Review of Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010) by Daniel P — 03 Aug 2012

A brilliant subversive commodity that brilliantly subverts the commodification of art. Wait, what do I mean? Spoilers follow... (after a statement like that, how could they not?).

Thierry Guetta has rarely let a moment of his life go unfilmed, and by coincidence - the street artist Space Invader is his cousin - he brings his obsessive zeal to bear on this particular underground, tracking down many of the biggest names for ride-alongs, filming them, and throwing the tapes in a bin... all under the premise that he's making a documentary. But Guetta is not making anything, merely documenting his unprecedented access to this specific scene - think of someone like Don Letts and the way he filmed The Clash, The Ramones, etc. And though Guetta finally manages to film Banksy, the movie he produces - at his "subjects'" urging - is, as Banksy says, "sh-t." Banksy says to Guetta, "Leave the footage with me, and go and make some of your own art," which Guetta does, under the name Mr. Brainwash (MBW), to rapid and spectacular financial success, basically by reproducing Banksy- and Warhol-style iconography in the right place, at the right time.

So what's so brilliant? Banksy manages to use the film to disown MBW, and to salvage the independence and integrity of the many street artists who might have gotten caught up in the "project," as MBW, despite his prolific ascent, has completely missed the point of street art: temporary subversion.

Though the odd piece - largely sculptures - can be saved and sold, by and large street art cannot last. Must not last. For Guetta to go into the business of "selling" street art is to expose himself as a profiteering hack, taking someone else's work and making his living off it...

...which, if you pay for this film, you are of course allowing Banksy to do. It's a rare piece from the master subversive that's intended to last, not for the purpose of selling it, but rather, for the purpose of protecting a legacy. It might be a bit mean-spirited in that it turns the knife in an admirer, and yet, I'm not sure Guetta would see it that way... this is more exposure than he'd ever otherwise have gotten, his big break, and he's all over the last half of the film, claiming with a straight face to know what he's doing with his art, almost preaching to the masses.

Effectively, Banksy is saying "We won't let you destroy us by making a movie about us - instead, we'll destroy you by making a movie about you." And yet, in its appeal to either audience - the hyper-underground or the hyper-uninitiated - the work may still fool some into thinking it's a collaboration, and as a third party, I could even be convinced it's symbiotic, in a way.

But never forget who signed this. Banksy is the subject making the film, and declaredly refusing to be the subject of it. Magnificent appropriation... of his own voice! Google "Gramsci organic intellectual" if you don't believe me. This is brilliant stuff.

(Good God: I hope the hoax rumours - that this is a mockumentary, not a documentary - aren't true. That would make me the biggest sucker of all... and nevertheless prove the film's brilliance, only more so.).