Something interesting is going on in culture at large when an advertisement gets tagged by a graffiti artist and the client that paid for the advertisement is thrilled, only to be terribly disappointed when the graffiti is cleaned off the billboard.
But this is what happened in LA this week after Banksy tagged a billboard advertisement paid for by The Light Group, a management company based in Las Vegas. According to TMZ.com, The Light Group is very angry with media company CBS for removing the fresh Banksy piece. "It's our billboard that got tagged," a representative of The Light Group explained, "It's not their billboard. CBS clearly has zero appreciation for art! We were flattered Banksy tagged our ad -- it was epic."
The Light Group has been told it will be allowed to keep the peeled off art.
Banksy's film "Exit Through the Gift Shop" is nominated for an Oscar this year for best documentary and the artist has been in Los Angeles doing his own form of lobbying for Oscar votes by tagging across Los Angeles. His unique form of an Oscar campaign has been discussed in many places, including in the LA Times. While some people have questioned if these are real Banksy works, any doubt went out the window when images appeared on Banksy's website.
The real question is what happens if Banksy wins the Oscar for Exit Through the Gift Shop? Will he accept the award? Will his identity be revealed? Or does he have a trap ready for Oscar to walk into? We'll find out on Sunday February 27.
By The Ministry of Artistic Affairs' Randy Gladman who can't believe he used TMZ as a source.
