Banksy op-ed rejected by NYT

[Recursion]

Last edited Tue Oct 29, 2013, 10:17 AM - Edit history (1)

The NYT has declined to publish the op-ed they solicited from Banksy. It can be viewed in full here:

http://banksy.co.uk/2013/10/27/blocked-messages

[BluegrassStateBlues]

1. They made the right call.

He should stick to vandalism.

[billhicks76]

7. WRONG

The New York Times sucks now...just another bunch of stenographers mouthpiecing for the establishment. How about standing up to all the wars abroad and at home. How about some in depth investigative journalism on the 'secret' plans of the neocons to take over the world.

[DeSwiss]

10. Right call -- for you. n/t

[warrprayer]

69. some people

might view it that way

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. vandalism?

Banksy's works have dealt with an array of political and social themes, including anti-War, anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-imperialism, anti-authoritarianism, anarchism, nihilism, and existentialism. Additionally, the components of the human condition that his works commonly critique are greed, poverty, hypocrisy, boredom, despair, absurdity, and alienation






Queues outside Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery for Banksy's Summer Show, June 2009
Date 14 June 2009

[Recursion]

22. I doubt it's worth trying to explain, but I loved that post

My usual one-liner is "how can you call it vandalism when he/she/they adds $20K or more to the value of any element he/she/they tags?"

[brooklynite]

24. So then you don't mind if the tagee cashes in, right?

Since they didn't have a choice in the placement of the art? Or would that be disrespectful?

[Recursion]

25. Me? Why would I care what somebody does with Banksy's art?

If Banksy ever came out and said "don't resell my stuff" that would be an interesting conundrum; he's quite specifically never said that.

[RandiFan1290]

14. Welcome Back to DU

[Recursion]

17. Ha

Deadpool? I call within 2 weeks...

[Vanje]

51. +1 !

[Marr]

42. +1

I really think they ought to just check the IP on this one and save us all a lot of time.

[Autumn]

56. Better to say goodbye. It made the wrong call

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=profile&uid=308371

[Mojorabbit]

62. Well done by admin. nt

[Recursion]

19. If you can't distinguish Banksy from a vandal, maybe you should let those of us...

... who actually care about art talk for a bit.

[joeglow3]

75. Putting yourself up on a high horse sure is fun, isn't it?

Unfortunately, just because you THINK you are better than others, it doesn't change the definition of vandalism.

[morningfog]

27. Welcome back! Drive that post count up as fast as you can!

[Recursion]

32. Guffaw

I admire the honesty with which this post is being met...

[Rex]

55. GONE! And his little friends are having a temper tantrum over it!

Hopefully they will be following him! EarlG don't pity no fools!

[morningfog]

61. Oh! Where? I'd love to watch.

[hootinholler]

29. If ever we need an exspurt on vandalism

I would nominate you.

[Recursion]

33. ^^^ Win

And that one wins it, ladies and gentlemen...

[KamaAina]

39. People lucky enough to be "vandalized" by Banksy are protecting his "tags"

with pull-down gates like those you see on storefronts in NYC. Y'know, so the art doesn't get vandalized.

[Recursion]

45. I saw that too

There's something awesome about that, like the fake rust painted on to the metal on the "Tree of Life" ride at Disney World, that then has rust protectant sprayed over it.

[Rex]

54. Says the now banned, repeat troll?

Yeah...we know who butters your bread...sadly you will be back. MEGA SIGH.

[MADem]

2. Ouch.

I don't know if I could have come up with a better idea, but I thought the twin towers were eyesores, and I don't think much of the replacement, either.

Then again, I don't live in NY, I visit on occasion, but it's not my home, so my opinion is just an opinion.

[Recursion]

3. I last saw Freedom Tower when it had just topped out above the Empire State

I hate to speak ill of the collapsed, but the entire project (I'm talking back to the original idea in the 70s) was misguided. Despite the insane price of real estate in Manhattan, the original WTC never had higher than 70% occupancy. This reduces the footprint, somewhat, but I still doubt they'll fill it, and it still "doesn't fit" south of Canal Street, IMO.

But, yeah, I'm just a visitor too.

[MADem]

38. We are in agreement.

Coming in from the sea, I thought that the twin towers were, well, an eyesore. They didn't have ANY relationship to the rest of the NYC skyline. They looked like a cheap boom box in Versailles, frankly.

I know some people (like the assholes who drove planes into them) felt that they radiated some sort of power and were symbolic (perhaps because of the vaguely Islamic design on the things, that no one could see from any distance), but I just thought they were ugly.


http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2001/12/the_mosque_to_commerce.html

[bettyellen]

63. they were never really part of the skyline as much as the harbour, and quite gorgeous reflecting the

sunset and skies at certain hours. They'd often pick up bright gold edges just before twilight. Sometimes the whole building turned rich gold hue against the purple twighlight.
But I think you'd have to see them often at odd hours to have experienced what chameleons those buildings actually were.
If you lied down in the center of the plaza between the two, it looked like they touched each other at the top.
And they anchored an entire neighborhood that was built on top of the river, and built all round them. If you had any idea what that neighborhood was like before them, you'd know they helped transform lower Manhattan west from an abandoned ghost town into a very vibrant area.
Watching them build the new one, I have mixed feelings. I don't know anyone who'd be eager to work there since it was hit twice. Honestly the whole thing is still a bit too raw for a lot of NYers. A lot of my coworkers have not enjoyed seeing it rise up at all.
I'd probably only visit once, and certainly not during busy office hours.

[MADem]

68. Again, I am just a visitor ... but I found the view from the harbor jarring.

My principal views of the twin structures were from the sea--I just didn't think they belonged. They looked, to me, like an afterthought.

I realize the architect took a lot of time with the whole "process," it just never did it for me. I've seen a load of Islamic architecture, and that just took bits and pieces in sufficiency to piss off fundies (the square shape, evocative of the kaaba, hung in glittering raiment, the very Islamic arches, e.g.) but not enough to fully honor the brilliance that is Islamic construction.

But hey--taste is personal. I imagine people who worked there for years liked it.

Ironically, I skipped a breakfast at Windows on the World exactly one month before that tragedy. I was in NYC on 8-11 and decided to sleep in, instead. I always figured I could go up there and take pics of the view "some other day."

As for the new thing, I can't help but think of an abstract hypodermic needle or a clunky ice pick when I see it. It doesn't do it for me, either.

As for the "too raw" aspect, I can't argue with you there. The Bay State is still sensitive about Nahn Wun Wun because Logan played a role in that mess. Any time there's an incident at the airport, everyone's first thought goes to Terra-Terra-Terra, even if it's a simple engine fire or a tire blowout.

[bettyellen]

74. midday it was pretty boring to look at alright, but early mornings and twilights could be

gorgeous.
when I was a teenager we used to go to an afterhour club a few blocks north, in the basement of some warehouse. that whole neighborhood was dying industrial / commercial space and it was dead on weekends and after 5 pm. we'd walk down there (she lied and said we were in a club at WTC, because the truth was too scary for her parents) and wait for her parents to pick us up at dawn and lie in the middle of the plaza. it was so quiet we could here their car approach. I had a lot of good associations with that place. But the new one, it is just too spooky. I won't be surprised at all if they hit it again somehow. I'm not thrilled we have a new target here, I work about 6-7 blocks away- and just down the street from that club we'd go to.

[mattclearing]

4. The truth hurts. n/t

[Recursion]

5. Don't it? (nt)

[Egalitarian Thug]

6. Wow. Every point, right down the line. The fearful appeasers and sycophants have

been allowed, simply through politeness I believe, to take control. Of course, being the obsequious non-entities that they are, they don't really control anything but are instead happy to submit to any piece of shit charlatan that comes along and tells them whatever it is they want to hear at the moment.

I loved New York once, long ago. Today it is a soulless Disney diorama of what it never was, but what the depressingly unimaginative prole wannabes fantasize. I don't even like to visit anymore as the spirit and energy that once lived there has long since left. NYC today is an ugly, well-scrubbed zombie with no reason to exist except as a reminder of what greatness used to look like.

[dorkzilla]

15. Wow. I can see saying that about Times Square but the whole City? Nt

[Recursion]

16. The whole borough, maybe, along with Brooklyn

Queens is still awesome, so is the Bronx.

Though honestly even Manhattan north of about 100th street is still cool.

[dorkzilla]

48. Whew…at least you said the Bronx was still cool!

I know what you mean in terms of how drastically the City has changed and to a large extent I agree, but its still a vibrant, energetic City. Only now, I don't feel petrified to be a woman alone walking in most parts of Manhattan anymore. I've been spending a lot of time lately in the Bowery, and I haven't had to leap over one vomit-crusted vagrant, not even once! and no hypodermic needles strewn about.

But da Bronx still rocks!

[Recursion]

18. Banksy are (I use that deliberately) one of the finest writers of our times

The street art is of course amazing, but this Op-Ed I think is a brilliant piece.

Let me be clear, it's a "troll" in the classic sense of the word. But it's a damn good one.

[brooklynite]

26. Here's a clue: people live here...

New York has the most dynamic population and cultural mix in the world. We make our own City experience. We don't need self-appointed artistic experts to do it for us.

[Javaman]

31. +1 nt

[KurtNYC]

41. try the boroughs, there is still some soul there

but Manhattan feels more and more like a casino these days, soul-less and money grubbing. The gritty pragmatism displaced by only businesses which can pay $60/SF/Month.

[MrModerate]

8. Kind of a dumb article. n/t

[LuvNewcastle]

9. "It looks like something they would build in Canada."

That's true. I always thought the Twin Towers were ugly, though. They were just big boxes without anything special about them at all. I don't know why they ever allowed them to be built in the first place.

Why can't they do anything special with skyscrapers anymore? I've always thought the Chrysler Building was beautiful; they should look at something like that for inspiration. It just looks like they wanted to slap something up as quickly as they could, and it had to be taller so they could prove something to the terrorists. When people make such a huge effort and spend so much money on something that's supposed to last indefinitely, they should at least put some thought into it and try to make it appealing. After all, skyscrapers are our cathedrals these days.

[Recursion]

21. Thank you!

Where are the visionary architects of today? Well, I know where they are since I know a lot of them, so let me re-ask: why were none of them selected for this?

[LuvNewcastle]

28. I'm sure it's all about money.

Some rich people with big connections probably own an architectural firm and wrangled the contract. They probably got paid way too much for that awful design, too.

[DeSwiss]

11. K&R

[seveneyes]

23. So says he

Most people appreciate art in their own personal way. For everyone else, there's a class for that.

[DetlefK]

30. Really? An op-ed complaining that a skyscraper looks boring? What's next?

Complaining that all street-lamps look the same, without even a try for some avantgarde?

[X_Digger]

34. Meh.. what, he'd prefer a skyscraper shaped like a digitus impudicus?

Then again, I'm not a connoisseur of fine architecture, so what do I know?

[Recursion]

35. Maybe one that fit in with the architecture south of Canal?

That's been the problem of the WTC concept since the 70s: it should be about 40 blocks farther north.

[Blue_Tires]

36. When the time comes to build the next skyscraper

I guess someone will hire Banksy as a consultant, then...

I have to ask (because I honestly don't know about these kinds of things): What's an example of a trendy, stylish 100+ story building??

FWIW, not printing that op-ed was probably a good thing...Had it run, I'm guessing Banksy (along with anyone who looks like him) would not have gotten out of that city alive...

[KurtNYC]

43. I think this op ed hits too close to the nerve for the NYT

Because the WTC towers were brought down, all of the businesses withing them have moved. The towers were never an ideal location to do business and the feeling of power that tall buildings used to bring is replaced with vulnerability. On my scorecard there was a lot of foot dragging in building the new tower and questions like "what business wants to relocate into the new WTC?"

The tip of Manhattan was thick with accounting jobs in the 1920-1950s. Computers have made it easy and profitable to decentralize the financial business.

Sometimes it DOES feel like they are building that thing just so there won't be a hole there. We don't talk about doing great things in this country anymore. No more moon missions, no world peace, no tech breakthroughs that will improve living conditions for everyone on the planet. Now we talk about what we fear and how to avoid or just live through the next disaster.

My own taste would have been for something that updates the Deco era since that includes most of NYC's best buildings. Think Chrysler building on steroids.

[Blue_Tires]

46. As for me personally, I would have gone for

one of those outrageous futuristic sci-fi styles that are in vogue in Asia and the Middle East...That's the only thing that looks "good" to me...

But I know it wouldn't 'match' the skyline, and what I find stylish may not be the same for other people...Nevermind the fact that I don't have to live with it or work near it, so it doesn't really matter what I think...

I'm having trouble determining if Banksy is saying the building is too bland, or if he's saying nothing should have been built on that site at all...

But the NYT made the right call...I promise you a small or large group of people would have read it in completely the wrong manner and Banksy would have to start sleeping in bulletproof vests...

[Bluenorthwest]

50. Just as a point of fact, no one knows what Banksy looks like. His identity is unknown.

nt

[Blue_Tires]

52. So I'm supposed to believe the NYT would accept an op-ed

without verifying the author's identity??

[PoliticAverse]

60. Yes. Many op-eds are probably 'ghost written'... n/t

[PoliticAverse]

59. I'm sure several people know what 'Bansky' looks like. n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

77. I'm sure a few do, but even how many of Banksy there might be. The identity of the artist known

as Banksy is not known. So when someone says 'him and anyone who looks like him' that's hilarious material. Up to speed yet?

[whatchamacallit]

37. Massive monument to a lie. n/t

[brooklynite]

57. er, the lie being?

[Gravitycollapse]

64. Well, the World Trade Center is/was one of the most prominent financial hubs in the World.

Thus it is likely the most densely populated with corporate thugs and well-funded liars.

[brooklynite]

67. Sorry to burt your stereotype...

The World Trade Center, despite the name, was a mix of everything: big business, small business, Government, non-profits. And unless you think NYC shouldn't rebuild after a terrorist attack, I don't see what your issue is.

[Gravitycollapse]

70. Some of the largest financial firms and corporations had offices in the WTC.

They were the symbolic heritage of the World Trade Center. It was and is a massive financial hub.

That's not a stereotype. That's a reality.

[Warren DeMontague]

71. please, elboarate?

[KamaAina]

40. "It looks like something they would build in Canada"

[Taverner]

44. He's right. He should have also mentioned it is a single point of failure

[ScreamingMeemie]

47. Well... I guess it's a good thing he doesn't really live here then...?

[Bluenorthwest]

49. It's so funny that they rejected it. Such a good piece.

I feel sorry for NY as a city, it's soul having been removed to make room for more stores of cash and soft rooms for the people who count it. A visit there is like going to see an old friend and finding they've been replaced by a wax replica.

[JaneyVee]

53. Greenpoint! My hometown.

[DireStrike]

58. Ouch. Completely accurate, though.

[Gravitycollapse]

65. Cosmetically, I thought One World Trade looked pretty cool when I visited this summer.

Unfortunately, I am sure the building will be populated with more corporate and financial thugs. Which doesn't seem to be the point of his verbal attack. Which confuses me. Of all the things to attack, I would not have picked the World Trade Center's aesthetics.

[bettyellen]

66. Septemeber 11 didn't happen to "all of us" for fucks sake. You'd have to have been tucked safely

a few hundred miles away to even think such a fucking stupid thing. What a BS wannanbe sentiment.

[Warren DeMontague]

72. I agree with him. I find the architecture of that building uninspired.

Tallest building in the world is now in Dubai.



Once upon a time we sent men to the moon with computers less powerful than today's $3 calculators. I'd like to see this country dream big again, myself.

[Recursion]

73. Burj Khalifa is a big white elephant at this point. Same problem original WTC had

Demand for real estate is high, but not infinite, and these huge projects usually end up with much lower occupancy than people hope.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

76. maybe the best op-ed i have read about the freedom tower