Surrealism/Absurdity/Paradox
As a spectator of Banksy’s work, over the past year one would perhaps have been delighted to visit his (or hers?) new art in Bristol. The unveiling of his art is often met with huge hype that draws attention both locally and internationally, and simultaneously a trail of aftermath events may follow which often absurdly reaffirms his initial intention. His work is so recognisable and accessible that anyone who pays even a smidge of attention would recognise his art in an instant, with the unmistakable style of paradoxical absurdity.
The Valentine
This mural appeared during the small hours on Valentine’s Day 2020, depicting a little girl’s seemingly innocent act of playing cupid with her toy catapult, hitting an intended target which exploded into red leafs and flowers mid-air, a paradoxical gesture on Valentine’s day, contrasting violence and love as the antinomy seems both surreal and absurd.
Events followed, further strengthening its absurdity, that the graffiti art (an act of vandalism) had itself been swiftly vandalised shortly after unveiling. By the time I had the chance of capturing the mural on camera in that early evening, the poppies placed by the artist on the road sign had already been taken by passers-by. On that very day, the building owner attempted to protect the artwork with perspex covering, but the protection and the mural itself had been defaced and vandalised by spray paint shortly after, which finally led to it being boarded up and concealed from public view, all of which started with the absurd attempt to protect the graffiti. A trail of distraction that perhaps even Banksy himself would have not foreseen but was openly pleased about.
The Aachoo!!
An other example of the destructive aftermath can also be seen in Bristol’s newest “gift” from Banksy on 10 December 2020 titled “Aachoo!!”. Again Banksy did not disappoint the locals during the pandemic with his witty mural depicting a seemingly elderly lady (seemingly, as the image appears to be grotesquely childlike) sneezing at the top of the steps with such force her dentures went flying. Perhaps a clear hint from Banksy: “put your mask on?”. On his official social media account he posted a photo of a man slipping down the steep hill with his umbrella bending backwards as if by the same force of the sneeze, lying in front of him a blown-over black waste bin with its contents falling out. Maybe again the messages of “put your mask on” and “a sneeze can be powerfully destructive”!
The aftermath however is probably an even more powerful story to tell. In this case, the sudden appearance of Banksy’s “gift” and its potential value had caused reasons for the owners of the wall to reconsider their house sale plans. This, according to some newspapers, had brought stress to the owners not only from the uncertainty as to how the additional value can be realised, but also from the constant flow of visitors that brings no peace. The absurdity of how a gift turns into a headache, again, one would speculate whether the artist would have been aware of this paradoxical reality.
In every case Banksy’s choice of location maximises the visual impact of his art. The social and geographical location of his blank canvas often offers obscured perspectives that can only be interpreted in full within its original surroundings. These surrealist techniques had often been used to maximise the impact and to emphasis the paradoxical absurdity. It would beg the question for anyone who attempts to transpose or remove these murals for commercial purposes, the act itself would be an ethically dicey subject. These artworks or graffiti once taken out of context, half if not full meaning would be lost, which in theory would equate to the plain removal of any unwanted graffiti.
But perhaps there is a way to enjoy Banksy’s art out of context and at home. As an ardent fun of all branches of surrealism and paradoxical art, I am partial to artists who use visual perspectives to create new meaning, even if as a result of borrowing from others.
The 3D artwork here was part of the John D Wilson’s 2014 collection named “Lowry Meets Banksy”. Wilson borrows techniques from one of my favorite contemporary surrealists, Patrick Hughes, depicting images in reverse perspectives on canvas, in this case, mixing Banksy’s various artworks in 3D with L. S. Lowry’s industrial backdrop. As one’s body sway side to side, hidden images reveal themselves from the 3D railway arches at this new industrial location created by Lowry, which brings and enhances new meaning for both artists’ work.
10/01/2021 Written by Tian Ze Hao