A Corporate Vandal

For my project, I have decided to create a multifaceted exploration of the infamous street artist Banksy, blending elements of parody, pastiche and artistic replication via artistic replications. I chose to delve into the complex interplay between the celebrity, anonymity and public perception of Banksy through an SNL (Saturday Night Live) style skit that imagines him in a situation similar to that of the popular show ‘The Office’. Throughout this process, I also delved into his artistic techniques by recreating some of his most famous pieces of art, whilst still providing a platform to examine the broader implications of parody, and its impact on our understanding of celebrity culture. 

Banksy, the street artist who first emerged from Bristol’s underground scene in the 90s, is arguably one of the most influential, yet controversial, figures in contemporary art and even society right now. Whilst his true identity remains a closely guarded secret, his provocative and politically charged pieces of art, which are characterised by their distinctive stenciling techniques and social commentary, have captivated audiences around the globe and challenged traditional notions of celebrity. In the realm of the traditional celebrity, Banksy occupies a unique position as an anonymous celebrity, a household name but also known truly by none. His anonymity is now an integral part of his artistic identity and message - the paradoxical status raising intriguing questions about the nature of his fame and the relationship to his own authenticity within today’s contemporary society. I believe that Banksy’s anonymity allows him to maintain control over his own narrative, free from the loss of privacy and therefore intense scrutiny that other artists and people of a celebrity status face. This means he can continue to create subversive artistic pieces without the constraints of public identity, mystifying his persona, and emphasising the impact of his work.

To authentically capture Banksy’s essence, I immersed myself into his artistic techniques to create props for my skit, particularly his method of stenciling - which I found took meticulous planning and execution. I also recreated his famous ‘Girl with Balloon’ piece, which I went as far as to ‘destroy’, as Banksy notably did when his piece self-destructed when at auction at Sotheby’s. My hands-on experience in order to create accurate props aligns with Bourdieu’s concept of cultural capital, as I accumulated practical knowledge that enhanced my understanding of Banksy’s real life value. Bourdieu defines cultural capital as the ‘accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that one can tap into to demonstrate one’s cultural competence and social status’ (Bourdieu, 1977) - so my replication of Banksy’s art demonstrates my own acquisition of cultural capital. Since I was also recreating his own work, rather than mocking it, it correlated strongly with Frederick Jameson’s theory of postmodern pastiche, which is ‘a neutral practice of such mimicry, without any of parody’s ulterior motives’.

The decision to situate Banksy within the context of a ‘The Office’ style skit was deliberate in order to comically explore the tension between his anonymity and his celebrity status - I wanted to highlight the idea of how absurd Banksy’s anonymity may seem in a world so obsessed with identity and ultimately recognition. I chose to create it in the style of an SNL piece - a channel that is well known for the parodies and comical views on society that it displays. The skits have a significant impact on the public’s perception of celebrities and political figures, with satirical portrayals amplifying certain personality traits. This aligns with the concept of media priming, where exposure to certain portrays can make the highlighted traits of a celebrity more salient in viewer’s minds when they evaluate the public figures, ‘working within our own memory to shift which ideas become top-of-mind’ (Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2017). In the case of an anonymous celebrity such as Banksy, it adds an intriguing dimension to the impact of parody on the public’s view. The lack of a well known, public person creates space for a unique satirical interpretation, potentially giving the parody even more power in shaping the public’s perception. This means that the parody could even potentially become more ‘real’ to the public than the actual Banksy, aligning with Baudrillard’s idea of simulacra, as it leads to a hyperreality where the media ‘represents world that is more real than the reality that we can experience’ (Baudrillard, 1994). The lines between the fictional idea of Banksy and the reality is blurred through my parody, which already faced the challenge of constructing a persona from almost solely the artwork he has left for the public to see.

Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra is particularly relevant in my project, since the exploration of Banksy’s unique anonymity whilst still maintaining celebrity status, raises many questions on the nature of fame and it’s relationship to artistic authenticity. Banksy’s persona has become a form of hyperreality - with blurred lines between his real identity and the public idea of him. Or her. 

As part of my project, I undertook a media pilgrimage to see some of his pieces in and around Bristol - which I subsequently included in the intro of my skit. This aligns with Nick Couldry’s work on pilgrimage, arguing that these journeys allow fans the space to connect with significant points of a celebrity’s narrative, or at least their public narrative. Couldry explains that ‘Pilgrimage, in other words, addresses a particular structural possibility within what we might call MediaSpace’ (Couldry, 2007). When seeing Banksy’s pieces myself, I felt the ‘compulsion of proximity’ that Couldry explains, feeling a somewhat direct connection to the invisible celebrity himself. 

Throughout this project, I found myself significantly grappling with Judith Butler’s concept of performativity, with Banksy’s identity becoming a lens through which to examine how identity is performed and perceived in a contemporary landscape and culture. Butler explains that ‘we lose ourselves in what we read, only to return to ourselves, transformed and part of a more expansive world’ (Popova) - in Banksy’s case, the public lose themselves in the mystery of Banksy. I was able to expand on this and explore the concept in both my artwork and skit. Through my blend of artistic replication, parody and cultural commentary, I was able to immerse myself into the world of Banksy and his subsequent anonymous celebrity status, as complicated as it is. From Baudrillard’s simulacra to Couldry’s media pilgrimage, I was able to explore the complex dynamics at play through my project. 

Bibliography 

Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and simulation (S. F. Glaser, Trans.). University of Michigan. 

Bourdieu, Pierre. 1977a. “Cultural Reproduction and Social Reproduction.” Pp. 487–511 in Power and Ideology in Education, edited by J. Karabel and A. H. Halsey. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Couldry, Nick (2007) Pilgrimage in mediaspace: continuities and transformations. Etnofoor

Popova, M, Philosopher Judith Butler on the value of the humanities and why we read, The Marginalian

Roskos-Ewoldsen, D. R., & Roskos-Ewoldsen, B. (2017). Priming. In The International Encyclopedia of Media Effects. Wiley-Blackwell.

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