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Exit through the gift shop

Started by copylight, October 09, 2010, 06:24:11 AM

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copylight

Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop (Exclusive 5 min Extended Sneak Peek)

After finally getting to acquire this from the usual sources I can comment on it, however the last thread I started has exceeded its sell by date so here's another.

It's really rather good, having a lingering atmosphere that one rarely finds in documentaries - primarily because the whole thing
Spoiler alert
could be a work in itself, and the possibility of this being such a fine hoax, is what make it such an attractive piece of documentary
[close]
. In a nutshell, a French, foolhardy hobbyist, U.S emigre, ostensibly stumbles into documenting the street art scene by way of going back to France to film his relative, Space Invader. He ends up meeting Shephard Fairey (the guy who would become famous for designing the Obama election posters) and ultimately befriending Banksy and filming his graffiti adventures around London, America (Disney-land), Israel (the west bank), etc. When he shows Banksy the abortion that is the final cut - the footage is reworked and Banksy goes into his archive footage and proceeds documenting his journey from being a lucky cretin running an exclusive 2nd hand shop, through to following the street artists, then...well -
Spoiler alert

He becomes a street artist himself, seemingly ripping off the techniques, motifs and site-specifics he had been documenting beforehand. He gets carried away and after remortgaging his home, decides to convert an old TV company building into his maiden, one-man show, full of sub-par foundation level works he had professional graphic designers to execute for him. Incredible. I had a feeling of guilty pleasure watching this guy slowly fuck up, after putting everything on the line but he doesn't - the show being a sell-out, some canvases going for 200,000 dollars a go. In fact it makes him so well known he was commissioned to do the Madonna ''best of'' cover. It just has to be a hoax - for it should be a hoax. If it's not then it's really depressing that a scene could get hijacked by a man so crap it must be hoax.[nb]
[close]


Spoiler alert

Some of the footage looks a bit fishy, like when he walks into Kinko's and just happens to meet Fairey rolling up another Andre the Giant sticker, and Fairey agrees to let him film him.  The wheelchair scenes were a caricature too far, even his name ''Mr Brainwash'' is so gloriously a pisstake. But Fairey has insisted that he is sadly for real.
[close]
[/nb]




Serge

I finally saw it myself about a month or so ago and really enjoyed it. I'm not really into street art as such, but it is a very entertaining film, and of course, Banksy makes sure he comes out of it looking good. (I loved the bit where he's talking about Guetta getting caught with his camera at Disneyland, and while he's waiting for him to be released, he has a go on 'Space Mountain' and 'Pirates Of The Carribbean'.)

But is it a hoax? There are enough reasons to believe it is - there's one bit quite early in the film where you see Guetta filming one of the artists at night (I can't remember which one), and getting into an argument with him, and there's suddenly a shot of the pair of them bickering - if Guetta is secretly filming this guy, who's filming him? And the whole accident and wheelchair bit seems contrived (though quite funny.)

But then again, it is entirely possible it's not. Unless Banksy has been getting him to film stuff for years in preparation (which I admit, isn't out of the question), some of the film of Guetta does look authentically like a younger man. And there is a precendent in the Japanese photographer Seiichi Furuya, who obsessively took photos of his wife during their life together (she ultimately committed suicide).

And either way, the comment about the fact that some people will happily overlook someone's lack of talent to get in on something that's seen as hip and cutting edge still stands whether Guetta is real or not. And the film is still enough fun to watch on the same grounds too.

Madison

SPOILERS FOR THE FILM BELOW.


The glorious thing about it is that whether it's a hoax or not doesn't matter - people will buy Mr Brainwash's rubbish because they genuinely like it, or because they think they're buying a Banksy (or buying a piece of an elaborate art prank), but the money doesn't become any more or less ironic. MBWs crap has artistic value, 

There are a few things suspect about it - the filming of MBW's exhibition is a bit too well covered, camera-wise, even for a man who films everything. The scene where he's being interviewed for a magazine there's 3 or 4 cameras on him, iirc. Him falling off the ladder, convenient to have so much coverage on that.

The earlier stuff, the disneyland prank, the west bank, all look like genuine footage filmed by Team Banksy, easy enough to get footage from eg a young Shepherd Fairey in Kinkos, Space Invader at work, and mix with fake stuff.

And for a wretched self-publicist, MBW has very little web presence, does only cryptic interviews (knowing the journalist is happy to 'play along', wanting to be part of the prank, if it is a prank) and for someone so badly fucked over by the film he brings it up a lot (not unprecedented in documentary subjects, and you can argue he's a kind of Tommy Wiseau figure, happy for any publicity, but he doesn't seem smart enough to play along and never outright say "No of course this isn't a hoax", unless it is a hoax)

In summary, it doesn't matter. It's a brilliantly executed concept either way.




copylight

Quote from: Madison on October 09, 2010, 01:35:26 PM
MBWs crap has artistic value. 


In that MBW gets others to do the work for him, I'd say his choices (concepts) are where the judgement should be assessed, not the by product. And those choices (rehashed themes, etc) are by and large to have little or no artistic value outside of the fact that it's Banksy's meta-irony at work. Take that madonna cover for example -it's technically very accomplished despite the cod-warhol referencing, if he is legit then he's basically functioning like a chief creative director of a wrong-headed and painfully ''cool'' design company -what with his attelier being the brawn behind the work. Somebody like Jeff Koons (even Hirst to a lesser extent) delegates the workmanship to the pros but the concept is and always has been king. I just cannot fathom a guy who's work is so fucking Miss than Hit can be bought up and championed unironically by the mainstream art market. Maybe it's an LA thing.



Quote from: Madison on October 09, 2010, 01:35:26 PM
MBW has very little web presence

Oh dear.

http://www.mrbrainwash.com/

copylight

Quote from: Madison on October 09, 2010, 01:35:26 PM

And for a wretched self-publicist...

Sorry, but what do you mean by that? MBW or Banksy? MBW in the film or Banksy and his media relationship with it? MBW is undoubtedly a Banksy vehicle (hoax or not) but the ''entity'' of either has to be inert, such is the nature of this ''street art scene'' - hence the main parody in the film - the genre itself.

Quote
In summary, it doesn't matter. It's a brilliantly executed concept either way.

Absolutely.

vrailaine

I absolutely love the whole thing, the film was very entertaining, the way no one seems to be sure whether it was true or not, everything. Certainly made me like Banksy, never really had the time of day for him before.

He's probably real up to a point.

Vitalstatistix

Great little film, this. Really zips along with suspense, ambiguity and humour in abundance.

I like how it's a piss take of the art world without being at all holier-than-thou. Really it lets the audience do the intellectualising and the pontificating. In itself it's just great fun.

Madison

Quote from: copylight on October 10, 2010, 08:09:11 AM

http://www.mrbrainwash.com/

Yep, besides that site (which is just upsetting, eye-wise) there's very few interviews, which doesn't chime with his attention seeking persona.

You do wonder what deal was struck between MBW and Banksy for him to be able to use all his footage (from early tapes of intimate meals with family to the chaos of arranging the exhibition) in any context he likes. Did Banksy give him a fat cheque for every one of those tapes in the tupperware boxes, as well as asking him for all the tapes of the LA show preparations (bit suss, seeing as Banksy only suggested he put on the show so he'd bugger off while Banksy made his 'street art' film)? It's all a bit fishy, but not so fishy as to totally 100% confirm it's fake, which is perfect really.

Serge

But do the tapes in the boxes really exist? If Guetta as he is in the film is a fiction, then he didn't necessarily really film everything. As I've said, there are people who record every moment of their life, but it could be that Guetta really only has a few real films of him and his family - as anyone with a video camera might have - which Banksy used in the film with his permission, and anything else was shot specifically for the movie. I'd have to see it again to see how much of the video footage features an obviously younger Guetta. Though again, Banksy and Guetta could have been cooking this up for years and shot footage to suit as and when.

copylight

Quote from: Serge on October 11, 2010, 11:48:33 PM
But do the tapes in the boxes really exist?

After giving this yet another watch it still bounces along. Whether or not the boxes exist or not is beside the point compared to the editing, it's a solid piece of film making either way. I won't say that the boxes exist in the same way that they were presented in the film, however the footage is something for which the boxes are clearly an artifact. The younger Guetta is shown (and I believe it's real footage most of the time), as is a lot of very fine ''street art'' documentary. However the arc of the narrative is pretty much truthful up to the gallery shenanigans - perfectly ''3 quartered'' - as Madison already pointed out. From the multi-angled wheelchair hi-jinks onwards it's all a bit suspect yet undeniable

Quote
I'd have to see it again to see how much of the video footage features an obviously younger Guetta.

It get's more believable each time you review it, along with the niggle that it's still a hoax.

QuoteBanksy and Guetta could have been cooking this up for years and shot footage to suit as and when.

Nah. It's not that kind of hoax I think. Guetta seems coerced a bit actually - more than endearing - yet very shit. I want to know where his balls are at - he has them in baskets.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRfPfjwQwi8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjzreSM__G4