Here are some links to check out & refresh your memory (we should have looked at them all in class) for tonight's post:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest_art
http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm
http://www.guerrillagirls.com/posters/index.shtml
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_Orange
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Site=C4&Date=20060305&Category=NEWS06&ArtNo=305001&Ref=PH&Params=Itemnr=1
Questions I'd like you to consider, for one of these artists or all of them, are:
1) What is this artist trying to get people to think about and/or persuade them of?
2) Who is, or might be, their target audience? A larger, unintentional audience?
3) What rhetorical strategies are they using? Are they successful, or at least interesting or thought-provoking?
Then, go ahead and make a post...it doesn't have to be super long---say, at least 10 lines---but should be some aspect of your thinking/insights on these questions, and your response to one or all of the artists we've looked at. The goal here is for a dialogue to emerge, so be sure to consider your classmates' posts as well....
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Not so sure if this is where I am supposed to be posting my commentary, but...I'm assuming so. I have been a fan of Banksy's street art for a few years, as a close friend of mine does some professional street art and grafitti himself. Like Banksy, he also tends to do more politically focused pieces. I find Banksy's pieces very entertaining as most of his pieces of art take on multiple meanings and are open to interpretation. I find that because one is forced to think so long and hard upon the meaning, the final point is made much more definitive. Also, the sheer size of his street art tends to make a more effective statment a well.
ReplyDeleteALI IVES!
The Guerilla Girls have taken an unconventional approach at getting their voices heard. As stated in class, their mission is to diminish sexism in museums. More specifically, they want to see women receiving equal amounts of art displayed, art exhibits, and salaries. The Guerilla Girls promote their message using bus ads, large-scale billboards, and holding workshops. They display their information in various forms, using "report-card" style, and lists. However, the most creative and telling aspect of the Guerilla Girls may be their name. "Guerilla" referring to the underground pursuits of guerilla warfare, which explains their unique appraoch to their issue.
ReplyDeleteCaitlin Knotek
One of the graffiti murals painted by Banksy, depicts a young boy fishing with a homemade fishing pole, and tied to the end a syringe. The boy is shown in a little sailors outfit, using a homemade fishing pole, and long eyelashes giving his face a sweet, innocent look. The mural looks like it was painted on a wall, and on the other side of that wall is the beach, or some other body of water. I think that by painting this mural, Banksy wanted to draw attention to the issues of pollution, as well as the corruption that has taken place within our society. The innocence of a young boy out for a fishing trip is somewhat lost in the mural, and in society, through the use of a syringe as the bait or hook. The little boy is being exposed to the corruption of the world by coming into contract with a syringe, most likely left at the beach by a drug user. Also the issue of pollution comes up in this painting. We as a human population are contaminating the world. By showing the young boy using the syringe it shows that pollution and carelessness on the parts of adults has bad results for our children, as well as for future generations. The little boy fishing with the syringe is sad, and asks the question of “what is our world coming to?”
ReplyDeleteTo view the mural:
http://www.banksy.co.uk/outdoors/horizontal_1.htm
Annie Rogitz
In regards to the little boy with the fishing pole, when I saw it, I thought that it might be that the boy had been trying to catch fish, and instead caught the syringe. This could be a social commentary suggesting that the ocean is more full of syringes than it is fish. The ocean, and the fishing in general could all be metaphors for social interactions between people all of the world. It could be trying to suggest that there is more bad (syringes) than good (fish). Whatever it means, it definitely employs pathos based rhetoric because it uses an innocent boy harmlessly fishing to discuss gritty social issues like drug use.
ReplyDeleteOn the Banksy website, a piece created by Banksy himself, there is a black and white rat dressed up in a striped tie, name tag and cuffs. He is holding a briefcase and an umbrella. To the left, in capital red letters, Banksy spray-painted “LET THEM EAT CRACK.” When I looked at this piece I believe Banksy was trying to make the rat seem almost like a business man, possibly even someone who works for Wall Street considering the fact that the mural was painted in New York City. The “LET THEM EAT CRACK” is a reference to Marie Antoinette when she said “Let them eat cake” during the French Revolution when she was told that the people of France were starving. The painting was created after the house market crash in 2008. With all of this information I can assume that Banksy is trying to make a point the players of Wall Street are basically walking off of Wall Street and taking their money with them. Then telling those of the lower classes that they really don’t matter and the financial devastation created because of the crash is no issue of theirs. I believe Banksy was trying to target Wall Street and who had involvement in the crash. “LET THEM EAT CRACK” is definitely a pathos rhetoric because crack is used as a direct stereotype and symbol of lower class. Plus crack is horrendous, addicting drug.
ReplyDeleteBanksy is an artist who creates work that is realistic and current. He tries to get people to think critically about their morals, government policies, and overall way of life. He is targeting all kinds of people. It ranges from government officials to an average citizen. No matter who he is targeting, his message is relevant to current events. His rhetoric strategies are very good. This is because he paints in places that can catch the appropriate audience for his work. In addition, there is many connections with his work and the location of where it is painted. Banksy put a lot of thought and strategy for his work and is able to reach his message to the thoughts of thousands through one painting.
ReplyDeleteThanks to those of you who have commented thus far---there have been some very interesting & insightful posts. I've enjoyed reading them.
ReplyDeleteSee you in class.
PS who left the post above? Make sure you in some way associate either your first or last name with your post, so I can give you credit for doing the homework!
The most interesting artist that caught my attention in class was Banksy. Banksy is an English graffiti artist who creates a lot of street art that have many interpretations to them. The one that caught my eye was the street art done in New Orleans with Abe Lincoln. In this picture, Abe Lincoln is seen pushing a cart full of bottles as if he is a homeless person. I think this signifies that Abe Lincoln, even though he had much power, can still be affected like everyone else (in relation to Katrina). Banksy is trying to persuade people to think out of the box, because not everyday do people have the chance to think that creatively. He is trying to get people to think about issues that have been going on all over the world, such as poverty and everyday life. His target audience would be the general population because his art reflects issues from everyday life.
ReplyDeleteLeah Galbraith
Object Orange is a group of four artists in Detroit that have been painting dilapidated houses a bright shade of orange. The four artists only go by their first names due to the fear of being prosecuted for their actions. The purpose of "Object Orange" is to draw attention to the buildings and to get the city to tear them down or repair them from their previous state of being. So the main audience that Object Orange wants to target is the general public, and possibly the government so they will take action to Object Orange's actions. The kind of analysis that Object Orange is using is Genre analysis, due to the fact that they are trying to show its audience the difference of the buildings by painting them orange in order to possibly show that the building is damaged and needs to either be repaired or broken down.
ReplyDelete-Isaiah Williams
PEACE OUT!
My favorite artist was Banksy. The street art that spoke to me the most was the image of pres lincon crunched down low pusing a cart like a homeless person. To me this symbolizes the downward turn our nation has taken. Pres lincon was a monumental figure ending slavery and unfortunally after hurican katarina many african americans experinced the majority of the hardships after the the hurican. It shows how depressed pres lincon would be if he had to see our nation in such shambles espically after working so hard to create eqaul opportunity for everyone across the nation.
ReplyDelete-julia bachis
Banksy "Let them eat crack"
ReplyDeleteWe talked abut this image in class on Monday but I really did not have much to say about it then. After I got home I stared at it for a few minutes to try and analyze it, and I think I came up with some good conclusions. The rat to me represents the high politicians that do not care about the poor people in our country. As we can see the rat's suitcase is dropping money and the rat does not seem to care. Also, there is the inscription that says "let them eat crack". As someone said in class on Monday, it is like what Marie Antoinette allegedly said when her country was going through great troubles.
-Alex Garcia
I liked the painting of the little girl afraid of the rat. I found it interesting that Banksy didn't paint the rat, it is actually the wall. The bricks are what make him up and all Banksy drew were the ears and tail. I interpreted this as the little girl representing society and the rat representing what we are afraid of. The satirical thing is that she is scared of something that isn't necessarily there. It's part of the wall, just like rats are a part of society. What made us scared of them? It's just as innocent as the little girl in the picture but there is a misconception and fear of them. This can also be seen as society being scared of something without actually looking at it. If society would just look they would realize that the rat/bricks isn't anything to be scared of. Many of the things we fear are irrelevant to the true horrors going on in the world.
ReplyDeleteIn reference to Banksy, he has a wide range of topics that he tries to get people to think about and persuade them on. His New York City pieces featured his rat drawings consisting of a rat as a tourist and as a businessman. In the businessman painting, he had the phrase, "Let them eat crack," which as discussed in class Monday, might be in reference to the famous line, "Let them eat cake," which Marie Antoinette said in response to the famine in France. However, what most people do not know is that Marie's comment was not meant to be cynical but instead was an accurate suggestion. During that time, France ruled that all bakers most charge the same price for fancy bread as the did normal bread because of the famine. Banksy, on the other hand, might have a cynical tone because of the way the poor are treated by higher class people. Banksy targets more of a mature audience because his themes and messages cannot be undestood by children as in the Hurricane Katrina paintings. He uses satire and cynicism to get his messages across to his audience.
ReplyDeletePersonally I had never heard of Bansky but when in class, I found his art statements very strong. Considering the size of many of his paintings, I believe he is trying to appeal to the people who walk but his art, thus the general public of where he does his paintings. The one piece that stood out to me the most was the one of the "business man" rat with the words "let them eat crack" written next to him. I found this one as interesting because probably like many people, I didn't get the meaning at first, thats possibly why it stood out to me the most too. The rat, I believe, symbolizes, like stated above, the higher ordered politicians. And the words "let them eat crack" represents how little of a concern they have for the lower classmen. Its interesting to see that Bansky used the word crack rather than another word because this specific word is quite controversial. I believe it wouldn't had portrayed such a strong meaning had he painted a different word. also its Interesting to see what my peers have to say because one pointed out something I didnt see the first time I looked at this piece; the money inside the briefcase.
ReplyDelete-Allie Pena
The artist I found that was the most influential to me was Banksy. The art that I chose was the mural on the wall of a building with a large rat getting painted over by a worker. To me this art represents how mainstream societys negative perception of street art. Although street art requires in depth skill, alot of people consider it vandalism and are constantly painting over it. Also in the art the large rat has scissors and is cutting the cord that holds the worker on the wall. In my opinion, this means that even while people try to paint over his art, his art will never be stopped and he will always be able to express himself. It also means that just because he isn't selling his art or have it in a museum doesn't mean it shouldn't get the proper respect.
ReplyDeleteKyle Smolinsky
Banksy is trying to show that he will continue his art and messages even though they will be taken down by the authorities. His target audience is definitely the authorities and also the people that see his work. He pants pictures that are already being painted over. His use of rats and people, people are only portrayed when taking down his work or authority figures doing something wrong.
ReplyDeleteWith Bansky's street art he expresses a lot of different views with problems that are prevalent in the world around us. I find them very interesting because he draws them a way that is unique to him...with the incorporation of the rats. He seems to have a theme to his pictures that show his point of view on the specific issue at hand. For example, the one with the rat in a business suit with blood on his hands and "let them eat crack" in bloody letters behind him. This image seems to be referring to Marie Antuanette when she says "let them eat cake" during the French Revolution. I also found the gorilla girls very entertaining and interesting to see how they expressed their feelings about the way that females were depicted in the art world.
ReplyDelete