Exit Through the Gift Shop
Creativity has always pushed the limits in the media and societal culture. In modern society, street art is considered as vandalism, in comparison to the artist(s) and works shown in the film "Exit Through the Gift Shop", street art is a life-style. It helps the artist convey thoughts and opinions, while abusing the right of staying anonymous. Exit Through the Gift Shop removes that anonymity for every artist, aside from one, Banksy, the filmmaker. Banksy is a notorious street artist that prefers to push the limits of reality and creativity. He has created and released this film to provide a message about the Main Character, Thierry Guetta, and for others, like him, who believe street art can be created easily. Exit Through the Gift Shop follows a man, Thierry Guetta, who initially lives his life through his camera. After observing street art, he discovers a few artists and begins to obsessively follow them around, recording the 'making-of ' and the final piece. Along the way, he interviews them about their creations, and what these artists are trying to display. Throughout this process, Guetta is behind the scope of the lens, as a hidden character should, out of sight and out of mind. With the artist in the spotlight, the audience is provided the images first-hand, along with the artists ' definition. Since Guetta never had plans to use the footage, no one would ever see these images, or creations, other than him. This was a harmless concept, for he would lend a hand when needed, and stayed humble overall.
While observing the street art, Guetta learned different styles, different creations and the actual creative process behind the works of Fairey, Space Invader and Banksy, to then try and apply art of his own. While Guetta works with Banksy, he earns Banksy’s trust, to the point where secrets are shared. From the beginning of the film, Banksy claims that Guetta has no intention to use the film, after weeks of footage being recorded; Banksy puts Guetta’s
While observing the street art, Guetta learned different styles, different creations and the actual creative process behind the works of Fairey, Space Invader and Banksy, to then try and apply art of his own. While Guetta works with Banksy, he earns Banksy’s trust, to the point where secrets are shared. From the beginning of the film, Banksy claims that Guetta has no intention to use the film, after weeks of footage being recorded; Banksy puts Guetta’s
References: Lane, A. (2010, Apr 26). Street justice. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/cinema/2010/04/26/100426crci_cinema_lane RYZIK, M. (2010, April 13). Ny times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/14/movies/14banksy.html Cushing, H., D’Cruz, J and Gay-Rees, J. (2010)Banksy(Director) “Exit Through the Gift Shop” (Motion Picture). United Kingdom. Acknowledgements: Lab Class – I’d like to thank everyone that I was grouped with in lab for help with finding a few sources, and an overall discussion about the topics of the paper. Peer Editor – I’d like to thank you for reviewing and editing my work ahead of time, offering me changes and correcting small errors.