Some musings on the artist called "Banksy"

THE DEATH OF BANKSY

Banksy [Within] Give us a light there, ho!

Second Murderer Then 'tis he: the rest
That are within the stencil of expectation
Already are i' the court.

First Murderer His stencils go about. 

Third Murderer Almost a mile: but he does usually,

So all men do, from hence to stencil the palace gate

Make it their stencil.

Second Murderer A stencil, a stencil!

Enter BANKSY, and CHLOE WEBB with a stencil



Third Murderer 'Tis he.

First Murderer Stand to't.

Banksy: It will be stencil to-night.

First Murderer: Let it come down.

Banksy: O, treachery!
— Fly, good Chloe Webb, fly, fly, fly!
Thou mayst stencil.
— O, slave!



Famous Zen Koan: "If Banksy stencils the Buddha on the road, kill him.



A: Is Banksy actually stenciling on the Buddha? Or is he actually stenciling an image of the Buddha on the actual road? If the first, he is certainly an impertinent little scamp, isn't he! If the second, he is participating in a 2500 year old artistic tradition, and that's no reason to kill anyone, is it? Is there actually an actual actual? Kill which one?



B: There is no road. Kill them all.


When Gordon Sumner, CBE (who records and plays his hit dance tunes under the Soubriquet "The Sting") considered reforming his band "The Police," he found that he couldn't, because everyone (including i.e., his guitarist and drum-player) hated him. So he asked the artist known as Banksy to help out. And that is why you can't imagine "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" without his signature stencil solo.

Shortly before his death, Patrick MacGoohan met the artist Banksy at a cocktail party thrown in honor of the Saudi Royal Family. As Michael Caine relates in his memoir, the meeting was not a happy one for either man. According to Caine, Banksy "...stenciled a bleeding riot 'elmet on MacGoohan's mac. Far be it for me to stand in judgement on the contemporary arts, but it were a Cardin mac, and a nice one too."


SITCOM PITCH. IN A SMALL ARKANSAS TOWN, A CORRUPT SHERIFF KEEPS A FIRM GRIP ON EVILDOERS AND SUCH. IN THE PILOT BANKSY (PLAYED BY BANKSY) COMES TO TOWN AND TEACHES THE TOWNSPEOPLE ABOUT THE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSIONS (USING STENCILS, ETC.). MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR FISH OUT OF WATER HUMOR, WITH BANKSY'S CHARMING-YET-NAIVE-YET-CHARACTERISTICALLY "BRITISH" SENSE OF HUMOR PROVIDING THE BACKBONE. THE ROCK IS THE SHERIFF!?

ATTN DESIGN INSTRUCTORS: STENCILS ARE FOR BANKSY. NORMAL PEOPLE USE PHOTOSHOP.