All posts tagged: Banksy

Covid19 quarantine #1

Published by Kate Stockman

Covid19 quarantine #1 There are different ways to cope with what happened to us in the last 6 weeks. I see people desperately trying to keep on going, despite the lock-down, the social distancing and the nasty virus outside. I hear them dreaming about gin tonics on a sunny terrace, summer festivals they miss and sports events that are cancelled. It reminds me sometimes of contestants of ‘Expedition Robinson’ who, on the 26 th day, are fantasizing about burgers and fried chicken. People who are amusing us with smart, crazy and sometimes very fun challenges, celebrities who keep on broadcasting their real (& fake) self and others who want to understand as quickly as possible how we are going to live after the pandemic. Webinars about the post-Corona future, articles and podcasts with dramatic & utopian (and everything in between) future scenarios are launched at the speed of light, and I think this makes sense. But there are on the other side of the spectrum people who embrace effortless, without any difficulty, this slow life …

Saving Banksy

Published by Kate Stockman

I can be short about this one: the Banksy exhibition ‘The Art of Banksy’ (last week still in Amsterdam, now in Antwerp) is a tourist trap. If you are really into Banksy, there are other options. Do not believe the hype that it’s a must-go exhibition, whatever the media or the so called experts try to make you believe. The entire setting is wrong. Brick or ‘arty-farty’ wallpaper to present ‘street-art-for-galleries’, cardboard & fake stencils plus to indispensable spray cans to ‘show’ how Banksy works, hardly any original street work and above all, a ‘street-art-for-the-masses vibe. We visited the expo (helàs!) in Amsterdam and could not get out fast enough. Compare it with eating a cheap pizza in a bad Italian restaurant and thinking that you visited Rome. Got the picture? Don’t get me wrong. I love Banksy and his work. We visited Dismaland (twice), Bristol, Calais & London, to see his work. Because let’s face it, the best place to see a Banksy is still in the street, were it belongs. It’s not easy to find some originals, …

Banksy’s Dismaland, a fabulous stunt art show. PART 2.

Published by Kate Stockman

Many pieces are sharp critiques on modern amusement. Banksy’s whale jumping trough a ring in a toilet was inspired by Sea World that was ripped apart by the 2013 documentary “Blackfish.” Or Cinderella’s crashed carnage inside her grungy dark castle, surrounded by flashing paparazzi with motorbikes. When you leave the ‘scene’, you can buy your own souvenir photograph for 5 pound. (“Terribly expensive”, as the staff comments without asking.) Another central spot is the Jeffrey Archer Memorial Fire Pit where visitors can warm themselves around a daily burning of the local lord’s books. There is Ben Long’s sculpture of a horse constructed from scaffolding (a piece that was shown in the V&A). I loved Banksy’s model boat pond with overly crowded boats packed with asylum seekers you can operate yourself from the side with a (paying) remote controller. You never know if you will stair a police boat or the refugee boat and that’s the point. Some dead bodies floating in the water could not be more pain full, with little refugee Aylan in mind, …

banksy_dismaland_thesquidstories

Banksy’s Dismaland, a fabulous stunt art show. PART 1

Published by Kate Stockman

The moment I got the news that Banksy was about to open an entertainment park, (one that is not) near his hometown Bristol, I knew that I wanted to be there. With any means. But as expected, we were not alone. From the first second the website was online, he crashed, due to 6 million hits from all over the world. You would crash for less, no? Our planning began, as we decided to take the car, get on the Eurotunnel, a car-train under the channel, to drive another 3 hours to this weird little coast village, called Weston-Super-Mare. (Very cool name by the way.) The quest for tickets started. (A Banksy show at Bristol city museum in 2009 attracted more than 300,000 visitors over 12 weeks, so we knew it was not going to be easy to get in). One week after the opening week, the site was back on line and the hunt kicked off. 3 hours later, we had 4 most desired tickets for an evening session, and the day after, 4 …