Blog 3. Response to Exit Through the Gift Shop

    Yesterday in class we watched a short film called Exit Through the Gift Shop. It was a film produced by a graffiti artist named Bansky. Bansky was a man everyone wanted to meet but he remained mysterious as he began on his way to fame by publicly marking property with his art. A man by the name of Thierry Guetta found him by filming many other graffiti artist like Space Invader and Shepard Feirry. Guetta began marketing from the findings of graffiti, helping graffiti artist find prime property to mark with their art. He in return got to film them putting up the graffiti and at times helped them put it up if they needed an extra hand.
    Guetta later began to have artist create artwork for him and began putting it up as his own, calling himself Brainwash. Brainwash was quite the appropriate name as he manipulated other artists work and called them his own, making people believe he was a great graffiti artist also. I, myself, do not find Brainwash to be a graffiti artist but more of a copy cat.
    Copy Cat would have been a more appropriate name for this Guetta. He learned his techniques and resources from Bansky, Space Invader, Shepard Fierry, and other graffiti artist by filming them and following them around. I think Bansky made this film to show that copy catting exists and not to get his work confused with Guetta, whom he sees as a very silly man. He helped a very silly man become famous, and was showing that he never thought it would have gotten this out of hand.

Here is a stencil not created by Brainwash, but known as his art. It was created by a different artist unknown, and Brainwash used all the similar resources of Shepard Feirry (kinkos) and created stickers and giant paper cut outs, to post all over as his own graffiti.