false 114683 1844137872 9781844137879 790 125 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/114683.Wall_and_Piece 28811 Banksy 985 145 the greatest crimes in the world are not committed by people breaking the rules but by people following the rules. 0 2009-05-23T21:27:11-07:00 794614 51 2009-05-23T21:27:11-07:00 the people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl their giant slogans across buildings and buses...[cont] 0 2009-05-23T21:11:29-07:00 794576 1 2009-05-23T21:11:29-07:00 5 0 false Sun May 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 21:05:12 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 16:56:48 -0700 2009 Here.

The copyright page of this book contains the label "Copyright is for Losers" along with the statement that "against his better judgment Banksy has asserted his right... to be identified as the author of this work." There is also a disclaimer from the publisher: "This book shows the creative/artist element of graffiti art and is not meant to encourage or induce graffiti where it is illegal or inappropriate."

The book itself is a collection of Banksy's amazing art work, both outdoor graffiti and installations as well as some of his drawings and altered oil paintings. Here and there you are also given brief glimpses into his thought process.

For example:
"The people who run our cities don't understand graffiti because they think nothing has the right to exist unless it makes a profit... They say graffiti frightens people and is symbolic of the decline in society... The people who truly deface our neighborhoods are the companies that scrawl their giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message in your face from every available surface but you're never allowed to answer back. Well they started this fight and the wall is the weapon of choice to hit them back."

A few interesting facts (lifted from the wiki article):

-Banksy came upon the idea for using stencils whilst hiding from the cops who interrupted an 'art making' session. He realized he could make his pieces in a much shorter amount of time with a stencil; less chance of being caught.

-On 27 April 2007, a new record high for the sale of Banksy's work was set with the auction of the work 'Space Girl & Bird' fetching £288,000 (US$576,000), around 20 times the estimate at Bonhams of London. On 21 May 2007 Banksy gained the award for Art's Greatest living Briton. Banksy, as expected, did not turn up to collect his award, and continued with his notoriously anonymous status.

-The owners of a house with a Banksy mural on the side in Bristol decided to sell the house through Red Propeller art gallery after offers fell through because the prospective buyers wanted to remove the mural. It is listed as a mural which comes with a house attached.

-The Westminster City Council stated in October 2008 that the work "One Nation Under CCTV", painted in April 2008 will be painted over as it is graffiti. The council says it will remove any graffiti, regardless of the reputation of its creator, and specifically stated that Banksy has no more right to paint graffiti than a child.]]>