“All the Worlds a Stage’ – William Shakespeare
Exit through the Gift Shop is a documentary with a satirical take on the nature of Street Art. Directed by the infamously anonymous artist Banksy, it shows the grey nature of the work done by street artists, pivoting on Thierry Guetta, a camera-loving self-proclaimed filmmaker and street artist.
The film introduces us to Thierry Guetta and his obsession with capturing every moment of his life. During his daily pursuits, he discovers his cousin ‘Invader,’ a Paris-based Street artist who leaves characters from the game ‘Space Invaders’ as mosaics all around Paris. Thereby began Thierry’s journey and inquisitiveness into street artists’ adrenalin-filled, exciting life.
We are introduced to multiple large players within the street artists’ community, their run-ins with law enforcement officers, and the nature of the profession itself. Through the running minutes, we are also nudged to question various themes revolving around the perception of art in society: who is an artist? and who determines the quality of art.
Art or Vandal?
What makes street Art different than Vandalism? In the documentary, street art is presented to exist in a grey area when pertaining to the law. Thiery rationalizes this by explaining how street art gains credibility by unveiling the process involving forethought, planning, security, and stencils. The more frequent the art, the stronger its identity. This, in turn, begins the wheel of curiosity among the onlookers that eventually lands on a sense of perceived power for the art and, by extension, the artist.
Artists like the Invader, Sweet Tooth and Cyclops, Swoon, Borf, etc.. developed a certain language for their creations on city walls. Their constant existence in different parts of the cityscape makes them hard to ignore and the artists eventually become an irremovable part of society as their work gains value and credibility for going against the grain.
Their art exists because it can. It’s not commissioned or on the lookout for any monetary compensation. Over time, the process and practice of street art become culturally refined and significant enough to find its place in formal museum exhibits. Those once considered lawless troublemakers and vandals realize a position in society that provides them with authority and access because of a mass cultural resonance to their work.
‘Stop it and just DO?’ – Sol LeWitt
In a letter written by artist Sol LeWitt to his ex-wife Eva Hesse, validating her abilities as an artist, he ends by saying, ‘Stop it and just DO,’ emphasizing that overthinking is the artist’s death.
The nature of this pursuit lies a lot on impulse and instinct; street artists need to think on their feet as they move around the city, hiding from law enforcement as they make their mark.
Street art is purely done because it can be, but does it have a purpose? Why are individuals risking their lives to leave their mark on the city? The film follows the artists as they climb onto rooftops, traverse the streets at night, along dark alleyways, and encounter law enforcement officers, as captured by Thierry as he keeps the camera rolling through it all.
The driving force for these artists involves creating a spectacle that questions the status quo. Shepard Fairey, an artist who became famous with the Obama Campaign, becomes the focus of Thierry’s camera work. The camera follows him through the streets, planning and executing his stencil of Andre the Giant with the words ‘OBEY’ on different parts of the city. The strong graphics cannot be ignored, leading the city’s people to lean into the subtext of the artist’s mark and resonate with it.
The repetitive and fast nature of the craft has disposed itself to its current medium of expression. The use of spray paints, posters and stencils is a recurring part of the process depicted in the film. And much like the stencil, the artist’s expression gains its status as art depending on the canvas it’s sprayed on.
‘…If you repeat something over and over again, it loses its meaning’ – Phill Kaye
In his work titled’ Repetition, ‘ Phill Kaye, a contemporary poet, ‘ emphasizes words that lose their meaning when repeated mindlessly without intent.
The meta nature of this film by Banksy leaves the audience to decide what art is. The film’s second half shifts focus from other street artists to Thierry himself. With his long span of deep exposure to the world of street artists, Thierry develops into an artist in his own right. Thierry’s transformation into Mr. Brainwash does not take long to manifest. With a large exhibit opening and a set of un-curated works of art directed by Thierry and executed by other artists, Thierry became an artist almost overnight. His works exhibit a re-invention of Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell soup cans and Madonna, interpretations of Keith Harring and Banksy himself but lack process and journey.
The exhibit lasted 2 months while intended to be only 5 days long, marking it a success. To the audience, Thierry’s head-fast works of art did not seem any less in quality than the likes of Shepard Fairy and other street artists. Leading one to question how much of the process and journey matter to an artist. Is it the idea or the story that makes one an artist? And what is an original idea?
Ozymandias – Percy B Shelly
“…Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal, these words appear:
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
The documentary is marked and made possible by Thierry’s compulsive need to video document all his life experiences. Countless tapes smeared with the fear of missing out have now helped document the works of multiple artists and have given them and their work a sense of immortality as it shall live on long after the artists are gone. Thierry’s obsession with street artists leads him down a path that an onlooker can only call delusion to the point that it becomes his reality.
The documentary by Banksy is a re-organization of a film self-admittedly collaged by Thierry from his enormous collection of footage called ‘Life Remote Control.’ Banksy, through this work, presents an anomaly of an artist. The difference between a sculptor and a miner is the intent with which they chip stone. Thierry’s immersion into the world of street art enabled him to gain a sense of the tools and skills needed but with no intent.
Thierry’s story in the documentary occupies a murky middle ground among artists; it is a story like never before. Thierry earned his title as a street artist by engaging with the streets as a bystander, just like a gift shop with souvenirs that don’t hold the same weight as the original artwork. But then again, does his lack of struggle rob Thierry of his identity as Mr. Brainwash?
The documentary also raised speculations of Thierry being Manufactured by Banksy to drive home his point about authenticity’s ethical and financial value. And if that is true, this ‘Punkumentary’ has done its job.
Online sources:
Guild, J. (2018) Movie Review: Exit through the gift shop is a documentary about a documentary – or is it??, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@jamesjguild/memovie-review-exit-through-the-gift-shop-is-a-documentary-about-a-documentary-or-is-it-fa0be6f67847 (Accessed: 04 February 2024).
Kaye, P. (2014) ‘repetition’ by Phil Kaye, Words for the Year. Available at: https://wordsfortheyear.com/2014/06/25/repetition-by-phil-kaye/ (Accessed: 04 February 2024).
Popova, M. (2019) Do: Sol LeWitt’s electrifying letter of advice on self-doubt, overcoming creative block, and being an artist, The Marginalian. Available at: https://www.themarginalian.org/2016/09/09/do-sol-lewitt-eva-hesse-letter/ (Accessed: 04 February 2024).
Shelley, P.B. (no date) Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe shelley, Poetry Foundation. Available at: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46565/ozymandias (Accessed: 04 February 2024).
Images/visual mediums
Exit Through the Gift Shop. 2010. [Film]. Banksy. USA: Revolver Entertainmen
