Banksy could be unmasked as police probe 'criminal damage' over Royal Courts of Justice artwork
Banksy could be unmasked as police probe 'criminal damage' over Royal Courts of Justice artwork | LBC
Sounds to me like London just declared all their walls as open season
Ah yes, going after world renowned artist for graffiti because he made them feel bad. Truth speaking to power will always be unpopular with those in power.
I mean tbh they go after all the world renowned graffiti artists, as by nature graffiti is illegal. There are plenty muralists that aren't sought after by the authorities because they only paint legal (...under that name anyway...) but by definition graffiti is a crime.
He's not because people not into graff know him so if he writes on your building it's worth money, yaaay. Even though those who know graff know him as a biter, for his copying of Blek Le Rat.
UK, what the bloody hell is wrong with you.
Our current government is the labour party, the one of the big two that is supposed to be more left leaning. They haven't been left leaning in twenty years, they crept to centrist and now the creep to the right continues. They're not dissimilar from the democrats in America. Internationally, there seems to be a general move towards the right and we are certainly following it. Demonstrations and activism don't seem to help. Shit is fucked, basically.
It means Banksy, who has remained anonymous for more than 25 years, could finally be unmasked as he would be required to publicly disclose his name if brought to court.
Gonna be hard to bring them to court if you don’t even know their name, isn’t it?
With the London surveillance apparatus, I bet they could figure out who Banksy is. It’d be an insane waste of time and resources, but I bet they could.
The fact that they're going to all this trouble over this image proves the point the image was making better than anything else possibly could have.
Could always make them waste even more resources by adding noise to what little data they might have.
I'm Spartacus Banksy!
Does he still install them himself? Isn't it likely he sent someone to do it for him?
i don't think it'd be that many resources. that's why they put up the surveillance in the first place. so its easy to find anyone and no one can easily hide.
Finally all that money they’re giving to antichrist speaker Peter Thiel going to good use
I’m pretty sure there’s plenty of people out there who know exactly who Banksy is. It’ll be like with The Stig, all the journalists knew who he was but the mystery was more interesting and sold more papers.
Seems like an opportunity for a bunch of street artists to show up at court and pull an “I’m Spartacus”.
I've long heard that his identity is an open secret and a lot of people know his actual identity. Solid chance the UK government already knows who he is.
Them silently knowing his identity is not the same as them proving his identity in court though.
Banksy is a company at this point. They can find them if they want to. It's not like they've never exchanged money for thier work before.
Rumors (which are even on Wikipedia) say it's Robert Del Naja from Massive Attack, who started as a graffiti artist. Bansky told interviewers that he was inspired by Del Naja.
So telling that they tolerated his "criminal damage" for literally decades, until it made them actually look bad.
No.. they just have become more repressive and no longer tolerate being called out. This is a scary reaction for democracy for just a painting on a wall.
All the other Banksy's I can think of are just vaguely subversive about the system in general. CCTVs, Policemen kissing, hoodie wearer throwing flowers, assorted things about urban decay, that sort of thing. This is the first one I can think of that calls out a specific current event that you can attach names to.
Roger Hallam - one of the founders of extinction rebellion - did a series of podcasts from prison I listened to several years back now. He spoke of this move to authoritarianism being an almost inevitable part of the process that can result in a chance of real social change.
I think his assessment of climate change is wrong in some pretty important aspects. But he has studied social change, and he has put his money where his mouth is. He is locked up now I think. It will take quite a few more people to get locked or beaten up, and a further march towards authoritariansim, before the chance of real social change arises, if he is correct.
So they destroyed a priceless artwork, and are essentially planning to kill graffiti Santa next.
I wonder who's ordering this, and if they're aware it will not help the public opinion problem they're having.
Well Labour is just a different flavour of the Conservative Party. So it does track.
Ah, it's like that over there, too. Welcome to the party.
I'm pretty sure they no longer care about public opinion, they're confident there's nothing we can (or will) do.
That is the vibe the UK government gives in particular sometimes. There's been a few issues over the past decade and a bit where they just haven't given a fuck about privacy, free speech or recourse against the authorities.
It's mistake to think that way, though, because the nation actually is a democracy now.
Do they realize how famous and beloved that person will be if they are identified?
I just want him up be the most unexpected person.
like Lord buckethead, or the most gammon looking brit on the island
They're determined to Streisand Effect this into the history books, huh?
Banksy is as much a person as Nicolas Bourbaki was. Although unlike Bourbaki, there is allegedly one guy who is kind of the main guy, but if that one guy goes to prison, I'm fairly certain Bansky artworks will continue to appear.
In fact I'd put money on the fact that one would appear in a prominent place soon after.
And if the establishment somehow manage to round up every single person associated with Banksy and manage to get something to stick to every single one of them, which I strongly doubt is possible, the rise in wannabe Banksy groups doing the same thing won't be far off.
The artwork is almost always made with stencils and spray paints. Stencils can be prepared well in advance. A trained group could have one of these up in under a couple of minutes.
If I was Banksy - or one of them - I would almost certainly have distributed my art to trusted individuals for the event of my incarceration and beyond.
In fact I'd put money on the fact that one would appear in a prominent place soon after.
I mean, if it's multiple people and the ones not incarcerated don't immediately drop more art, I'd be disappointed.
I wonder how close they could get to putting one on the jail.
Nothing will meaningfully improve until the rich fear for their lives
Careful what you wish for. I'm not disagreeing, but when the powerful are fearful, it will get worse before it gets better. Could be a whole lot worse.
Pretty sure that's what's happening now with all the online safety act chat control protesters are actually terrorists stuff
Things are already getting worse at a rapid clip.
Fuck are you kidding me?
The plebs are getting rowdy. Surely this will send the message we're hoping for and they'll settle down.
“We must catch this villain who is making public edifices worth millions to our oligarchs!!”
Could everyone in London just suddenly adopt a fashion trend of wearing V for Vendetta masks?
... Or is that already illegal?
The UK, in collaboration with the US, has been a surveillance state for over 15 years. Now is becoming an authoritarian one too.
The article says it could result in a fine that’s based on the value of the damage. You’d think having a famous artist’s work would increase the value of the building.
would be funny if courts did agree it was net increase to value if they didnt destroy it
So really they devalued public property by destroying his artwork. I say bring the State up on charges.
Even funnier would be if they then put the cleaners in jail instead.
Interesting. "The value of the damage." I'd say it's pretty likely the Banksy worked increased the value of the wall, if not the whole property. So is that negative damage? The people who decreased the value where those who tried to clean off the artwork.
The building is already a Grade I listed building.
How much does it cost to hire someone to pressure wash a wall for an hour in the UK?
But no, that's an excellent point, removing the art work would actually be more damaging
So, if the damage increased the value of the building, it would necessitate the courts paying? Sounds reasonable.
Could have avoided the higher criminal charges by painting a building across the street, but this does demonstrate the insecurity of authority.
Tbf it would be pretty cool if he uploaded the templates for the artwork online, together with a how to, that way the piece could be put on walls by anyone.
Oh no! That is so scary. I hope that whoever it is doesn't have decades of experience in working and traveling anonymously around the world while performing illegal acts of guerilla artwork while evading both the legal authorities and an adoring public fanbase!
They can (attempt to) unmask Bansky all they want but his message will never die. Best wishes Banksy!
I'm pretty sure they already unmasked Banksy
He has been 'unmasked' several times. Kind of a pretty non-descript middle class-ish bloke in jeans etc.
Jontron with a wig?
JonWHO? That's Banksy! (Aka definitely not Bruce from FunHaus)
Hmm it's almost like choosing a persona isn't just about sounding cool.
Damage is all of their own doing. Every move they make just damages them more.
So the state will assume he's in support and jail him on assumptions? For a painting?