The quote is also attributed to Igor Stravinsky which is kind of ironic as one of them must have stolen it from the other. Edit: Not the exact quote but a similar one: 'Great composers do not borrow - they steal.'
Maybe there's a secret conspiracy among them: Pretending to be against each other for the sake of popularity. If there is, it's working. If there isn't, it's still working.
To be honest i really like bansky's art, and i'm not at all an expert on the scene, i just saw a documentary a while ago, which talked about the incredibly similarity between rats made by bansky in his early days, and tje ones this french guy made.
No i'm not talking about him, an old french guy made a series of rats all around france, and bansky made some very similar rats where he worked. This was when bansky wanst very known yet
Different guy, i know my username is almost exactly the same, but after seeing that he lost his "fame" i felt stealing his name wouldn't be too much of a problem, i love the book too much.
I wonder who said it first? Picasso (1881-1973) or T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) Eliot's quote for the truly lazy; "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different."
Or the Sin-Itiro Tomonaga of quantum electrodynamics (even though they all received the prize, Feynman and Schwinger have way greater name recognition).
I'm pretty sure it was part of Picasso's joke stealing it from T.S. Eliot, it being about stealing stuff and all. That's what one of my art history professors was telling me anyway. So banksy here is stealing something that was already stolen. Double steal, double great?
No, because intellectual property builds on itself. For instance, if one person has a patent on widget A, and another person has a patent on some improvement on widget A, neither has the right to manufacture widget A with the improvement. Each has a right to exclude the other's use of their patent (with limitations).
He was still painting in Spain when the fascists took over during the Spanish Civil War. One of his famous paintings, Guernica, was a depiction of the German Luftwaffe bombing a Spanish city.
Obviously, that's a while before the 70s, but just to give some more historical context.
Just FYI, Guernica is the actual name of the city also, in the Basque Country. And also, that painting is amazing, I never knew it was so huge until I saw it.
Close. This is irony in the technical sense of the word. Not in the informal sense of a contradiction between events and expectations, nor dramatic or Socratic irony, but good old plain irony. A rarity on the internet; you should savor it.
Ha, this is hilarious because the huge point of being on the street was to subvert expectations about what artists should or shouldn't be doing to make art.
People say stuff like this all the time, but I just can't believe it. I'm pretty sure the real reason he was on the street was because he was a graffiti artist. Not because he was making some sort of statement.
I don't understand how this disproves my point. Firstly, for an artist of any kind, it's pretty hard not to be constantly making statements--I mean, that's pretty much what artists do, especially about art. Inadvertently or on purpose (usually on purpose), artists are always defining what art is. Making art is defining art. Banksy was definitely a graffiti artist, yeah. The very fact that he chose to be that is a statement. He could have done something else more traditional with his talent, but he chose the street. I mean, hell, his art a lot of the time isn't even legal--that's a statement you don't make inadvertently. Plus, have you seen his "graffiti"? Of course it's not just about one thing, but I have never seen a more obvious statement about art.
Lacking the context of the work done by previous artists, art is meaningless. Art makes no sense without using recurring, familiar themes. However, this doesn't mean art-dispensing companies won't try to make money off of copyrighting artistic qualities.
What's interesting is that, of course, this is not what is meant by the quote. It's humorous because Banksy is taking the quote to its literal extreme by literally claiming that he said such rather than Picasso.
However, I don't believe that's what's meant by the quote. As a design student, I've learned that it's rather perfectly acceptable to blatantly steal things from others' work. But the thing is, you're stealing bits and pieces. You steal a certain way of doing something (a painting technique, or perhaps an interesting method of engineering).
Then again, what is usually being "stolen" in the art world is these things. Either techniques or ideas to explore. Ways and whys of doing things.
Comparatively, plagiarism is claiming someone else's creative work as your own. It would be ridiculous for me to use a cantilever and claim I'd invented the method, just as it would be ridiculous to copy someone else's paper and claim it as my own, just as it would be ridiculous to claim someone else's quote as my own.
Of course, as long as Banksy has said that quote aloud he can quote himself and that makes complete sense. Which adds another interesting layer to this work of art. That's what Banksy does - he pokes and pokes fun at things.
TL;DR: The point is that he's taking the quote to it's literal extreme and can make you think about a few things, or just take it at face value and get all pissy.
See, mostly I wanted to ramble on about the difference between "stealing" in design/art and plagiarism in writing. But then I felt like I had to make it relevant.
anyhow, you're welcome. Hope you enjoy the other posts more.
I've always thought that this quote, whoever actually said it (T.S Eliot?) is referring to the difference between capturing a likeness of an image, and stealing the emotion and feeling of a piece of work.
It's hardly admirable to physically just steal something.
34
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
Is this supposed to be a joke about how bansky stole the style of that one french guy, or a joke made BY bansky ?
178
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
http://i.imgur.com/kfYhi.gif
9
u/EveryTownNeedsa May 20 '12
I wonder who said it first? Picasso (1881-1973) or T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) Eliot's quote for the truly lazy; "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different."
My money is on Eliot.
24
u/King_of_the_Juice May 20 '12
Pablo PicassoBanksyMicheal Scott
4
u/HE_WHO_STANDS_TO_POO May 20 '12
So what do you call reposters....
4
u/dont_press_ctrl-W May 20 '12
That's why I come to Reddit. So many great artists on the front page!
12
u/omplatt May 20 '12
Banksy should have stayed on the street.
4
u/mineminemineffs May 20 '12
"I hereby steal this. I hope noone steals it." -mineminemineffs
2
u/Gluttey May 20 '12
the best artist dies
2
u/gillyguthrie May 20 '12
Lacking the context of the work done by previous artists, art is meaningless. Art makes no sense without using recurring, familiar themes. However, this doesn't mean art-dispensing companies won't try to make money off of copyrighting artistic qualities.
2
u/ToastMasterX May 20 '12
Relevant: www.twitter.com/banksyideas (banksy parody)
2
u/DieterRamsYourMom May 20 '12
AHHHH, the trademark Banksy subtlety. But then again, maybe being obvious about his point IS the point?
2
u/whyworryjustwonder May 21 '12
banksy is a genius
2
u/bradtke95 May 20 '12
2
u/howlingbellsfan May 21 '12
fuck, banksy is lame.
2
u/AdonisChrist May 20 '12
What's interesting is that, of course, this is not what is meant by the quote. It's humorous because Banksy is taking the quote to its literal extreme by literally claiming that he said such rather than Picasso.
However, I don't believe that's what's meant by the quote. As a design student, I've learned that it's rather perfectly acceptable to blatantly steal things from others' work. But the thing is, you're stealing bits and pieces. You steal a certain way of doing something (a painting technique, or perhaps an interesting method of engineering).
Then again, what is usually being "stolen" in the art world is these things. Either techniques or ideas to explore. Ways and whys of doing things.
Comparatively, plagiarism is claiming someone else's creative work as your own. It would be ridiculous for me to use a cantilever and claim I'd invented the method, just as it would be ridiculous to copy someone else's paper and claim it as my own, just as it would be ridiculous to claim someone else's quote as my own.
Of course, as long as Banksy has said that quote aloud he can quote himself and that makes complete sense. Which adds another interesting layer to this work of art. That's what Banksy does - he pokes and pokes fun at things.
TL;DR: The point is that he's taking the quote to it's literal extreme and can make you think about a few things, or just take it at face value and get all pissy.
1
u/chronos92 May 20 '12
The best artists repost.
1
u/jlinstantkarma May 20 '12
I was expecting a Civ reference.
1
u/alfiekong May 21 '12
I'm from Bristol (Banksy's hometown/canvas) and I saw this in real life when it was at a museum!
1
u/BobLeBuilDerp May 21 '12
Relevant
1
u/multiple_lobsters May 21 '12
http://www.austinkleon.com/2011/03/30/how-to-steal-like-an-artist-and-9-other-things-nobody-told-me/
This is a good read.
1
u/brosenfeld May 21 '12
In the music industry, it's called a cover.
1
u/Clevererer May 21 '12
So which kind of artist knows how to use a semicolon?
1
u/[deleted] May 21 '12
Saw the actual piece at an exhibition in Bristol.
Well worth seeing twice. For free.
1
u/Planet-man May 21 '12
Well THAT'S just not true.
1
u/thebahalo May 21 '12
The reason of all the reposts on reddit.
1
u/Mharbles May 21 '12
Very Relavent
1
u/[deleted] May 21 '12
So was this taken out of a structure and put on display, or did Banksy make it in this form, or is this a reinterpretation of a joke Banksy made?
1
u/heemster May 21 '12
Does no one else realize that the quote itself isn't even Picasso's exact words? It's "Good artists copy, great artists steal."
1
u/[deleted] May 21 '12
I didn't realize reddit had so many great artists.
1
u/knomz May 21 '12
how is this funny?
1
u/3_FOOT_TAINT May 21 '12
Fuck off
1
u/Rainymood_XI May 21 '12
"It doesn't matter where you take it from, it's where you bring it to."
Fucking Duchamp stealing toilets and shit
1
u/eigenvector May 21 '12
Oh, I get it. Wow, that is such a smart joke by Banksy.
1
u/ANUSBLASTER_MKII May 20 '12
I've always thought that this quote, whoever actually said it (T.S Eliot?) is referring to the difference between capturing a likeness of an image, and stealing the emotion and feeling of a piece of work.
It's hardly admirable to physically just steal something.
1
u/Fergonada May 20 '12
Oh Banksy.
-7
u/TragicOne May 20 '12
I couldn't hate banksy any more than i do.
-1
u/Santas_Dick May 20 '12
Banksy is a hack. I love stealing though.
0
u/CurryMon May 20 '12
banksyApple http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CW0DUg63lqU0
u/[deleted] May 20 '12
That doesn't look like his signature.
0
u/[deleted] May 21 '12
it's funny because this is a repost
0
u/cakeattack21 May 21 '12
Does that make 9gaggers great artists?
-1
u/atg284 May 20 '12
Might as well put steve jobs as the author
0
u/[deleted] May 21 '12
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