable of being and doing anything even if you are apart or the LGBTQ+ community.

In doing research I discovered that this mural originally debuted on the wall at the Prince Albert Pub in Brighton in 2005. "The piece can be read in many ways. In one respect, Banksy is arguing for greater tolerance of sexual-identity by placing icons of authority in a pro-gay position. While some believe that he is poking fun at policemen, showing them in a vulnerable, intimate moment, others read the work more positively, showing a human side to the police force and emphasizing the strong bonds between partners and teammates.
The work is the perfect example of how Banksy uses irony to challenge us to build a bridge of understanding between expected enemies of ideology."("Banksy - Kissing Coppers - Moco Museum", n.d.). As you can see from the information above Banksy mural has many interpretations however, it is unclear in what his true intent and meaning was for this piece of art.

As with many of Banksy's pieces no one really knows the true meaning behind them as Banksy true identity is just as much as a mystery. From reading this weeks lecture combined with the research I have done it appears that Banksy himself prefers to keep his identity anonymous thus his extremely famous pieces of art remain somewhat of a mystery to everyone as to the true meaning behind them.

Banksy - Kissing Coppers - Moco Museum. Retrieved 8 November 2020, from https://mocomuseum.com/stories/kissing-coppers/

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Follow your dreams Cancelled

There are a lot of master pieces that was stenciled by this  genius but that one art that I like most is the “Follow your dreams Cancelled”. In which a man simply write on the wall follow your dreams with black paint and after that write cancelled all over the thought with red paint that also a sign of danger. I don’t know what was the thinking of the bansky write sketching this art but what I believe is that this means is if you want to be successful or want to live a happy and good life you have to follow your dreams or passion to achieve your all goals and targets. In today’s life we are pressurized by our family and relatives to become doctor, engineer etc. But no one ask us what we want to do and want to become in future. That’s why we don’t live our life happily and we are getting to end our life with this boring job or passion that are suppressed on us by someone else that we don’t like. That’s why the bansky write “cancelled” that means if we don’t follow our dreams our life become a burden on it and we forgot how to live a happy life and enjoy this beautiful world.
- Abhishek Chauhan

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Arguably the most iconic piece Banksy has ever stenciled. “Girl with Balloon” is a personal favourite Banksy piece of mine. I have had this piece as my phone background for years now.
Banksy's piece “girl with balloon” has been used all over the world as a symbol of political protest. Most recently during the Syrian civil war in 2014 a wall with the stenciled imagine of “girl with balloon” was seen.

Although this particularly piece has been tied to political protests around the world, there is still no way for anybody to know exactly the meaning behind it. In my eyes Banksy was trying to do a play on a scene from one of my favourite movies “Schlinders List.” The only colour seen throughout the whole movie was during this particular scene. You see a little girl in a bright red dress walking around aimlessly thought a sea of black and white figures.

In 2018 Banksy had shredded this famous piece during an auction, the shredded failed halfway through resulting in a half shredded original piece of “girl with balloon.” This however just made the piece rarer. Originally called “girl with balloon” this has since been changed to “love is in the bin” after the shredding incident.

Peschel, Sabine. “Banksy’s ‘Love Is in the Bin’ Showcased in Baden-Baden.” DW.COM, Deutsche Welle, May 2nd 2019, www.dw.com/en/banksys-shredded-girl-with-balloon-now-on-display-in-germany/a-47372712#:%7E:text=First%20created%20by%20Banksy%20as,2005%20and%20the%20Syrian%20civil.

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Banksy has created so many really amazing pieces of work. However this  piece in particular that I have chosen stuck in my mind. This piece of art stuck out in my mind because to me it represent what I believe is done all to often in western society. All to often in western society the removal and or covering over of beautiful street art occurs. I believe their is and should be a difference between graffiti and street art. In my mind graffiti is tagging something with explicit language. I believe graffiti is not beautiful paintings that are expressing something that people can view and enjoy. I believe that their are lots of people who would agree with me. I believe in western society we may need to rethink and or define Graffiti and street art. The creation of things such as graffiti ally in Toronto I believe are amazing because it allows street art to be on display. Street art is a form of expression and I believe their should be more public spaces in western society where people can express themselves within reason of course.  The questions we have to ask ourself's are what is street art and what is graffiti? and Should one be prosecuted for creating street art?

Street Art can be and is much more than just paintings they can be part of movement and or express solidarity with a movement. Such as following the passing of George Floyd in the. United States artists from across Canada per-took in painting murals in Toronto related to the anti black racism movement. Dubbed Paint The City Black.

APA Citation
Artists transform Toronto's Graffiti Alley with new murals in 'show of solidarity' with anti-racism movement | CBC News. (2020, June 08). Retrieved November 08, 2020, from https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/artists-graffiti-alley-mural-anti-racism-movement-1.5602082

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This artwork by Banksy I believe really well represents the culture of today. there are so many people out there that are sacrificing their dreams to take jobs that they don't even appreciate or love. this artwork made me think of my uncle that lives in Montreal. his whole life he was studying to become a doctor because that is all he knew., but in the end, he found his passion as a taxi driver and the way he would speak to me about the people he has met and the people he has driven around, you'd think he was talking about his different surgeries as a doctor. Although I also believe that this could mean the exact opposite, that sometimes there are "Dreams" that cannot be achieved because of obstacles that are insurmountable and out of your control. the man in the picture could be portrayed as a tired man that has been trying to follow his dreams but is forced to stick "cancelled" over graffiti's to make the money needed to pursue his own dreams. this comes back to Banksy's motto when it comes to his art as seen in the PowerPoint of this week: " It is easy to ignore what in front of you". there are so many ways to perceive art it all depends on the viewer and what they can see beyond what meets the eye.

As I read in an article about this image: "This image is not in any way cheerful or optimistic. It is significant because it demonstrates a hard working class man with hunched shoulders and a long discouraged facial expression. This image was displayed in America, I found it significant because Banksy tries to represent that the “American dream” does not always exists." Published by Charis Higgs

I agree in what he says at the beginning that in no way is this image mean to be an optimistic image. this image is meant to make the viewer think. I also think the current situation that we are in when it comes to COVID, this image has an even bigger impact.

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The following graphic caught my attention as I believe it could have contemporary relevance for the decades to come. The stencil art focuses on the topic of consumerism in our day and age. I believe the message banksy is the idea of people over-consuming and not "buying enough" - It is as if it never ends or leads to tragic end. This can be alluded to the shopper being placed quite high above the side of the building being pulled down by the shopping cart. Furthermore materialism can be easily prioritized due to the amount of new things come along and traditional "obligations" such as Christmas/Birthdays. Some reports have shown a great deal of debt owed by taxpayers can be noted for during early January periods due to possibly the festive holidays. The amount of excess equipment/product large cooperations make are often toss aside.... these acts of consumerism can easily create a parallel with Banksy's depicted art because of the influence material wealth has on people. (weighs you down.) The shopping cart is black and that can represent attributes such as Strength/power and and dark blue often represents intelligence and authority. It may be possible that this image is depicting that society is letting "consumerism" negatively impact our priorities and leading us in a path of materialism? In the grand scheme of things material things are not as meaningful as fruitful bonds with family and friends and will have you often wanting more and more.... Shop till you drop.

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This picture really caught my eye. This is a graffiti drawing basically saying that graffiti is illegal but the artist, Bankys, still continued his drawing. I feel as Bankys is trying to express his way of life in this drawing. Looking back on our class PowerPoint, Bankys had said “The greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules” (Bankys). I feel as the message Bankys is trying to portray in this drawing in really related back to that quote. He drew one boy giving another boy a boost to grab spray paint, but it is showing that graffiti is a crime. I feel as the drawing is trying to show people that graffiti is really just art instead of vandalism because there is always a meaning behind his drawing to maybe get you thinking more of the meaning of a drawing. Twelve hours after Bankys had spray-painted this picture the graffiti sign was taken down leaving just the two boys alone. “Not 12 hours after Banksy announced his first project in New York since 2010, someone’s gone and vandalized it” (Raillan Brooks).

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This imagine sticks out to me because of the recent events around COVID-19 and our health care workers around the world. This image resonates because the toy nurse that the boy is holding is wearing a cape. Now more than ever, healthcare workers are our real life heroes as they work the front lines of the pandemic. This piece was displayed in South Hampton general hospital in England to pay tribute to the workers. The CEO of the hospital Paula Head noted, "“It [the art] will be really valued by everyone in the hospital, as people get a moment in their busy lives to pause, reflect and appreciate this piece of art. It will no doubt also be a massive boost to morale for everyone who works and is cared for at our hospital."
This piece of art work will act as a memory and shrine to the workers for years to come as a way to never forget their fearless acts.

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The image that sticks out in my mind created by this mysterious genius is the image of Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald on either side of the image on the young naked girl from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam. For this image to resonate one has to understand what really happened to the villagers of My Lai at the hands of American soldiers. The young girl in between was one of the badly burned victims who managed to escape the village after it was burned by US troops. She and several other children were infamously photographed covered in agent orange which was dropped on many Vietnamese villages by US soldiers burning many alive. The dichotomy of the image is stark. Mickey and Ronald being 2 of the most iconic images denoting happiness in American children and the young girl who has been badly burned and likely lost her family. Banksy has a real knack for juxtaposition of iconic images which serves to represent the very opposite of what the original image was meant to portray. Ronald and Mickey do not appear to be at all phased by the poor girls plight. They have chosen to ignore her pain and smile and wave as they would with happy, healthy children here in North America. Sociologist Sheng Kuan Chung notes: “Banksy’s pieces lead viewers to reflect on established social practices.... the power of the art world to define standards, and the reluctance of populations to confront social and cultural aspects of who we are and what we do”.

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Mona Lisa Bazooka
Banksy uses one of the most famous paintings in the world, The Mona Lisa, although she wears a headset and holds a rocket launcher. The piece first appeared in the Soho district, in the west of London. While Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa very sweet and calm, Banksy gives it a powerful, almost menacing tone. You can see that while the facial expression remains calm as in the Mona Lisa, the tone accompanied with the rocket launcher is threatening.

Shows how normal war has become and how we do not seem to care for instance when we have a civil war in the US on our doorstep, but it is always happening in a place somewhere away from our peaceful lives. “Banksy is questioning war, because the Mona Lisa is symbolising all of us which contributing to the beginning of war, maybe due to the capitalist society we live in today.” Bloomberg 2017

This is exactly what our teachings were talking about this week, the two dimensional thinking he has – the attitude we have with war and how blind we have become to its threats.

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banksy mona lisa bazooka - Google Search

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