Brendan Blanton

Exit Through The Gift Shop

24203

The Banksy directed Exit Through The Gift Shop is a fascinating movie because it raises far more questions than it even attempts to answer. On its face, the movie is a documentary about Thierry Guetta, a slightly unstable Franco-American who obsessively records his surroundings.This habit only gains focus when he is introduced to the world of 21st century Street Art by his cousin, the French artist known as Space Invader. Thierry then goes on to meet many of the biggest names in Street Art, most notably the American Shepard Fairey and the British Banksy, who allow Thierry to video their exploits because they believe he is making a documentary to chronicle their transient-in-nature work. When this documentary turns out to be audio-visual gibberish, Banksy casually suggests that Thierry create some art of his own. During this portion of the movie things go from being clear-cut, if somewhat bizarre, to being outright crazy and suspiciously ironic. While one can delve into more esoteric interpretations of the movie, the viewer can easily glean some insights from the surface interpretation of the film. First, it is nearly impossible (with a few exceptions, most notably old-school freehand graffitists) to study contemporary Street Art without some understanding of traditional printmaking techniques. Street artists often make use of prints (sometimes made with traditional techniques, like relief printing or serigraphy, but more often created with the aid of home or professional digital printers), which are then affixed to walls by wheatpasting. This technique is advantageous for two reasons; one, wheat-pasting allows works to be put up relatively quickly (useful when such an action is undertaken illegally), and two, inherent to the very nature of printmaking, it allows for the creation of rhythm through repetition. In the movie, Shepard Fairey comments on the power given to his OBEY images (which he himself describes as just an inside joke) by their repeated viewing worldwide. Contemporary street artists who use spray paint as their medium, like Banksy, also make regular use of stencils, a technique borrowed from serigraphy. Spray stenciling has the same advantages as wheat-pasting prints, speed and reproducibility. The influence of printmaking really becomes apparent when the Street Artists move off of the street. Printmaking, particularly serigraphy, allows those artists to mass produce their formerly temporary works for sale, collection, and viewing. Printmaking allows the average person to own a work of art. The early part of the film splits its focus between Thierry and the street artists he follows. Unfortunately, most of these artists are only given the briefest screen time. One of the films central theses is that Street Art is a legitimate artistic movement. This belief is put forth both by the artists themselves, and by their fans/collectors. The dedication of the artist and the appreciation of their works on the street by passerby speak to the movements true legitimacy, while the lines of gallery viewers arriving at the suggestion of L.A. Weekly and the thousands of dollars spent by collectors speak to the kind of legitimacy that matters most in America: fame and fortune. Some critics of Street Art complain that it forces itself work upon the viewer; one can only assume that

Brendan Blanton

Exit Through The Gift Shop

24203

such persons dislike all public art (although their tacit acceptance of invasive commercial advertising becomes that much more perplexing). While the movie implies that Banksy views Mr. Brainwash as a poseur, I suspect that Banksy is not truly upset about the success of Mr. Brainwash. Indeed, the names Exit Through The Gift Shop and Mr. Brainwash hint at the wry sarcasm Banksy employs to call out deep-pocketed collectors willing to pay through the nose for work whose value is based solely on hype. This idea is the second thesis of the film: the art world, at least the gallery/collector portion, has become too commercialized. In my opinion the film is less documentary and more multi-level conceptual work of culture-jamming. The success of Mr. Brainwash serves as a metaphor for both Banksys unexpected rise from Vandal to Artist, and the unfortunate merger of the art world into the corporate world.