Review of Banksy Does New York (2014) by Harry W — 30 Apr 2015

With Exit Through the Gift Shop being such a brilliant documentary, Banksy Does New York sounded like a promising follow-up.

I don't really have anything to complain about with Banksy Does New York solely because I enjoyed the simplicity of the film. But that being said, it is not precisely as deep as you might expect. It isn't a film which asks too many questions, although the people chronicled do voice their opinions on many ideas which encourage viewers to do it for themselves. In actual fact, Banksy Does New York is a strong companion piece to Exit Through the Gift Shop because while Banksy's documentary served as a powerful examination of his own perspective on street art as well as how the artistic world has become to commercialised to understand the true value of expression within the medium, Banksy Does New York serves as the perspective of fans of street art and what it means to them. This documentary is a powerful examination of Banksy's fanbase by looking into the extent that people are willing to go to find his works, even to claim them for profit. The way that Banksy Does New York characterises the value of Banksy's works in terms of a monetary perspective as well as cultural value is a befitting tribute to his legacy by director Chris Moukarbel.

One thing I valued about Banksy Does New York was that it was a strong art documentary in the way that it balanced focus on Banksy's artworks themselves with a broad perspective on what they mean to the world. The actual footage used in Banksy Does New York is great. Composed of television segments and internet vlogs, Banksy Does New York is an impressively constructed film. This captures a broad perspective of the events from countless people involved in the "31 works of art in 31 days" exhibit in one way or another, ensuring that Banksy Does New York is an effectively big scale documentary. It's depth may not be focused, but the wide variety of people chronicled in Banksy Does New York and their appoaches to Banksy's exhibition really does an effective job relaying his influence in the world. We see people obssesed with going great lengths simply to see his works, as well as going to even further lengths to posess them. And yet, at many times we see people going out of their way to disrespect Banksy himself by covering up his works with whitewash or other tags. We see people who love Banksy for his bold political statements and his talent for brightening up the blank streets while we also get insight into the fact that he is hated amongst the street art community for being seen as a sellout, even though we continuously bear witness to the fact that the people who actively claim the monetary value over his works are the reason for that claim. His worth is emphasized in Banksy Does New York and though we can't get an in depth perspective on him this time around, the devotion this film has to fans of his works and genuinely being a good depiction of the exhibition itself is great. The visual experience does a powerful job of highlighting every piece of work in the exhibition, and so it is never a film dull on the eyes. In actual fact, the reality of the feature is great because nothing is dramatized or forced as the feature is simply a reconstruction of the events. And the amount of people depicted in it allow audiences to understand the honour, anger and humour that they all feel as a result of it all. Although Banksy Does New York is clearly constucted by fans of his works and caters to that market, it is not a heavily one sided feature. There are people depicted who see Banksy's works as inspirational, the same way that many see them simply as expendable sources of finance and nothing more. But at the same time, Banksy Does New York encourages viewers to question the ownership of Banksy's works by talking about how since the works are simply free expression and also illegal, they are owned by whoever claims them first yet also touches upon the notion that doing so is theft in some regard. It does all this without having to hit viewers over the head with its messages, simply encouraging them to think for themselves on the issue. In all honesty, I walked away from Banksy Does New York having thought in extensive detail about many of the issues touched upon while just genuinely enjoying the simple nature of the film as a depiction of the exhibition. And yet the whole time, Banksy Does New York is not a pompous documentary. It caters to fans and does that through staying consistently on point and fast paced without forgetting to take a minute to stop and laugh once in a while. With all the vlogs used, the natural charisma of people just talking about how they love Banksy makes it clear where their passion lies which easily transfers over to viewers, even those who are not already familiar with his work prior to having seen Banksy Does New York or even Exit Through the Gift Shop. Once again, cinema has provided viewers with a clear perspectie on ust how important street art is in the artistic world while challenging viewers to consider the difference between genuine street art and simple graffiti. I still find myself asking questions about what was chronicled in Banksy Does New York, so it is certainly an effective play on the mind.

So Banksy Does New York is not as deep as Exit Through the Gift Shop, but it is a powerful companion piece which offers the perspective of the audience on what value Banksy has to the art world as well as a good looking and entertaining depiction of his "31 works of art in 31 days" exhibit.