Fragmentation in Banksy
Words by Maria de Feo, Writer
Whether literally, through the reduction of works into shreds, or metaphorically, through the dispersion of works in places distant from each other, the theme of fragmentation is a fil rouge that, paradoxically, unifies many of Banksy’s works. The separation and scattering of works, either from a geographical or from a thematic point of view, is almost a personality trait of Banksy’s art.
The importance of the theme of fragmentation in Banksy’s art is most explicitly proven by the birth of his work Love is in the Bin. When, in 2018, Banksy’s Girl with Balloon was sold to a collector at Sotheby’s, the work was, all of a sudden, partially shredded. The result was that the lower half of Banksy’s work was fragmented. This partial fragmentation gave the work a new identity and, consequently, a new name. The fragmentation that Banksy took responsibility for was, of course, voluntary. Many have interpreted it as a sign of the artist’s opposition to the art establishment and to the commercialization of art. However, an ironic consequence of this fragmentation was the skyrocketing of the work’s value, which became more than three times higher.
Photo: https://cdn.sanity.io/images/dqllnil6/production/8b5f95ab4fc4f9d20228c3b0f0ddb304db02caf1-1200x1200.jpg?w=1920&q=60&auto=format
Fragmentation has also been at the forefront of Banksy’s art in his more widespread projects. For instance, with his Cans Festival and his Dismaland amusement park, the artist created, microcosms separate and independent in their meanings within urban centres. The Cans Festival took place during the month of May 2008 on the road tunnel of Leake Street. During the festival, graffiti artists, both known and emerging, were invited to produce their art in the designated area. The road tunnel became a little world free from conventions, in which artists could do whatever they wanted, as long as it did not involve ruining each other’s works. In this sense, Banksy created a fracture, a separation between the outside world, full of norms and order, and a microcosm which belonged fully to the artists.
A similar fragmentation was created by Banksy with the Dismaland park. As Banksy described it, Dismaland was a “family theme park unsuitable for small children”. It was an art show located on the seafront of Weston-super-Mare, a town in Somerset, and it featured the works of 58 artists (of the likes of Damien Hirst). To go see Dismaland, one had to go through airport security machines made of cardboard. One of the attractions in the park was a Cinderella who died following the crash of her pumpkin carriage. During the experience, the visitors of the park were guided by depressed and unhelpful staff. Banksy’s project clearly represents a parody of amusement parks and of consumerism. It is, as its brochure clearly states, “a chaotic new world in which you can escape from mindless escapism”. Here, Banksy engaged in a form of fragmentation by creating a microcosm in which the spectator is crudely exposed to the grotesqueness of reality, without the distractions that the outside world usually presents. In this fragmented little world, visitors are given a chance to face the darkness of the broader outside reality.
Photo: https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/im-not-going-to-dismaland
Banksy has also played with the theme of fragmentation by producing his art on the walls of museums and galleries. An example of this is the art Banksy produced on the outside of the Barbican Centre in London, at the opening of the first UK exhibition of Basquiat’s neo-expressionist work. For instance, drawing inspiration from Basquiat’s work “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump”, Banksy decorated a wall by spray painting a boy with a dog who is being questioned by policemen. According to journalist Nicola Slawson, Banksy’s work was probably a reference to the hardships Basquiat, a black American artist, would go through today, considering the fact that racism is still very much rampant today. Banksy is, voluntarily or not, still playing into the theme of fragmentation. By producing art right outside of the museum, he is willingly separating it from the place most seem to believe it belongs in: the inside of a gallery. Banksy thus creates new spaces for art and questions traditional assumptions surrounding its domain.
Photo: https://banksyexplained.com/banksquiat-boy-and-dog-in-stop-and-search-2018/
The act of fragmentation is an emancipatory one. Banksy is freeing and has freed art from conventions and norms. He has liberated art by partially shredding a work after it was sold, proving that creativity transcends ownership and money. He has provided art with independence by creating spaces dedicated exclusively to it and to its messages, freeing creators of the restraint represented by rigid norms. He has emancipated art by separating it from its conventional locations, by opening the doors of its prison and providing it with the chance to run wildly through the streets of cities all over the world. By scattering art and removing from it the burden of unity, Banksy has provided it with the freedom that is fragmentation.
Sources:
https://banksyexplained.com/the-cans-festival-may-2008/
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-banksys-love-bin-explained
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/05/arts/design/banksy-legacy.html
https://www.leakestreetarches.london/post/div-class-header-h5-a-brief-intro-to-the-cans-festival--h5