Prime Time 7, Coursebook plus Semester Self-checks

30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Town councilors agree. One criticised Banksy for failing to ask permission to spray Leita all over the wall. However, the owner of the wall – the Camden Roundhouse Performing Arts Centre – believes this is art, not graffiti, and is happy to host it. If all the world’s a stage, then all of London is an art gallery. It feels like the world capital of guerrilla art. Spray paintings with a message, hastily made paintings, and elaborate pieces of graffiti are popping up on the sides of buildings, bus stops, and sidewalks across the city. For some it is vandalism, glorified graffiti masquerading as art. For others it is more than that. “A well-placed piece of street art can make you smile, laugh, or think about what it is to be human in our modern world,” argues Alex MacNaughton, author of London Street Art . Guerrilla art ranges from the simple to the sublime. Some street artists merely mess with official signs to change their meaning. One nameless spray painter (many artists do not reveal their identity, given the criminal nature of their work) has been spraying an “H” in the big white signs painted on busy roads that say “BUS STOP”, so that now, many say “BUSH STOP”. (This may sound like standard protest graffiti, but photos of “BUSH STOP” have appeared in guerrilla art galleries, elevating them in some people’s view to art.) These guerrillas “democratise” art, smashing out of “stuffy galleries” and painting right on the streets where we walk, talk, and work, says a spokesman for Pictures on Walls – an art collective showing guerrilla artists, including Banksy. The spokesman, reluctant to give his name (again, with the secrecy), argues that this art is about “breaking down the boundary between gallery and street, and taking art to the people. It gives ownership of art to everyone.” In fact, guerrilla art seems to be going increasingly mainstream – crossing from street to gallery, and is making big bucks. (Brendan O’Neill, The Christian Science Monitor , 8 January 2007) 0 Where can you see the picture Sweeping it under the Carpet ? a) on a farm b) in a shabby street c) in a tube station d) in a hotel ✘ 1 How did the artist Banksy present his picture Sweeping it under the Carpet ? a) He talked about it in a TV interview in an L. A. hotel. b) The picture was introduced during a campaign to fight AIDS in Africa. c) He announced the picture in a letter to a local newspaper. d) The picture wasn’t formally presented at all. 2 How did the people who live in the area react? a) The people liked it because the picture is directed against the government. b) Some people were not impressed or didn’t understand the message. c) They were happy to have it in the neighbourhood. d) Most of the people hated it because they don’t like graffiti. 3 Why do some people consider the BUS(H) STOP project as art? a) Because the spray painter remained nameless. b) Because the spray paintings conveyed a message. c) Because the project was presented in art galleries. d) Because of the criminal nature of graffiti. 4 How do guerrilla artists “democratise” art? a) By breaking into galleries and stealing pieces of art. b) By exhibiting art in the streets where it belongs to everybody. c) By opening galleries to everyone. d) By refusing to go mainstream. b) What, according to the text, is guerrilla art? Give a definition. c) Describe Banksy’s Leita and the different reactions the image has aroused. d) What is your own opinion of Banksy’s work? 111 Nur zu Prüfzwecken – Eigentum des Verlags öbv