Street art: My first experience with counterculture

Portrait of Kate Moss by Banksy. Source: stuff.co.nz

As a public school graduate, my experiences with "counterculture" were mostly limited to hating my parents and listening to alternative rock on Rage. I failed at being punk when I pierced my nose with a nappy pin and it got infected and pussy. I even smoked weed at a Christian music event, but when they asked everyone who "wanted to be saved" to ascend the stage, I got paranoid and ran to the car park. Then I ate two packets of Doritos.

"Napalm Girl" by Banksy. Source: D2 Group

But everything changed when the internet began in 2009. I got an iPhone and used Facebook to stalk friends I used to know in the real world. One of these humans once shared a photo of a "Banksy" artwork of that hungry napalm girl running arm-in-arm with Mickey Mouse and Ronald McDonald. I thought they were showing her where to buy a Happy Meal, and, as a regular consumer of these global brands, I was impressed that Banksy combined Vietnam War imagery with universal symbols of American capitalism (land mines sold separately).

Banksy's "maid" stencil in London. Source: Bored Panda

I did some Googling and found out Banksy was a "street artist". Within minutes it dawned on me that I'd become part of something bigger, that I joined a counterculture which self-reflexively deconstructs and satirises the art establishment, and society in general, with illegally placed pop imagery. I immediately bought some Minties.

John Fekner subvertising billboard. Source: Artist a Day

I began following street art blogs and social network pages to unite with my comrades. I learned about stencils and wheatpastes. Even graffiti didn't seem annoying because it had "artistic genealogy". Street art also helped me justify spending 2+ working hours on Facebook each day. It's where I share photos of street art to my network of followers and each receives about 15 likes or comments (before tax). My affiliation with the movement has helped me cultivate the edgy, neo-anarchist identity I always wanted.

Street artist Shepard Fairey got 'smashed' by AP. Source: Charleston City Paper

Other street artists I like include Shepard Fairey, but he's no longer cool after losing a court case with AP. It was about time he took one for the team!

Space Invader mosaics. Source: Mosaic Ideas

I also really dig Space Invader, but I generally find the French to be feuking stupid, so I unsubscribed from his barely legible mailing list.

Mr Brainwash street artwork. Source: Wooster Collective

Let's not forget Mr Brainwash - one of my idols - who is proof that you don't need creativity to join the cause.

Now I walk the streets and photograph street art on my phone. I share, blog and run it through 2c Instagram filters. Being part of this counterculture is a value-add to my life and I don't know who would listen to me without it.

Have you ever found your identity through counterculture? Have you ever thought "over-30s suck?" Is it time for a REDvolution?

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Mr Brainwash London Olympics show

Mr Cliche, I mean Mr Brainwash, is hosting his first ever UK solo art show in London on August 5. This is during the London Olympics.

I can't tell if this is to milk "Olympics" "London 2012" "Pippa's bum" keyword search hits, or whether it's to cash in on wealthy European art buyers who will flood the city during the British summer. The British summer is equivalent to the Australian winter in terms of rain and cold and shittyness.

As you can see in this digitally altered image, MBW has used/borrowed/pilfered Banksy's use of British iconography - such as the Queen and the beefeater - while smothering it in bloggable irony, juxtaposition and satire.

Would you see the Brainwash art show, or will you be too busy seeing non-nonymous people achieve incredible feats in stadiums?

LOS ANGELES: Banksy stencils ruined, sold

Banksy has been ordering lackeys to paste stencils all over Los Angeles in the past week.

He is trying to get a big media penis pointed at his face so everyone will see when it's time for a jizzy money shot at the Oscars.

Banksy's mockumentary Exit Through The Uterine Canal is nominated for Best Documentary, although it isn't technically a documentary because the second half is fiction.

The focus of the second half is 'fine artist' Mr Brainwash, who Exit's scriptwriters created. He is now selling prints off his website as a way to legitimise fiction. MBW is now a meme, just like author Truman Capote's In Cold Blood was when it was published - a non-fiction novel made up of 50 per cent fact and 60 per cent fiction.

(Image source)

Someone has also trashed the Crayon Gun piece. The initials MBW (Mr Brainwash) add irony to ironic circumstances. It's like Post-Post Modernist dialogue between artists who don't have any fresh ideas.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE:

LOS ANGELES: New Banksy Stencils

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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New Banksy stencil in LA

 

 

 

 

 

 

Banksy banned from Oscars