{"id":14416,"date":"2022-02-16T14:07:34","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T14:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/banksy-s-season-s-greetings-and-a-lesson-in-the-commodification-of-art\/"},"modified":"2022-02-16T14:07:34","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T14:07:34","slug":"banksy-s-season-s-greetings-and-a-lesson-in-the-commodification-of-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gfdesign.co.uk\/culture\/banksy-s-season-s-greetings-and-a-lesson-in-the-commodification-of-art\/","title":{"rendered":"Banksy\u2019s ‘Season’s Greetings’ and a lesson in the commodification of art"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

In December 2018, Ian Lewis, a steel worker from Port Talbot in South Wales, woke to an early Christmas present \u2013 an artwork by world-renowned street artist Banksy had appeared overnight on his garage.<\/p>\n

Season\u2019s Greetings, as the painting was officially named, is painted on two sides of a wall. One side shows a child playing in what looks like snow. Turn the corner and the \u2018snow\u2019 becomes falling ash and smoke from a skip fire.<\/p>\n

Mr Lewis\u2019 garage became an overnight tourist sensation, hitting national headlines, as crowds flocked from all over the country to see it.<\/p>\n

What follows is nothing less than a salutary lesson. It quickly became clear that the artwork needed protecting. Amid fears of vandalism, fencing was installed, together a screen in front of the wall. Security guards were stationed at the entrance, together with parking attendants.<\/p>\n

Next came the news that John Brandler, an Essex-based art dealer, had bought Season\u2019s Greetings for an unspecified six-figure sum, despite not having seen the painting in real life. In May 2019 the piece was moved from the Taibach garage wall to Ty’r Orsaf, the site of the former police station on Station Road, where it was safely positioned behind panes of reinforced glass.<\/p>\n

This month came the disappointing news that, despite the townsfolk\u2019s best efforts to keep the artwork in the town where it was created, it was to be rehoused at a gallery in England. Apparently, Mr Brandler had plans to eventually create a street art museum in the Banksy’s new home, Ty\u2019r Orsaf, featuring other world-renowned artists. But in June 2019 he scrapped the idea after the cash-strapped Council refused his demands to pay a yearly fee of \u00a3100,000 for the loan of the artwork.<\/a><\/p>\n

So that\u2019s that, then. An artwork which was gifted to the city \u2013 and which arguably only makes sense in the context of its original location \u2013 is to leave Wales, possibly forever. Capitalism commodifies everything \u2013 skills, time, land (I recently read of The Adam Smith Institute\u2019s plan to sell shares for plots on the Moon) and, yes, Art.<\/p>\n

Determining the price of a piece of art is a tricky one. Who decides whether Tracy Emin\u2019s bed is art or just\u2026a bed? Or whether a cow pickled in formaldehyde is worth as much as an Old Master? Such decisions often feel arbitrary, based more on reputation than Skill. Even artists play this game. Salvador Dali famously avoided paying for drinks in bars by drawing on the backs of his cheques, making them priceless works of art and therefore un-cashable.<\/p>\n

Artists, of course, deserve to make a living. It\u2019s not unreasonable to charge prices that reflect the time, effort and skill required to create something beautiful and unique. The problems arise when collectors and dealers move in, and art becomes prized more for its perceived monetary value than its intrinsic worth. (Banksy, of course, famously played with this concept with his \u2018shredded picture\u2019 stunt at a London auction house).<\/p>\n

Who determines what a piece of art is worth? A few years back, I bought an original painting for a fiver in my local charity shop. I bought it because I liked it. I\u2019ve no idea who painted it. If tomorrow I was to discover that it was the work of a famous artist, nothing materially would have changed. The painting would be exactly the same as when I bought it. The only difference would be the market value, but the artistic<\/em> value \u2013 the reason I bought it \u2013 stays the same.<\/p>\n

Street art, by its nature, has always been ephemeral. Images and tags appear and disappear. Unlike the carefully curated art in galleries, historically Street Art has been egalitarian \u2013 anonymous or semi-anonymous, created purely for freedom of expression, with no intention of material gain. In a world where so many are made to feel invisible and worthless, it\u2019s a way of rising up through the cracks, a two-fingered salute at the world \u2013 a way of shouting \u2018I Exist!\u2019<\/p>\n

When does Street art become Established Art? A few years ago, Swansea Council, in their wisdom, decided to paint over a Cofiwch Dryweryn mural which appeared on the marina wall \u2013 arguably just as strong an artistic statement as the Banksy. When is an artwork deemed graffiti? When the Council considers its message too political? When it\u2019s not judged to be in keeping with the tourism aesthetic of the area? When it poses a threat financially?<\/p>\n

Banksy\u2019s \u2018Season\u2019s Greetings\u2019, too, was political. It was a statement about pollution, about the town\u2019s industrial past (and future). A statement about how the ugliness of industry can, when viewed through innocent eyes, appear beautiful. About the legacy of a town which in 2018 was listed as the most polluted area of the UK, yet relies upon industry to feed its children. And it\u2019s a child, significantly, who appears in the mural \u2013 a symbol of the town\u2019s future, appearing at Christmas when the symbolism of Nativity, and of lost childhood, is at its most redolent. Above all, I think, it is a symbol of hope.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to feel hopeless, as the town\u2019s Banksy is lifted onto a crane to begin its long journey to a gallery miles away in England. It\u2019s easy to feel frustration at an opportunity missed. Yet, amidst it all, there is hope. Banksy\u2019s gift to the town has inspired the Port Talbot ARTWalk \u2013 a coming together of artists from across the town and farther afield, both known and unknown, to create a stunning walkway of murals and street art.<\/p>\n

The ARTWalk is, of course, free for anyone to enjoy. Amid the gloom of a steel-grey February sky, these colourful, rebellious swirls of colour are a joyous shout to the world: We are here, we are the voices of the town, and we are not going anywhere.<\/p>\n

Writing on the group\u2019s Facebook page, Derek Davies of Port Talbot ARTWalk <\/a>explains:<\/p>\n

As a community, we will move forward. The fact that the Season\u2019s Greetings artwork is not with us anymore \u2013 is that really so important? The mystique about the artwork will remain with us for all time in our town, regardless of not having a piece of wall. The story of the Port Talbot Banksy is part of who we are, the people and the passion of Port Talbot. It stays in the hearts of the people of Port Talbot and that, that cannot be taken away by money or profit. We are the winners, not art dealers. Money is okay for some, but the legend of the Port Talbot Banksy holds far more riches than money can ever, ever buy\u2026And that my friends\u2026is priceless.<\/em><\/p>\n

So the commodification of Banksy\u2019s Season\u2019s Greetings has, in fact, achieved just the opposite. Rising up from the streets is unbridled freedom of expression \u2013 uncommodified, de-monetised, freed from the shackles of galleries and dealers. This is Art for Art\u2019s sake. I reckon Banksy would be proud.<\/p>\n

\"RL<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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