And it’s all over, folks. Banksy sends us off with one last tag, a bubble caps collection of balloons somewhere in Queens.
Listening to the audio on Banksy’s homepage, it’s hard not feel just a little bit sad. The narrator assesses the impact of Better Out Than In, musing on art as a public good and throwing one last barb at the art world establishment.
Banksy asserts that outside is where art should live, amongst us. And rather than street art being a fad, maybe its the last thousand years of art history that are the blip, when art came inside in service of the church and institutions.
Art’s rightful place on the cave walls of our communities, where it can act as a public serivce, provoke debate, voice concerns, forge identities.
The world we live in today, visually at least, is run by traffic signs, billboards, and planning committees. Is that it? Don’t we want to live in a world made of art, not just decorated by it?
Oh, and one more thing, from his website:
“And that’s it. Thanks for your patience. It’s been fun. Save 5pointz. Bye.”
On the next page is the complete map of Banksy’s Better Out Than In residency. We’ll update with a map to the location of the latest (last!) work.
