Ah yes, going after world renowned artist for graffiti because he made them feel bad. Truth speaking to power will always be unpopular with those in power.
I mean tbh they go after all the world renowned graffiti artists, as by nature graffiti is illegal. There are plenty muralists that aren’t sought after by the authorities because they only paint legal (…under that name anyway…) but by definition graffiti is a crime.
He’s not because people not into graff know him so if he writes on your building it’s worth money, yaaay. Even though those who know graff know him as a biter, for his copying of Blek Le Rat.
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Right, for people as famous as Banksy and nobody else, that’s partly what I’m talking about. Sure legal murals get protected all the time but writers/bombers (like King Robbo who banksy dissed,) and even most “street artists” who don’t write, (like Blek Le Rat, who Banksy bit) get chased by the cops (or train yard bulls), it’s the name of the game, and frankly it wouldn’t be as fun without it.
It means Banksy, who has remained anonymous for more than 25 years, could finally be unmasked as he would be required to publicly disclose his name if brought to court.
Gonna be hard to bring them to court if you don’t even know their name, isn’t it?
With the London surveillance apparatus, I bet they could figure out who Banksy is. It’d be an insane waste of time and resources, but I bet they could.
Finally all that money they’re giving to antichrist speaker Peter Thiel going to good use
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I’m pretty sure there’s plenty of people out there who know exactly who Banksy is. It’ll be like with The Stig, all the journalists knew who he was but the mystery was more interesting and sold more papers.
Seems like an opportunity for a bunch of street artists to show up at court and pull an “I’m Spartacus”.
I’ve long heard that his identity is an open secret and a lot of people know his actual identity. Solid chance the UK government already knows who he is.
He has sold some of his work at auction, I’m guessing they didn’t write a check to “Banksy”.
Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives
Yup. It’s a one way trip to fascist dystopia until the oligarchs feel they might genuinely face the old French treatment.
Some prophecies are self fulfilling. Stalin’s paranoia didn’t kill him maybe, but it didn’t exactly save him.
Something about the parallel of Capitalism and Fascism eating themselves
Banksy is as much a person as Nicolas Bourbaki was. Although unlike Bourbaki, there is allegedly one guy who is kind of the main guy, but if that one guy goes to prison, I’m fairly certain Bansky artworks will continue to appear.
In fact I’d put money on the fact that one would appear in a prominent place soon after.
And if the establishment somehow manage to round up every single person associated with Banksy and manage to get something to stick to every single one of them, which I strongly doubt is possible, the rise in wannabe Banksy groups doing the same thing won’t be far off.
The artwork is almost always made with stencils and spray paints. Stencils can be prepared well in advance. A trained group could have one of these up in under a couple of minutes.
If I was Banksy - or one of them - I would almost certainly have distributed my art to trusted individuals for the event of my incarceration and beyond.
In fact I’d put money on the fact that one would appear in a prominent place soon after.
I mean, if it’s multiple people and the ones not incarcerated don’t immediately drop more art, I’d be disappointed.
I wonder how close they could get to putting one on the jail.
Do they realize how famous and beloved that person will be if they are identified?
I just want him up be the most unexpected person.
like Lord buckethead, or the most gammon looking brit on the island
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So the state will assume he’s in support and jail him on assumptions? For a painting?
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So telling that they tolerated his “criminal damage” for literally decades, until it made them actually look bad.
No… they just have become more repressive and no longer tolerate being called out. This is a scary reaction for democracy for just a painting on a wall.
All the other Banksy’s I can think of are just vaguely subversive about the system in general. CCTVs, Policemen kissing, hoodie wearer throwing flowers, assorted things about urban decay, that sort of thing. This is the first one I can think of that calls out a specific current event that you can attach names to.
Sounds to me like London just declared all their walls as open season
The article says it could result in a fine that’s based on the value of the damage. You’d think having a famous artist’s work would increase the value of the building.
would be funny if courts did agree it was net increase to value if they didnt destroy it
So really they devalued public property by destroying his artwork. I say bring the State up on charges.
Interesting. “The value of the damage.” I’d say it’s pretty likely the Banksy worked increased the value of the wall, if not the whole property. So is that negative damage? The people who decreased the value where those who tried to clean off the artwork.
How much does it cost to hire someone to pressure wash a wall for an hour in the UK?
But no, that’s an excellent point, removing the art work would actually be more damaging
So, if the damage increased the value of the building, it would necessitate the courts paying? Sounds reasonable.
They’re determined to Streisand Effect this into the history books, huh?
Could everyone in London just suddenly adopt a fashion trend of wearing V for Vendetta masks?
… Or is that already illegal?
The UK, in collaboration with the US, has been a surveillance state for over 15 years. Now is becoming an authoritarian one too.
“We must catch this villain who is making public edifices worth millions to our oligarchs!!”
Oh no! That is so scary. I hope that whoever it is doesn’t have decades of experience in working and traveling anonymously around the world while performing illegal acts of guerilla artwork while evading both the legal authorities and an adoring public fanbase!
Could have avoided the higher criminal charges by painting a building across the street, but this does demonstrate the insecurity of authority.
Fuck are you kidding me?
The plebs are getting rowdy. Surely this will send the message we’re hoping for and they’ll settle down.
