Bibliography

Duncan, Carol. “The Art Museum as Ritual.” The Art of Art History. Ed. Donald Preziosi.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 473-485.

"Designated" Graffiti Area?

The second piece of Banksy’s artwork that Julia and I found when we were wandering London was a graffiti image of a policeman walking a poodle on a leash. The interesting thing about this piece is that we found it on a wall inside Cargo bar in Shoreditch. Next to the image of the policeman and the dog is the statement “This wall is a designated graffiti area”. Banksy appears to be making the point that while graffiti is usually associated with street art and freedom, “designating” graffiti areas seems like somewhat of an oxymoron. Graffiti is typically used as a rebellion against institutionalized art and consumerist culture, yet this graffiti wall is being used within a bar for aesthetic pleasure. As I stated in the previous post, Banksy’s pieces seem to be a bit contradictory, making the issue of “street art vs. institutionalized art” that much more interesting.

Posted by: Maddy

Banksy's Tesco Flag

            Julia and I walked around London one day in an attempt to locate a few of Banksy’s works. The first piece we located was near the Highbury & Islington overground station on a wall next to a pharmacy. It was Banksy’s Tesco Flag, which originally depicted a young boy raising a Tesco flag as two other children looked on with their hands over their hearts. Bansky is clearing trying to make a statement about consumerist culture and how so many people in today’s society are not only dependent on this culture, but praise it to the point of worship.

            The interesting aspect about this piece, however, is that while Banksy is clearly trying to make a point about consumerism and corporate institutions in general, his artwork is covered by a sheet of plastic. The top half that originally covered the flag was broken, and both the flag and the two children’s faces had been painted over. At some point, however, someone must have considered this graffiti “art”, enough so that they wanted to preserve it. By being such a well-known artist, Banksy is in a sense giving in to this consumerist or institutionalized culture – he surely has his own sort of “cult” following. This begs the question – is it possible to make a political statement through art without invalidating that statement by the ritualized culture that surrounds art admiration for aesthetic reasons?

 

Posted by: Maddy

Reassigning Van Gogh's Chair to Camden

Julia and I chose to reassign Vincent Van Gogh’s Chair from the National Gallery to Camden Market. One day when Julia was walking through Camden, she wandered into an eclectic tea-house. After strolling through a deserted hallway, she saw a chair sitting alone in a corner. She was struck by its subtle charm, and took a picture to document it. This was before we were given the assignment of reassigning an artwork, so after seeing Van Gogh’s Chair, we thought it worked perfectly.

            While Van Gogh’s Chair does not exactly fit neatly into our theme of “street art vs. institutionalized art”, we did feel that the idea of changing the place in which an artwork is viewed can also change its meaning applies equally to both our portfolio and this assignment. We wanted to move Van Gogh’s piece to Camden because viewing such a notable work by such a prominent artist in Camden, a very eclectic part of London, would not only come as a shock but perhaps even compliment the painting in unexpected ways. Similar to the way in which moving artwork from the streets of London into a gallery can change its meaning and take away some of its edge, Van Gogh’s piece can be altered by moving it to Camden.

Posted by: Maddy

Introduction

The aim of this blog is to question the difference between street art and institutionalized art. We want to investigate what effect the location in which the artwork is viewed has on people's perceptions of that artwork. We were originally interested in this idea after learning about the ritual of museology as defined by Carol Duncan. As Duncan proposes within The Art Museum As Ritual, "in the liminal space of the museum, everything...may become art" (p.485). Outside the museum, however, there is no "hard and fast" definition of what is considered art.While outside the space of the museum, artists may seem to have more freedom to express themselves, this type of art is often considered illegal. Inside the museum, the audience's attention is directed at a particular selection and is "invited" to follow their rules. On the streets, viewers are not typically expecting to be confronted with images that they would consider art and they may be surprised and contemplate them at first, but once they know these images, they may become just one more object in their day by day lives.

To investigate this question, we took it upon ourselves to find some of Banksy's artwork on the streets of London. We felt especially intrigued by Banksy because he is an internationally well-known artist who is highly regarded for his street art and despite his reputation, his identity remains anonymous. Our thoughts on his work in comparison to works within museums will be expressed through this blog.

Yellow Line Flower Painting, Banksy, Bethnal Green, London

 

Posted by: Julia and Maddy