<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<GoodreadsResponse>
	<Request>
		<authentication>false</authentication>
		    <method><![CDATA[]]></method>
	</Request>
	<review id="33416675">
    <user id="1157860">
    <name><![CDATA[Alexis]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[New York, NY]]></location>        
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1157860-alexis]]></url>
    <image><![CDATA[http://photo.goodreads.com/users/1242326835p3/1157860.jpg]]></image>
  </user>
    <book>
  <id type="integer">51250</id>
  <isbn>1844137864</isbn>
  <isbn13>9781844137862</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">73</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">13</text_reviews_count>
  <title>Wall and Piece</title>
  <average_rating></average_rating>
  <image_url>http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181849422m/51250.jpg</image_url>
  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/51250.Wall_and_Piece</link>
<author>
  <id type="integer">28811</id>
  <name>Banksy</name>
  <ratings_count type="integer">985</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">145</text_reviews_count>
</author>
</book>

    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
  <spoiler_flag>false</spoiler_flag>
  <shelves>
        <shelf name="non-fiction" />
      </shelves>
  <recommended_for><![CDATA[artists, fans of graffiti art]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[clarice]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Sat Sep 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Sun Sep 21 05:42:21 -0700 2008</date_added>
  <date_updated>Sun Sep 21 06:25:57 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[In response to the billboards and posters that prominently display ads, slogans, and other corporate messages, Banksy also uses the wall to fight back with his own messages. About his fight against The Advertisers, he claims “they have rearranged the world to put themselves in front of you,” and therefore retaliates with what he calls “brandalism,” using their own trademarks against them. Many of his works can be considered surreal, depicting realistic and recognizable figures warped by something incongruous: Mona Lisa shouldering a rocket launcher, a Buckingham Palace guard scrawling the anarchy symbol on the wall his discarded rifle rests against. He also marked up many blank walls in England (and San Francisco) with official-looking stencils inviting people to vandalize these “designated graffiti areas.” Another series of works shows large rats engaged in a variety of activities, often doing the exact thing the sign above them forbids. Banksy claims that “if you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model.” He imagines a city where graffiti is legal and the streets are colorful and filled with interesting phrases, a party anyone can join. Inequality seems to be one of the issues he graffitis against, saying “you can win the rat race but you’re still a rat.” When he found out his sister had thrown out his old drawings because “it’s not like they’re ever gonna be hanging in the Louvre,” he went and hung a Mona Lisa with a yellow smiley face in the Louvre. Using found oil paintings and other objects, he added things like gas masks, crime scene tape, security cameras, etc, then disguised himself and hung these framed pieces (with plaques) in actual galleries and museums, including many of the big ones in New York City. He then recorded how many hours or days it remained in the collection. My favorite: <em>Withus Oragainstus,</em> a dead beetle with sidewinder missiles and satellite dish glued onto it that remained on display in the Hall of Biodiversity at the Museum of Natural History for 12 days in 2005. He says, “It was just an outsider’s view of the modern American bug, bristling with listening devices and military hardware.” <em>Wall and Piece</em> works very well as a photo essay book with enough text to give you some sort of insight into what he's doing. You should also check out his website, <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.banksy.co.uk/">http://www.banksy.co.uk/</a><br/><br/>(Used for a History of Graphic Design project for the section on Political Art.)]]></body>
    <url><![CDATA[http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/33416675]]></url>
</review>

</GoodreadsResponse>