That photo with a judge hurrying along and the graffiti besides him was an absolute masterpiece, I didn't think it could be toppled, and yet now we have this bad attempt at washing it away that not only didn't hide it, it made it dark and grim...
That is stone wall. You don't paint those. Its generally unwise to paint brick, stone, or concrete surfaces. Stonework is porous, and paint is not. This makes it retain water, and wear much faster than it should.
Painting over the entire wall to cover the shadowy remnants is not an option.
The Hafenstraße is a quite famous symbol in the German left scene.
It's a block of houses occupied by far-left autonomous people in Hamburg. Or at least it was in 1994, when this was filmed. They painted a slogan to the wall that is in support of the left Kurdish terror organisation PKK. As the PKK is banned in Germany and advertising for a criminal organisation is a crime in itself, the police tried to remove the slogan.
I don't know if the police finally succeeded, but there was an ongoing battle between the police and the squatters for over a decade. In 1995 the occupants finally bought the houses from the city which brought some peace to the whole conflict.
Yeah just like that one in the shredder frame that shredded it as soon as it was sold - the removal could be seen as an unwitting part of the performance art.
The high art world is so dumb. No appreciation for the work at all, just a commodity that holds or increases in value. It's no wonder these people like AI art so much.
Honestly a better outcome than the wall being cut out, replaced and auctioned to some rich fucks with millions to spend on artwork. And Banksy reportedly hates that so that's cool that it's gone now
I’m not familiar with the building, but it looks like it could be limestone, which is porous. That would make it difficult to remove something painted on without removing a decent amount of material from the surface. The paint is probably in there pretty good, and power washing may have pushed it deeper.
The remaining outline reminds me of the silhouettes left of people on stone after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is in some ways more haunting and powerful.
The building has stone cladding and graffiti on stone has to be removed quite quickly because after a while it is nearly impossible to clean it.
Don't get me wrong it is still pr disaster and it should be handled differently, the cover of it, standing policemans around... It just gives feeling that they don't want anyone to see it (which was maybe someones intention). Leaving it visible with some press release about protecting stone buildings and cleaning it immediately afterwards would be better pr option.
I think the commentary about it being removed is pretty stupid, honestly. I can't imagine that if I spraypainted a lovely mural of kittens playing with butterflies that they'd leave it up. It's really got nothing to do with the art itself and everything to do with it being a wall which the artist did not have the legal right to paint. I don't think Banksy put it up with the idea that it would remain there forevermore.
The silhouette looks sick as fuck though, better than the original imo, and I have to wonder if that was his intent. Maybe he treated the wall in some way that he knew would have this result.
Interestingly, Philistine as a slur (meaning uncultured people) originated from biblical Israel's disdain for the Philistine people, who lived in modern day Palestine.
I wonder how hard it would be to make a stencil to somewhat recreate the original in a way that could be quickly applied. For scientific reasons, of course.
59 Comments
ThePantser@sh.itjust.works · 326 pts · 335d
Somehow it's more ominous and powerful now with just the outline
kruhmaster@sh.itjust.works · 187 pts · 335d
They gave this piece history.
ByteJunk@lemmy.world · 94 pts · 335d
That photo with a judge hurrying along and the graffiti besides him was an absolute masterpiece, I didn't think it could be toppled, and yet now we have this bad attempt at washing it away that not only didn't hide it, it made it dark and grim...
WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world · 19 pts · 335d
It's an analogy of how every corporate dictatorship has handled the genocide and protestor response.
jaybone@lemmy.zip · 17 pts · 335d
They might just paint over it now.
hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 17 pts · 335d
That is stone wall. You don't paint those. Its generally unwise to paint brick, stone, or concrete surfaces. Stonework is porous, and paint is not. This makes it retain water, and wear much faster than it should.
Painting over the entire wall to cover the shadowy remnants is not an option.
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 17 pts · 335d
They could paint it red
https://imgur.com/red-CnGdhOd
hildegarde@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 9 pts · 335d
You can paint brick, but you shouldn't. It will reduce the life significantly.
Well maintained brick lasts generations. Painted brick lasts decades. Its a slow process, but it does destroy the wall.
brotundspiele@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 334d
Reminds me of the German "Soko Wand&Farbe" (Special investigation unit Wall&Paint)
tigeruppercut@lemmy.zip · 1 pts · 334d
What's the backstory there?
brotundspiele@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 334d
The Hafenstraße is a quite famous symbol in the German left scene.
It's a block of houses occupied by far-left autonomous people in Hamburg. Or at least it was in 1994, when this was filmed. They painted a slogan to the wall that is in support of the left Kurdish terror organisation PKK. As the PKK is banned in Germany and advertising for a criminal organisation is a crime in itself, the police tried to remove the slogan.
I don't know if the police finally succeeded, but there was an ongoing battle between the police and the squatters for over a decade. In 1995 the occupants finally bought the houses from the city which brought some peace to the whole conflict.
kautau@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 335d
Bold of you to assume they care more about structural integrity than public image
Madison420@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 335d
It was always the point.
It's the same reason it was done in a camera dead zone created by turning a camera away slowly day by day.
peetabix@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 335d
Is this true? About the camera.
Madison420@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 334d
From what I've read yes. It's directly under one CCTV camera and another had to have been moved for a Blindspot to exist there.
bigchungus@piefed.blahaj.zone · 213 pts · 335d
I would argue that the artwork has now been completed.
BakedCatboy@lemmy.ml · 76 pts · 335d
Yeah just like that one in the shredder frame that shredded it as soon as it was sold - the removal could be seen as an unwitting part of the performance art.
Obi@sopuli.xyz · 27 pts · 335d
I bet the shredded one tripled in value when it happened, buyer was probably very pleased. (Yes I'm too lazy to go verify my hunch).
Edit: yep, it originally fetched a bit over £1M at that auction, then was sold again a few years later for £18.6M lol.
frezik@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 334d
The high art world is so dumb. No appreciation for the work at all, just a commodity that holds or increases in value. It's no wonder these people like AI art so much.
WallsToTheBalls@lemmynsfw.com · 6 pts · 334d
It’s all money laundering
Trainguyrom@reddthat.com · 33 pts · 335d
Honestly a better outcome than the wall being cut out, replaced and auctioned to some rich fucks with millions to spend on artwork. And Banksy reportedly hates that so that's cool that it's gone now
Denjin@feddit.uk · 186 pts · 335d
Put it back
Vanilla_PuddinFudge@infosec.pub · 29 pts · 335d
bottom of the iceberg revelation: they can't remove it, only cover it up
Empricorn@feddit.nl · 26 pts · 335d
Networkcathode@piefed.social · 8 pts · 335d
Put it everywhere
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world · 145 pts · 335d
We can tell more about a society by the art they don't allow than by the art they do.
bier@feddit.nl · 40 pts · 335d
I'm 41 and this is deep
baines@lemmy.cafe · 2 pts · 334d
it’s a real saying but words not art
BotsRuinedEverything@lemmy.world · 129 pts · 335d
Now it reminds me of the shadows left by people in a nuclear blast. Banksy is a frickin genius.
blazeknave@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 335d
Have you seen Thunderbolts?
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 98 pts · 335d
I expected them to cut it out of the wall and sell it to the highest bidder. Would fit the british colonial style.
ech@lemmy.ca · 93 pts · 335d
That's for when it's "art". When the message goes against the mandated mission, they call it "vandalism".
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 17 pts · 335d
Seeing african tribes as barbarians didnt stop the british from stealing their art tho.
HikingVet@lemmy.ca · 26 pts · 335d
That's because it didn't violate the narrative. And stealing it enforced theirs.
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 8 pts · 335d
I guess that does make sense yeah.
alcibiades@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 334d
The mere existence of African tribes “violates” a colonial, western mindset. It is the scary unknown that they seek to control and classify.
Maeve@kbin.earth · 5 pts · 335d
They've always called
BankseyBanksy a vandal.Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works · 79 pts · 335d
Oh wow, they actually did. That's a multimillion dollar artwork power washed off a wall.
And not very well, either.
lividweasel@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 335d
I’m not familiar with the building, but it looks like it could be limestone, which is porous. That would make it difficult to remove something painted on without removing a decent amount of material from the surface. The paint is probably in there pretty good, and power washing may have pushed it deeper.
TheOctonaut@mander.xyz · 5 pts · 335d
They hand washed it. The chemicals are probably just drying out.
CptOblivius@lemmy.world · 57 pts · 335d
The remaining outline reminds me of the silhouettes left of people on stone after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is in some ways more haunting and powerful.
altasshet@lemmy.ca · 54 pts · 335d
Literal whitewashing.
plactagonic@sopuli.xyz · 43 pts · 335d
The building has stone cladding and graffiti on stone has to be removed quite quickly because after a while it is nearly impossible to clean it.
Don't get me wrong it is still pr disaster and it should be handled differently, the cover of it, standing policemans around... It just gives feeling that they don't want anyone to see it (which was maybe someones intention). Leaving it visible with some press release about protecting stone buildings and cleaning it immediately afterwards would be better pr option.
k0e3@lemmy.ca · 20 pts · 335d
Now, it looks like the remnants of nuclear blast victims as if to say you gotta blow it all to smithereens before this can be fixed.
Quokka@quokk.au · 18 pts · 335d
That's all the more powerful, they can try to silence people but we still those who are missing.
sad_detective_man@leminal.space · 15 pts · 335d
Too late, we've seen it and it's more poignant now
stray@pawb.social · 14 pts · 335d
I think the commentary about it being removed is pretty stupid, honestly. I can't imagine that if I spraypainted a lovely mural of kittens playing with butterflies that they'd leave it up. It's really got nothing to do with the art itself and everything to do with it being a wall which the artist did not have the legal right to paint. I don't think Banksy put it up with the idea that it would remain there forevermore.
The silhouette looks sick as fuck though, better than the original imo, and I have to wonder if that was his intent. Maybe he treated the wall in some way that he knew would have this result.
dependencyinjection@discuss.tchncs.de · 36 pts · 335d
Banksy has put murals on many a wall without permission. This doesn’t tend to happen.
In fact the owner of the wall is usually happy as they might be able to cut out the piece and sell it.
Not saying it would have stayed forever but they had better options than censorship.
ozoned@piefed.social · 10 pts · 334d
Technically worth more now.
OrteilGenou@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 335d
Philistines
Stillwater@sh.itjust.works · 31 pts · 335d
Interestingly, Philistine as a slur (meaning uncultured people) originated from biblical Israel's disdain for the Philistine people, who lived in modern day Palestine.
ech@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 335d
...huh.
phoenixz@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 335d
That actually is interesting and somehow says something about current day events...
blaue_Fledermaus@mstdn.io · 2 pts · 335d
Was this word choice intentional for the current context?
The name Palestine comes from Philistine.
edgemaster72@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 334d
I wonder how hard it would be to make a stencil to somewhat recreate the original in a way that could be quickly applied. For scientific reasons, of course.
Formfiller@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 334d
Not to hard. You can find stencil creators online and use a projector to scale up
prex@aussie.zone · 8 pts · 335d
I so want to see 10 of them up there in a couple days.
bathing_in_bismuth@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 335d
This was intentional. Enigma.
ABetterTomorrow@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 335d
Still beautiful