Macie Biber

Christina Phillips

English 101

21, March 2016

Essay 2: Banksy Visual

The artist Banksy has been known around the world as an elusive and mysterious "Batman" of sorts, remaining completely anonymous whilst tagging buildings with beautiful graffiti art that is subject to host individual controversial topics that bring attention to problems within our society. A specific work of art known as "No Trespassing", was painted in the Mission District of San Francisco in 2010. The image depicts a Native American man dressed in traditional garb, adorned with arrows on his back while he is sitting on the ground, appearing to hold the "No Trespassing" sign that was previously attached to the building. Through Banksy's unique use of color and contrast, symbolism within the little details, and use of historical context within irony and perspective, the artist uncovers and details the complex relationship between Native Americans and European exploration that provides insight within the history of the beginning of the United States of America. 

Although many artists use contrast of color and artistic materials to provide deeper meaning to their work, Banksy makes the usage of contrast unique to his own type of artistic medium. As most of his works are graffiti-esque, he uses buildings that are previously built and are no means owned by himself. However, he picks very specific buildings with immense care into detail, as to note and include in his work what is previously installed upon them. In this particular case, the building that hosts the art "No Trespassing" was previously painted brown and had a barred off window, alongside graffiti that was previously done by another artist. When beginning his work, he is also very attentive to detail, especially the color he uses to portray his characters. The Native American man is painted in black in white with a sepia-toned skin color, almost at a gradient. The red sign is immediately eye catching as well, and is what brings the center of the image altogether. Everything else is seemingly dull to the blaring red sign, because the sign itself is what gives the explicit meaning and implicit symbolism to the work. The color red used in the sign is also typically used as a warning color, which in turn relates to the brown color on the wall. The brown wall color is an implicit reference to the ground, or the Earth itself. The brown symbolizes the untouched dirt that is the Native American man's land. The black and white coloring of the man's adorning garnishments of arrows and clothing is seemingly fading away, as though unimportant and unrecognizable. However, the sepia skin tone appears to remain as a representation of his heritage and culture, and the color is similar to the darker brown that is represented as the land itself. The colors and the contrasts between them bring the basic story of the United States of America and its creation alive on its own. The Native American man is warning to not take away his land, because there will be the consequences of the fading away of himself and his people, even though their culture may still be alive in their hearts.

The symbolic elements within the minute details relate back to the story brought to life within Banksy's use of colors, but they also add to the tale being told by including the graffiti that was previously tagged upon the building, the caged-in window, and the examination of the posture of the sitting man himself. The detail of the previously done graffiti alongside the Native American man indicates a sort of blight, or an intrusion of culture upon the Indians. While incorporating the conquest of erasing the Native American culture, the graffiti implies that the White people and their culture was enforced and pushed upon the Native Americans and their land. The caged-in window symbolizes a feeling of being trapped, or helplessness. The cage suggests that there is no exit to the building, and those inside of the building are seemingly stuck inside of the trap forever. The sense of helplessness is scary in general, and implies the feeling that the Native Americans must have had when Europeans came to America and began to develop the land as their own. The Native American man is sitting on the ground with his back hunched over, his face expressionless, almost numb. He appears to be strong, yet beaten and worn down. He has his arrows, but unlike a warrior he is no longer fighting for his freedom. Rather, the Native American warrior is on the ground and bent over, tired of fighting even though it is for the land that is rightfully his. This entire concept relates to the symbolism brought forwards with the caged window, and especially relates to the feeling of being trapped.

The intricately planned perspective of this work is done through elaborate use of location, placement and targeted audience. The placement of his work in the specific Mission District of San Francisco was precisely done with a lot of thought. The district is the oldest in the city, originally founded and discovered in the year 1776. Ironically, in the early and throughout the late 1770s European explorers had just reached the tip of the West Coast and had began expansion of American colonization, which intentionally meant eradicating the Native American population and their culture completely (Peacock, Wisuri). However, the greater population of San Francisco in general is demographically predominantly white or non-Hispanic. This specific audience is being targeted to view Banksy's work, almost calling them out as being responsible for the past. Although of course, the audience is not responsible for the creation of America because it happened hundreds of years ago, but their ancestors may have some correlation to the colonization of California's coast. Whether related or not, the work sheds light on the brutal history of "trespassing" on land, and Banksy's perspective requires the audience surrounding the work to become involved with the art as well.

It is extremely ironic that Banksy used a previously posted "No Trespassing" sign, because the saying itself is contradictory and hypocritical almost. The demographically white population that posted the sign upon the building as an obvious attempt to keep intruders away from privately owned property. Banksy broke that preexisting rule and not only trespassed on the building to create the art, but created art that gave complex symbolism to an otherwise simple commanding sign. Almost mockingly, the sign refers back to a historical time where trespassing was not a thing, it was simply whomever had the upper hand acquired ownership of the property at stake. The land currently known as this country initially was inhabited by the Native Americans, but the European explorers coming from England, France, and Spain had more guns, and more power backing up their militia. Therefore, the White people overtook the land that was not rightfully theirs. White supremacy becomes a card in this artwork that could easily be played, especially in relation to the fact that the audience was demographically correlated. The many elements of irony is what gives this piece so much deeper meaning that simply a historical reference by becoming a conjunction of modern influence and relevant racial tension.

Banksy is a unique artist of his own kind, in his own specific graffiti-like genre. By being an anonymous artist, his abstract and mysterious nature allows him to speak out on pivotal and controversial topics that other artists may be limited to voicing opinion upon. In "No Trespassing", Banksy finds irony in our modern world by using historical references to correlate the history of the United States of America to common modern courtesy. The artist also implements the complex contrasting selection of color usage to bring the story of the Native American man to life, while using symbolic techniques to help bring the entire story of the exploration of the United States of America together. By specifically putting this work of art in a location that is mostly white, and was discovered around the same time as European exploration of the West Coast, Banksy makes this piece an interactive encounter between audience and artistic technique. Overall, the artist uses this broad variety of visual and artistic techniques to create graffiti art like no other artist has before, and uses his anonymity to tell a controversial story that needed to be told.

WORKS CITED

Peacock, Thomas, and Marlene Wisuri. Waasa Inaabidaa: We Look in All Directions. WDSE-

TV: n.p., 2007. Native American Initiative. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.
