Wide Screen World:
Art is whatever the artist says it is, but it can also be whatever the observer says it is, and if the observer says it loudly enough, other people can and often will fall in line. Think of Charlotte's Web: Charlotte made people believe Wilbur was special, even when he wasn't. How? By proclaiming it in a public venue as often as possible. I think Thierry's venture into street art has a similar theme. This may not be a new idea - Warhol conclusively proved this decades ago - but it makes for an interesting narrative.
Banksy documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop has a very different endgame in mind than the one its first half suggests.
Player Affinity writes: "Exit Through the Gift Shop might be the only documentary where the documentarian is more fascinating than the film — and the film is quite fascinating. A documentary about street art and the shadowy enigmatic figures that create it sounds interesting; a documentary about street art made by one of those shadowy figures sounds captivating."
Fantastic film. I didn't know what I was in for when I started it up but I was pleased with what I saw. It's really interesting to see how these guys get around and spread their image.
See this one!
Jon Cole: Documentaries were big in 2010. Some of them dove into much politicized worlds of thought, like Restrepo exploring the war in Afghanistan and Inside Job shedding light on the recent financial crisis. Exit Through the Gift Shop, on the other hand, provides insight on a decidedly less world affecting but equally dramatic world of street art through one of the art form's paragons, Banksy. In a move as mystifying and enticing as many of his exhibits, the film is as much about him as it is the medium as a whole... and some guy named Thierry Guetta.
