Design Research

Banksy

There are many designers/artists whom I admire intensely, one of my favourites is Bansky and in this short research paper I will be discussing one of his works, which I find quite potent.

1]

To begin with I would like to break down the piece “I hate Mondays”. When looking at the overall look and feel, one notices that most areas are in neutrals and varied tonal ranges depicting four, young and poverty-stricken children in a very depressing light. On closer inspection when looking at the usage of space in this piece, one can see how the center of the piece (the young child wearing the “ I hate Mondays!” t-shirt) is the focal point, and the area surrounding the top half of him and extending into the distance gives the viewer an intense spatial awareness and makes us aware of the negative space between the children (the ones on the foreground and those in the background). The focal point or “dominant figure” in this piece is evident to us because he stares right at the viewer, the colour on his shirt reinforce his dominance. The ‘line’ in this work, is soft and slightly blurred, done through paint brushes (it seems). Contrast is shown through the depiction of the evidently malnourished underprivileged child wearing an “I hate Mondays” shirt. One also notices repetition that creates texture on the ground surrounding the characters to create the effect of what looks like coarse sand or possibly bush on the earth?

Depth in this piece is achieved through tone, as shadows are emphasized and the colour only evident in the neutrals in the sky and the warm colours (almost saturated) shown in the typography on the child’s shirt.

When looking at the design principles that are relevant in this work, firstly I noticed that the child in the foreground distorts the ones in the background; this is done to emphasize the depth in the artwork. The composition of this work seems to depict a sense of isolation, the child is placed in the center with the other child staring at him and two young boys in the background, intensifies the depth of the piece as well as evoking a painful realization in the viewer.

Evidently this image has an immense amount of symbolism and I will go into this further after giving a brief biography of Banksy.

Banksy is a mysterious political activist/artist based in England[2]. He is known to the public only as “Banksy” and has almost successfully kept his real name out of the media, but it has been rumored that his name is Robin or Robert Banks[3]. Banksy is famous for his characteristic stenciling method in his unique street graphics, in these pieces he creates a platform for political discussion[4]. It has been said that his pieces recuperate the visual quality of the areas he creates in, and some Banksy fans believe that his art offers an expression for people existing in these areas[5].

When reading about Banksy, I read, and came to believe, that his main influences and inspirations are current events and the political climate in certain countries, aswell as a slightly mocking comment on human beings and ones fixation with the inconsequential aspects of life[6]. In this particular piece he comments on one’s normal day-to-day irritations and then compares it with poverty stricken countries with real issues that’s problems could mean life or death not just the annoyance of the “work” week beginning again[7]. Banksy is notorious for his art that has a level of obscure humour with an underlying social comment that is emphasized by political aspects and I feel this is event in this particular work[8]. He is known for his stencil graffiti but it seems that this particular piece is paint on canvas[9].  A friend of his, that is also Bristol born persuaded Banksy to enter the graffiti world but his street art technique couldn’t last forever as his art can be seen as vandalism by some and therefore does a lot of his works in the form of painting currently[10]. When looking at the techniques and materials that Banksy uses it is evident that stencils that are sometimes hand sketched or computer generated are used immensely, he has explained in his book Wall and Piece that his reasoning for using this specific technique is because he found he could never finish a piece in one sitting and therefore formulated a strategy to speed up the pace of his art - hence the stencils are made out of card or acetate[11].

In conclusion, I found this research paper rather interesting to construct and think of Banksy as a really inspirational designer/artist/activist/ and unknown.

Bibliography

Absolute Astronomy. Banksy. [online]. Avaliable at: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Banksy. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

Banksy website,2009. I Hate Mondays.[Image]. Avaliable at: http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/mondays.html [Accessed 31 May 2011]

Brian  Sewell Art directory. Banksy[text].Available at: http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

Knowledge Mosaic. 2010. I Hate Mondays. Banksy.[online] (Updated: 15 October 2010). Available as: http://www.knowledgemosaic.com/net/public/stairway.aspx?ID=86. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

Melrose and FairFax.2005.Banksy Hates Mondays.[online](Updated: 25 April 2011). Available at: http://melroseandfairfax.blogspot.com/2011/04/banksy-hates-mondays.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

Wikipedia.2007.Banksy.[online](Updated: 29 May 2011). Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

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[1]Banksy website,2009. I Hate Mondays.[Image]. Avaliable at: http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/mondays.html [Accessed 31 May 2011]

[2] Wikipedia.2007.Banksy.[online](Updated: 29 May 2011). Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[3] Brian  Sewell Art directory. Banksy[text].Available at: http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[4] Brian  Sewell Art directory. Banksy[online].Available at: http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[5] Brian  Sewell Art directory. Banksy[online].Available at: http://www.briansewell.com/artist/b-artist/banksy/banksy-biography.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[6] Melrose and FairFax.2005.Banksy Hates Mondays.[online](Updated: 25 April 2011). Available at: http://melroseandfairfax.blogspot.com/2011/04/banksy-hates-mondays.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[7] Melrose and FairFax.2005.Banksy Hates Mondays.[online](Updated: 25 April 2011). Available at: http://melroseandfairfax.blogspot.com/2011/04/banksy-hates-mondays.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[8] Knowledge Mosaic. 2010. I Hate Mondays. Banksy.[online] (Updated: 15 October 2010). Available as: http://www.knowledgemosaic.com/net/public/stairway.aspx?ID=86. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[9] Melrose and FairFax.2005.Banksy Hates Mondays.[online](Updated: 25 April 2011). Available at: http://melroseandfairfax.blogspot.com/2011/04/banksy-hates-mondays.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[10] Martin Hofschroer. 2010. Ezine and Mark. Crafty use of art supplies makes Banksy world famous.[Online] (Updated: 21 November 2010). Available at: http://entertainment.ezinemark.com/crafty-use-of-art-supplies-makes-banksy-world-famous-16e84c57122.html. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]

[11] Absolute Astronomy. Banksy. [online]. Avaliable at: http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Banksy. [Accessed: 31 May 2011]