Banksy = Miley Cyrus
I have just been sitting here digesting the story of Banksy setting up a street side booth selling his artwork for $60 and no one really buying it. There are a lot of take aways from the situation, the main one being that the work is not worth $60 to the general public....
The reason that Banksy art sells for huge money when properly marketed is that it has built up as the "thing", propped up by an art market that is always looking for the next "thing". Of all the street art, he ended up as the anointed one. Is the work good, yeah, is it clever, OH YEAH, is the work challenging, not really. This sidewalk stunt is amusing and clever (very clever) but it's not really challenging authority. It is sort of making fun of his "value" in the art world, while in actuality, it is something done to continue building the myth. If he really wanted to be challenging, do it and never tell anyone but then you couldn't make a video and get talked about everywhere on the internet.
This is where Miley Cyrus comes in. Is Miley talented, yeah, are the tunes catchy, OH YEAH, is the work challenging, not really. It is just more grist for the radio. No real ground is being broken. She did a sexualized performance, appears in provocative outfits and talks about a "Movement" (watch the promos for her new MTV special). But it just an old trick dressed in the current clothes (for a failed attempt at this watch Katy Perry on this last SNL). All coldly calculated, uber funded and marketed to the millionth degree.
Two of a kind. I guess I can't complain, I draw my characters in the format of other entertainment properties so that a bit of their sheen might wear off on me. But I would like to think that if I did have access to that mega audience, I would try to not just be clever and manipulative, but would instead try to create something sincere and special, try to actually touch that audience.....
