Banksy Speaks

Banksy is the name of an anonymous artist.  At this moment this little essay about advertising, attributed to him and probably from his book Wall and Piece, gets 4500 hits on Google.  I found it here first.

His point of view will not make capitalists happy - and I think that is a good thing.

People are taking the piss out of you everyday. They butt into your life, take a cheap shot at you and then disappear. They leer at you from tall buildings and make you feel small. They make flippant comments from buses that imply you’re not sexy enough and that all the fun is happening somewhere else. They are on TV making your girlfriend feel inadequate. They have access to the most sophisticated technology the world has ever seen and they bully you with it. They are The Advertisers and they are laughing at you.

You, however, are forbidden to touch them. Trademarks, intellectual property rights and copyright law mean advertisers can say what they like wherever they like with total impunity.

Fuck that. Any advert in a public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It’s yours to take, re-arrange and re-use. You can do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at your head.

You owe the companies nothing. Less than nothing, you especially don’t owe them any courtesy. They owe you. They have re-arranged the world to put themselves in front of you. They never asked for your permission, don’t even start asking for theirs.

- Banksy

These images come from Banksy's website.  (I'd like to have this one on my office wall, especially if turning the handle actually produced some sort of liquid.)

Here's another Banksy quote:

We can't do anything to change the world until capitalism crumbles. In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves.

Banksy, Wall and Piece  

And another:

I mean, they say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time. 

Banksy

Lots more quotes here and here.
Banksy appeared tangentially in Mixed Meters once before, here.

Can't resist.  One more quote:

One Original Thought is worth 1000 Meaningless Quotes.― Banksy

Banksy Tags: Banksy. . . copyright. . . advertising