Banksy's ~ "Shopping Christ"

[John Lenin]

http://c3.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/54/l_5ab6bbb58db956dcfa8fc939786db4ea.jpg


... Jesus knows a good sale when he sees one

[ibn Bruce]

*raises personal objection*

[Sean]

That's pretty lazy if you ask me, as is a lot of his "art". Its only really his gimmick of pretending to be a secretive graffiti artist thats interesting. I'm not an artist myself, but that's college level shit.
Still, I can imagine lots of students thinking this is the greatest message ever. "Its so deep man, its like Jesus and the commericalism in our society man..."

[Jazzratt]

What a hopelessly jejune image and message. While I'd give it points for blasphemy it's not really adding much or saying anything that hasn't been said before. The presence of a candy cane in one of the shopping bags brings up uncomfortable parallels to the fundamentalist ranting about "commercialised" christmas - at least to my mind.

[KC]

I always enjoy how he connects things in his art that I wouldn't have thought of.

[Bilan]

^^^lul

I usually like Banksy. But this...eh.
It's not so much that his other stuff is good, but its somewhat charming.

[JimmyJazz]

idg why he's melting or w/e

[synthesis]

^^^lul

I usually like Banksy. But this...eh.
It's not so much that his other stuff is good, but its somewhat charming.


I'm not all that familiar with his work, but this one really reveals the political potential of graf art. I like it a lot.

http://homepage.mac.com/languageismycopilot/gerry/banskywest2.jpg

[Rangi]

I like banksy. I also like and participate in graffiti. It is meant to be objectionable ibn Bruce, that was the artist's motive.

I think Jesus would like it as well. It is comment on modern Christianity and how it relates to modern consumer society. Jesus turned the money lenders out of the temple, I think this artwork is of the same theme.

[ibn Bruce]

It is meant to be objectionable ibn Bruce, that was the artist's motive.

Its motive was to be offensive to Muslims because of a dislike of images of Prophets? Weird.

[John Lenin]

Jesus turned the money lenders out of the temple


http://thepatriotaxe.com/jesus.jpg

[Jazzratt]

Its motive was to be offensive to Muslims because of a dislike of images of Prophets? Weird.

I think it was meant to make Christians uncomfortable and provoke thoughts on the nature of religion and consumerism as is pretty obvious from the sledghammer-subtle imagery employed. That it is offensive to Muslims could either be seen as a bonus (kill two birds with one stone), an unfortunate side effect (meaning then, that the image is not about religion and consumerism but christianity and consumerism) or as a completely unintended but neutral result of the artist's ignorance on the matter.

[Rangi]

So any picture of Jesus would offend you ibn Bruce? I can understand Mohammed being pictured offensive but Jesus as well? How do you get along at Christmas time when you walk past shop windows and there Jesus is large as life?

I find the culture of offence very interesting. What do you think gives you the right to be offended by such a picture ibn Bruce? What if I said that you taking offence to that picture offended me?

[ibn Bruce]

So any picture of Jesus would offend you ibn Bruce? I can understand Mohammed being pictured offensive but Jesus as well? How do you get along at Christmas time when you walk past shop windows and there Jesus is large as life?

Yep, any image of a Prophet as is viewed negatively. I do not however believe that an argument based upon 'offence' is particularly effective or persuasive, hence I voiced my objection and left it at that.

If me taking offence offended you, I apologise, it was not my intent, just as I am sure it was neither Banksy's nor John's.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

I find the culture of offence very interesting. What do you think gives you the right to be offended by such a picture ibn Bruce? What if I said that you taking offence to that picture offended me?

Do you find it curious that Al Sharpton (and other people who make a living getting riled up) got offended by the monkey drawing?

Edit:

http://image.examiner.com/images/blog/wysiwyg/image/a09753261fa4707c65dd69292fb8737c.jpg

[synthesis]

Do you find it curious that Al Sharpton (and other people who make a living getting riled up) got offended by the monkey drawing?

It's not really curious, it's easy to see why that picture would cause offense given that old racist bullshit about black people being monkeys. I personally think the cartoonist was just incredibly stupid, he was trying to link two current events and argue that the stimulus bill was poorly written. It seems to me that he was just ignorant of how most people who know their history would perceive the cartoon. That doesn't negate the protest against it, though. People should be conscious of how their material will be interpreted.

[bcbm]

I'm not all that familiar with his work, but this one really reveals the political potential of graf art. I like it a lot.

http://homepage.mac.com/languageismycopilot/gerry/banskywest2.jpg

Old Palestinian man: You paint the wall, you make it look beautiful.
Banksy: Thanks
Old Palestinian man: We don't want it to be beautiful, we hate this wall, go home.