Exit Through the Gift Shop

I figure that if you're a fan of street art, you've already heard of Exit Through the Gift Shop, a film by Banksy [1].  If you haven't, well hey, there's this movie you'll probably want to see because you know and love all things Banksy [2].

For you who would not designate yourselves as fans of street art, this film isn't actually about street art--if it were, it may not have been Oscar-nominated for best documentary.  In fact, street art fans may not enjoy this film as they may want more street art [3].  What this film really is about is an obsessive-compulsive with a camcorder named Thierry.  

He starts following and filming street artists.  You think they'd be suspicious, but Thierry has an in.  His cousin is Invader, the celebrated street artist known for breaking Rubik's Cubes into bits and making Space Invaders mosaics, which have invaded cities around the world [4].

The artists do eventually ask Thierry what he's doing with all the film.  This is a sort of pivotal point, when Thierry tells them he's making a documentary about street art.  He hasn't been to this point, does he really mean to start now?  I'm used to fictional characters in Hollywood films lying and getting themselves in ridiculous situations.  Now Thierry is committed to documentary-making, like it or not.  Of course, after awhile, the question becomes, How's the documentary coming?

I don't want to spoil the original documentary that was to be made of this footage.  It's something you should see, and you'll get a taste of it in Exit Through the Gift Shop, which you'll recall is a film by Banksy, not Thierry.  Exit goes on to explain how it became Banksy's film, and what becomes of Thierry, who you will have come to like as an eccentric, street artist lookout and accomplice.  By the end of the film, you may have different feelings about Banksy, Thierry, and the fate and future of street art and artists.

Post no bills:
1. Check out Exit Through the Gift Shop from the library

2. Learn more about Banksy at wikipedia

3. We've got more street art
    If you are a fan of Banksy, we've got a few things you might be interested in
    If you are a fan of street art, we've got a fancy bibliography and other stuff


4. Learn more about Invader at wikipedia
blpost

Graffiti and Street Art

The following resources document murals, paste-ups, stencils, tags, street culture, and artists worldwide ...

12ozProphet
www.12ozprophet.com

Aerosol Kingdom: Subway Painters of New York City
Ivor L. Miller, 2002

Anomie1 Magazine
www.anomie1.com

Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion
Paul Grushkin & Dennis King; foreword by Wayne Coyne, 2004

Art of Modern Rock Mini
Dennis King, 2007

The Art of Rebellion: World of Streetart
C100 (Christian Hundertmark), 2003

Banksy: Wall and Piece
Banksy, 2005

Banksy's Bristol: Home Sweet Home: The Unofficial Guide
Steve Wright, 2009



Basquiat (DVD)
Julian Schnabel; with David Bowie, Dennis Hopper, et al., 1996

The Birth of Graffiti
Jon Naar; with an intro by Sacha Jenkins, 2007

Bombing Science
www.bombingscience.com

Born in the Bronx: A Visual Record
of the Early Days of Hip Hop
Edited by Johan Kugelberg; foreword by Afrika Bambaataa, 2007

Born in the Streets: Graffiti
Fondation Cartier, 2009

The Breaks: Stylin’ and Profilin’ 1982-1990
Janette Beckman; texts by Tom Terrell & Bill Adler, 2007

Burn
Black Artemis, 2006

Concrete to Canvas: Skateboarders' Art
Jo Waterhouse & David Penhallow, 2005



Cult Rock Posters: Ten Years of Classic Posters
from the Glam, Punk, and New Wave Era
Roger Crimlis & Alwyn W. Turner, 2006

Ewok One
www.mr-ewokone.com

Freightalicious.com
www.freightalicious.com

Giant Robot Magazine
www.giantrobot.com

Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art (w/CD-ROM)
Steve Grody; foreword by James Prigoff, 2006

Graffiti Research Lab
http://graffitiresearchlab.com

Graffiti Women: Street Art from Five Continents
Nicholas Ganz; foreword by Swoon, 2006

Graffiti World: Street Art from Five Continents
Nicholas Ganz; edited by Tristan Manco, 2004



Graffgirlz
http://graffgirlz.com

The Guerilla Art Kit
Keri Smith, 2007

A Guide to Chicago’s Murals
Mary Lackritz Gray, 2001

GV4 (Graffiti Verité 4) (DVD)
Bob Bryan, 2003

How to Draw Hip-Hop
Damion Scott and Kris Ex, 2006

Icepick : Icelandic Street Art
Thordis Claessen, 2007

Known Gallery
www.knowngallery.com

Obey: Supply & Demand: The Art of Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey, 2006



Skateboarding Is not a Crime: 50 years of Street Culture
James Davis; with photos by Skin Phillips, 2004

Soho Walls: Beyond Graffiti
David Robinson, 1990

Stalefish: Skateboard Culture from the Rejects Who Made It
Sean Mortimer; foreword by Tony Hawk, 2008

Sticker City: Paper Graffiti Art
Claudia Walde, 2007

Street Art and the War on Terror: How the World's
Best Graffiti Artists Said No to the Iraq War
Edited by Eleanor Mathieson; text by Xavier A. Tàpies, 2007

Street Artists: The Complete Guide
Eleanor Mathieson and Xavier A. Tàpies;
photos by Glenn Arango, 2009

Streets Are Saying Things
www.streetsaresayingthings.com

Talk Back: The Bubble Project
Ji Lee, 2006



WhatYouWrite.com
http://whatyouwrite.com

Wild Style (DVD)
Charlie Ahearn; with Fab 5 Freddy, 1982

Wild Style: The Sampler
Charlie Ahearn, 2007


Photos courtesy of katutaide
www.flickr.com/photos/pomo
under CC-NC 2.0 license