You know, you show up here to Funny Strange, and you THINK it's going to be all weird photos and strange stuff people said, and granted— most of the time it is. But, every once in awhile I am going to try to enlighten you with cool stuff, and this is one of those times. Buckle your seat belts! We're going on an art tour (a weird art tour, but still…..I think you might find this interesting, at least for a moment).
So, while we were in New York, I was so excited, because an artist I like, Banksy, had a bunch of murals up all around SOHO, as well as an installation in the West Village. I know the installation comes down on Friday, so if you're in the area, I would highly recommend checking it out.
In case you don't know who Banksy is, he's this artist who does anonymous graffiti murals around London, and now he is branching out. I like his art alot because it's interesting and thought-provoking and kind of weird, and I suppose I also like the mystery of this unknown guy painting these high quality, super-big murals in public places, but remaining anonymous. I mean, he obviously has help, from the city or the police department or a backer or whomever, but I just think it's kind of neat that we have an actual art sensation/ movement of sorts during our time, and that his art is really temporary, and is more of an experience to find it and see it in person. Don't get me wrong– I like going to see art in galleries too, but this is a whole other thing, and I was totally excited to get to do it in the United States finally.
So, first you show up at the installation part, which is set up as a pet store kind of thing on Bleecker
and 7th Avenue. It's called the Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill, and it's just….awesome. Animatronic chickens looking over their chicken nugget babies, animatronic hot dogs drinking from water dishes and mustard, and a creepily alive looking monkey watching tv in a cage. Here are some pictures of that and a piece in the Times if you're interested.
This is really one of those "you have to be there to actually see it" things, because while it might look a little odd, the cumulative effect is at once clever and sublimely surreal. The big draw, I think, is the window display, which looks like a live cheetah and apparently draws a huge crowd outside (and inside) the store, where the employees are wearing leather overalls, and you can actually buy pet supplies if you want to.
Confused yet? Well, the second part is that in order to have the organic Bansky experience, you have to ask the leather overall worker-people where the murals are in SOHO, and in response, they give you a torn-off piece of notebook paper with the four locations handwritten in pencil. No addresses– just "Canal and W. Broadway," which, if you know New York, you know is a pretty big area. You kind of have to wander down there, then keep turning around until– aha! There it is! A big rat painted on the side of a building.
Then you just stand there for awhile, gaping at it– like, how did he get up there? Why does it look like a charcoal sketch when it would have to be spray painted? That is just totally amazing! Then you maybe meet some British people on the street who are also out hunting for Banksys and who just happened to find this one, and you direct them back to the original installation so they can get the list, and so on…. but, you can't stay too long, because there are three more to find!
So, then you're up and past the people selling the fake purse sellers, past the Dunkin Donuts and the African art mart, and around the corner, where on Howard street you look around and happen to see this one….
Which, I think you'll agree, is maybe even cooler than the one on W. Broadway. Again– how did he get up there and do something on that scale with no one seeing him or taking any pictures? Baffling, really.
Next stop–Wooster and Grand. I'm not sure what's going on with the rat theme– maybe it's all rats because it's his first time in New York, or maybe he just likes rats. I like the t-shirt on this one.
Finally, a little longer walk gets you to Houston and MacDougal, where you find this awesomeness, complete with a fake painting-over of the Fox logo. Nice.
So– overall, I think this was one of the most fun and cool, all-encompassing art experiences I've ever had, and I really loved it. I loved it even more than the inflatable Paul McCarthy Blockhead outside the Tate Modern in 2003, ok? Not only was I blown away by the art itself, but I was also just really so into the whole thing– it was like Banksy actually managed to use the entire city of New York as his canvas, and that is really saying something.
Now, I'm just waiting for the dollar to be worth something again so I can go on a Banksy tour of London. Yay!
