Girl With Balloon Experiment at Sotheby's

I became aware of Banksy in 2011 while researching other street artists of the time.  I've always thought it is simplistic, and while suggestive and meaningful, is overly focused on its own shock value, in terms of its execution.  I appreciate Banksy's anonymity, which he has surprisingly maintained for years despite his boom in popularity, yet it is hard to ignore his acknowledgement to feed into public sensation.  

I was pleased to hear what Banksy did at Sotheby's, especially after watching first-hand footage of the event.  To reflect on the buyer's dismay as their unique, sought-after auction prize was shred in front of them, helped me to reflect on the hedonistic mechanisms behind art management in modern, first-world culture. 

The McDonald's ad campaign that followed suit is another low-aiming attempt to absorb another artist's talent, as seen earlier in 2018 when H&M used the artwork of street artist Revok without permission or payment (see article: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/revok-hm-ad-campaign-1345127).  In no way does creative advertising change the malnourishing effect of fast food. 

All of the individual memes that followed suit bring a light-hearted nature of satire to the event. This is the incredible power of internet, we can share our expressions as little nodes in a huge net of reactivity.  I'm pleased to see the way the public brought humor to this act of publicity.

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