Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Banksy was back! (well, kind of...)

As I was passing Whymark Avenue on Saturday morning it appeared that Banksy was back! On closer inspection this quite remarkable replica was fashioned from polystyrene (even the back had been rendered to look like it had been ripped out of breezeblocks). I guess it didn't last long though. Apparently there had been two of them earlier in the day, so now two people in the area have their very own Banksy replicas. Either that, or an auction house has picked them up and is preparing to flog them off to the highest bidder...

Tags for Forum Posts: banksy, street art

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Permalink Reply by Justin Guest on June 5, 2013 at 14:46

Fair point Alan, but some of which I respectfully do not necessarily agree with, though I get where you are coming from.

Perhaps he is a romantic outlaw, perhaps he does not give a stuff about the money, perhaps he has something to say, perhaps none of the above. I expect we may never know as we may never know who he is and what his motivations are if he stays in the shadows.

The only thing we know for sure, apart from the points you made in your 2nd paragraph, is that he is in one way the same as Messers Davis and Gilbert- an anonymous shadow...

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Permalink Reply by Colinloves on June 5, 2013 at 17:11

Banksy dont have to defend his work. Why should he break his cover to get wrapped up in some political fight over just one of his artworks?
No, I think its down to us, the local community to get involved and defend the artwork.
Well, we lost. Its gone.

But we can show how angry we are. We can expose who these dirty money grabbing scumbags are.

Sure a person with one a few pound on his pocket, might thinking hard about chipping his wall off, to make a mill, while being an enemy in his area.
But these are not poor people. They more than likely have a mill in the bank. Clearly have more than that, wrapped up in investments.
And the DONT live in the local community. They have no worry about the local backlash, cos they robbed the fucker from outside their area!!

Sorry. But this upsets me alot.
I aint an art greek. I just really get upset, with rich people shitting upon, yet another poor, working class community.

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on June 6, 2013 at 0:52

Colin, I'm not asking Banksy to defend his work or break his cover. I'm simply suggesting that he could, if he wished, raise $1m and donate it to excellent voluntary sector causes in Wood Green.

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on June 6, 2013 at 7:28

Alan I read with interest your earlier comments on the Banksy issue. I wonder if you have any view about the involvement of Local Government? I refer to the Council's Bring Back Banksy Campaign.

Haringey Council is backing the campaign to bring the Banksy back to where it belongs in the heart of the community. Haringey wants its Banksy back!

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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on June 6, 2013 at 8:26

Clive, I've always said that should Council "Leader" Claire Kober ever do something constructive, show sound judgement, or express a fresh, interesting opinion on anything, then I would be among the first to praise her. (To avoid any doubt, I make exactly the same promise about Cllr Richard Wilson the LibDem "Leader".)

So I have great pleasure in praising the highly ingenious method which Cllr Kober has chosen to safeguard Haringey's graffiti art heritage.

Plainly, she has listened carefully to the advice of millionaire art lovers Robert Davies and Les Gilbert - and who wouldn't? But the Dear Maximum Leader has improved on their plan by burying it in bullet-proof boxes for posterity. While at the same time strengthening Haringey's streets and solving the winter pothole crisis.

(Tottenham Hale ward councillor for another 349 days 22 hours)

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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on June 6, 2013 at 14:14

I thought it an unusual campaign for the council to support.

Haringey (the Borough) might well want some things back, but I would wager that Banksy was not near the top of the list for most people.

For many, things belonging "in the heart of the community", might include things like libraries, schools and facilities for old folks and youth services.

The council wasn't speaking for me when they made their odd claim; I do hope that it was a mere lapse of judgement rather than a deliberate distraction device (from such things as potholes).

IMO opinion it's a clever, interesting piece of work (so far as one can judge without having seen it in the flesh) but not worth the reported £750k that someone's apparently paid for it.

As for the indignation by which some are exercised, the situation in which the building owners found themselves is the moral equivalence of a big lottery win: neither deserved nor undeserved.

I confess to being attracted to Hugh's challenge, I wonder how many of us would at least be tempted if the work had turned up on a building we owned?

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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on June 7, 2013 at 9:36

I'm a Banksy fan but the Haringey council reaction is ridiculous philosophically - of course if someone illegally daubs paint your wall you have the right to keep your wall and do whatever you wish with it, unless there is a law stating otherwise.

It's all about economics. If that was an anonymous Eco hippy that tried to make a stand against cheap labour and did exactly the same piece on the same wall, they would be considered a 'vandal' by Haringey police.

I'm temped to prove my point by doing a stencil about populist bandwagon jumping on the front door of the Haringey council HQ myself.