Re: Graphic Design Heroes & Citizenship in Design

A designer or artist I have admired for quite some time is Banksy.  "Banksy is a graffiti/street artist known for his risky stencils, and his satirical approach at mocking centralized power, hoping that his work will show the public that while power does exist and work against you, that power is not efficient and it can and should be deceived" (Wikipedia.com). I admire the fact that he is willing to take a stand against the government or higher authorities and their views on graffiti, and illustrate his work in a way that makes them look unintelligent.  Graffiti does receive a lot of criticism while it is illegal, and there are people that still don't view it as a form of art. In the book Banksy: You are an Acceptable Level of Threat, the author Patrick Potter mentions that "during the nineties the UK witnessed the rise to power of political class based on spin and big smiles, and the idea that all you needed to succeed was to have a positive attitude.  While this idea grew popular in the corporate culture, trains were being sold off to financiers at tax payers expense" (Potter).  In response to this Banksy stated "If you don't own a train company, then go and paint one instead" (Potter), an example of him going against the social norm and creating art that others will follow.


That being said, I think Van Toorn's argument is very important, while it is often that designers come across projects they think are unethical, and are soon in a bind. The designer wants to stick to what they believe, but at the same time they want to continue to create what their client thinks is popular.  But, I also agree that "everyday life is falsely represented and causes tension between ethics and symbolism."




References

"Banksy." www.wikipedia.com. Wikipedia The Free Encylopedia, n.d. Web. 10 Oct 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banksy

 Potter, Patrick. "Banksy: You Are An Acceptable Level Of Threat." Carpet Bombing Culture. n. page. Web. 10 Oct. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/30/banksy-graffiti-book_n_1827644.html?view=print&comm_ref=false>.