Art and Social media take on a new role

Art takes on many different forms and social media helps get an artists name out in the public. One famous documentary called “Exit through the gift shop” is an example of this phenomenon. The documentary follows the life of Thierry Guetta, an ambitious French man eager to capture the underground world of graffiti with his camera. He begins following the most famous graffiti artists like Shepard Fairey, the creator of the Obama Hope poster and the infamous Banksy.

Banksy remains in the shadows and never reveas his identity to the public. His graffiti conveys a theme of political revolution and quickly earns him a name in the graffiti world as one of the greatest street artists. Guetta seeks Banksy for months and with luck is able to meet him. Banksy allows the Frenchman to film him as he explores the streets of LA, leaving his trademark stencils everywhere.

For years, Guetta claimed to have a documentary in the making that would help elevate the graffiti world so with a bit of encouragement from Banksy, he sets his sights on making the movie. After six months, Guetta returns showing Banksy his project to which Banksy rebuffs and encourages him to make art instead. With direct orders from Banksy, Guetta abandons his documentary and begins making graffiti.

The secretive artist, Banksy, takes reigns of the documentary and produces “Exit through the Gift shop” taking some of Guetta’s film footage and creating a masterpiece. Meanwhile, Guetta takes the direct order too far and sells everything in his possession to create a full-scale art show. After weeks of publicity, he opens up his first show called “Life is Beautiful” and by the end sells more than $1 million worth of artwork. He becomes an overnight sensation and even goes on to design the album cover of Madonna’s greatest hits.

The end of the documentary posed many questions. Was Guetta a joke to the whole art world, sending the message that anything you create can be called art? Is Guetta truly an artist who just came up with ideas yet never made any of the artwork himself? Digital communication played a key role in Guetta’s rise to fame and the recognition of his brand.  His work blew up all social media forms with electronic word of mouth Banksy later goes on to say, “Guetta is the last person I would ever recommend doing art.” Certainly everyone could not agree more with that statement.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-story-behind-banksy-4310304/