Image via Complex Original
One year ago, Banksy's "Better Out Than In" street art residency hit New York city, with a new piece up every day during October 2013. It was a huge moment in art and culture that spread virally online, each piece bringing various controversies with them—political commentary by Banksy (about Wikileaks, terrorism, and 9/11), defacement by vandals, theft, police involvement, and much more. Notably, Banksy started an Instagram to share the pieces with hints about their locations, marking a new chapter in his masked, anonymous career.
Last night, HBO premiered the 75-minute documentary Banksy Does New York, directed by Chris Moukarbel, exclusively on HBO GO. The TV premiere will happen on Nov. 17, but for those who can't wait, get an HBO GO account and watch it ASAP.
Here are 15 Things We Learned From the Banksy Does New York HBO Documentary.
The film was made with “user-generated” footage, as in, videos shot by the “Banksy hunters” and onlookers who traveled far and wide to see his pieces.
The directors were asked to create the documentary after Bansky's month-long residency was over, and Banksy himself told the Village Voice that he wasn't planning on making a film about it.
The film was “not produced or created by Banksy.”
But Banksy did give his approval of the film halfway through its creation, and he even gave some direction (like choosing the documentary's intro song).
Apparently “he really enjoyed it,” according to Chris Moukarbel, director of the film.
The film's story is told through many of the journalists who documented the residency closely.
For example, Beth Stebner from the New York Daily News, Keegan Hamilton from Village Voice, RJ Rushmore and Caroline Caldwell from Vandalog, Jaime Rojo and Steven Harrington from Brooklyn Street Art, and Carlo McCormick.
Additionally, humorous footage from dog walkers/Banksy hunters Two Way Traffic's YouTube series made it into the film.
They intentionally pronounce his name as “Banksky.”
But the film doesn't only get accounts from people who love Banksy and supported his project in New York.
There are scenes with journalist Andrew Russeth and Stephan Keszler, owner of Keszler Gallery, that discuss Banksy and his “Better Out Than” project in a less positive light.
The film underscores 5 Pointz's cultural significance as being the “birthplace of graffiti” and ties it into Banksy's 5 Pointz tribute.
The film reminds us that guys were charging people $20 to see a Banksy piece in East New York.
It also states that the value of the pieces sold for $60 each in Central Park was actually $250,000.
However, none of the pieces lifted from locations around New York, which remain inauthenticated by Banksy, have sold yet.
The film's release and focus on pieces such as the Sphinx may change this.
The Sphinx piece at Willets Point in Queens was lifted by mechanics in the area who were about to lose their business.
They have opted to work with Keszler Gallery in attempts to sell the piece but have not been successful yet.
The film reminds us that Banksy helped Housing Works raise $615,000 for the homeless by donating a $50 painting he bought back to them (after adding a Nazi soldier and signing his name).
The Banksy piece at Zabar's on the Upper West Side has not been defaced or tagged over yet.
The owners note that the piece only brought “joy, no negativity” when it first went up.
“Better Out Than In” may have been “the first hipster scavenger hunt.”
At least according to one funny character in the film, who also said, “You know who thinks Banksy's a sell-out? Motherf**kers who aren't making money.”