Banksy stormed!

In the early hours of this morning, Banksy’s ‘Mild Mild West’ on Stokes Croft in Bristol (UK) was repainted by a member of Appropriate Media, presenting an alternative version of this ‘alternative Bristol landmark’.

Through this action, Appropriate Media asks ?What is the value of street art??. How much time and money will be spent to restore this urban ‘masterpiss’ by urban masterpisser, Banksy.

Come on, you only care about it cos its a Banksy and he sells his lazy polemics to Hollywood movie stars for big bucks.

Come on, you only care about it cos makes you feel edgy and urban to tour round the inner city in your 4×4, taking in the tired coffee table subversion that graffiti has become.

Graffiti artists are the copywriters for the capitalist created phenomenon of urban art.
Graffiti artists are the performing spray-can monkeys for gentrification.
We call for the appropriate and legitimate use of public and private property.

We are taking matters into our own hands

We will not seek permission

We will retaliate

From Appropriate Media

ETA (1):

Just to clarify, I am not Appropriate Media, I just saw a post about it on Bristol IndyMedia – so anyone itching to dole out some death threats, hate mail, notes of congratulations or whatever, please bear this in mind 😉

ETA (2):

Some media coverage:

• BBC picture gallery: Banksy vandalised (12:17pm)
• BBC video report: Banksy art vandalism is ‘stupid’ (12:36pm)
• Evening Post: Vandals target Banksy mural in Bristol (12:55pm)
• BBC news story: Paint daubed across Banksy mural (2:24pm)

Bristol blogs on this:

• Bristol Blogger: Banksy Balls
• Bristol Graffiti: Mild Mild West Defaced

Bristol blogosphere united by the meme that cannot die… All hail CARBOOT CIRCUS!

Birth of a meme..?

• Back in June Kizzy Morrell’s Studio 7 blog posted up what appears to be a Circomedia press release : Is this the genesis of the meme?
• Then on 19th September Thomas Guest blogged these words: “Somewhere our priorities are wrong. Carboot Circus. Send in the clowns.”

Picking up the meme and running with it:

• The Angry Ginger: 1
• The Bristol Blogger: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 (first reference to ‘Carboot Circus’ on TBB in comment by It’ll all END in “tears”, 26th September) 8
• Bristol Dave: 1
• Bristol Traffic: 1 2
• Twitterer Ed Mitchell: 1
• Friend & Co.: 1
• Chris Hutt’s Green Bristol: 1 2 3 4 5
• On The Level: 1
• Twitterer Wrestlevania: 1

Eyeing the meme covetously, but restraining themselves:

• Bristol Graffiti: 1
• Bristol Greengage: 1
• Evening Post Watch: 1 2 3 4 5
• Vowles the Green in Knowle: 1

Other contenders:

• Bread and Cabot Circus
• Cahoot Circus
• Carbon Circus
• Carrot Circus
• Circusmead
• Cornucopia Circus
• Jesus Building
• New Broadmead

Edited Friday 14th November to add more links

Bristol blog trotting

From p24 of the latest copy of Bristol/Bath what’s-on mag Venue.

Crikey, now that was unexpected. Slightly peculiar description, though. I mean, “old 1980s TV dramas”? What, as opposed to new 1980s TV dramas? And what’s with the Northern Ireland thing? I’ve mentioned old Slab a couple of times, and am interested in Paul Quinn’s murder, but that’s pretty much the size of it, and besides, both of those topics are more related to 26 than 6.

As for the “fixation with people vomiting in the movies”, I’d just like to clarify that it’s less a fixation, more a passing interest, and one which is not confined to puke; it’s simply that I’ve observed an approximate 8:2:1 ratio in favour of sick over piss and shit in terms of screentime. Maybe I’m just not watching the right flicks. More Fassbinder beckons?

Still, a plug’s a plug. Totally.

Tip o’ the titfer: The Bristol Blogger, who himself gets a write-up too, though one which veers into the territory of backhanded compliments – “he’s anonymous and therefore unaccountable…”; “isn’t above editing entries to stop himself looking foolish…”; “leching over French actresses”.

Since I’ve got time on my hands, I’d point out that in the first instance not posting up your full name, passport photo, bank details, phone number and map reference of your home isn’t really anonymity, it’s simply common sense (and besides, the identity of TBB is really not that much of a mystery). Furthermore, anonymity and accountability are not mutually exclusive, just as not being anonymous does not automatically make one accountable.

In the second instance, since when was editing a crime? Now that Venue is locked down in the Grey Lubyanka, presumably its hacks have access to the DM&GT/NN databases with its myriad libel lawyer annotations, so I’m sure the value of discreet rewording is most apparent 😉

And in the third instance, I can only recall a single French actress being mentioned, and besides, according to the nearest dictionary to hand, lechery is the “unrestrained indulgence of lust”. If you really think TBB is by that definition a lechy blog, then I think we may have to revoke your interweb pass for your own safety.

Blogs mentioned in the article:

• Addy P
• Bristol Graffiti
• Bristol Greengage
• Bristol Streetart
• Charlie Bolton’s Southville Blog
• Charlotte Leslie
• Chief Inspector Andy Bennett
• Dialect Radio
• Doppelganger
• How To Turn Your Parents Green
• James Barlow
• Oblong Scone
• OLO Worms
• The Animal Disco
• The Bristol Blogger
• The Freeconomy Community
• The H Factor
• The Police Diver’s Notebook
• The Secular Backlash
• Things To Do In Bristol When You’re (OCD)ead
• Trym Tales
• Vowles The Green

PS One of the authors of the article, Eugene Byrne, has his own blog also.

The BBC – first and fastest with all the big news stories; or perhaps not

The local corporate media’s recent fascination with all things graffiti-related (thanks to B*n*s*) is stretched still further today, with a brief BBC News report on some conspiracy nutter daubings around Britain’s largest village:

Whilst it’s a 46 week improvement on the Evening Post‘s own blog gap, the Beeb is still trailing seven days behind Bristol Graffiti, and 24 hours behind Bristol Streetart.

‘This is what we do’ indeed. Just rather slow on the doing it front.