Photo: Taken in downtown Edmonton, AB in 2006; image of graffitti on a wall.
I went to the the movie Exit through the Gift Shop tonight at the Garneau Theatre. A fascinating film. With a subtitle of `The World`s First Street Art Disaster Movie,`you know it won`t be a run of the mill film. It tells the story of a French guy who stumbles into the world of street art — and stumbles into it with an endless amount of film and time. He participates with and films many rather famous street artists. This film is actually made by one of the more famous — Banksy.
I was most struck by how little (i.e. essentially nothing!) I knew of this whole movement of street art. I was struck by how it was possible to miss completely the significance of some of the artists. They have a very real recognition that there are is different than most other art in one significant way at least — their art is transient; it will be defaced and destroyed as people clean the graffitti up. And yet, it is truly art. I was struck by the recent statements by Edmonton`s police chief (as reported in this story in the Edmonton Journal) that graffiti is a crime. Maybe it is … but maybe we need to find a way to include such `transient art`within a community that wants to be world class.
After the movie, we went to Dadeo`s for a bit of dinner. It is most certainly worth a visit if you haven`t been there. Sweet potato fries are now on many menus in the city … but theirs are still the best to my taste.
Tags: movie restaurant
Hi Tim!
I’ve read many favourable comments re “Exit through the Gift Shop”, that it’s entertaining, different, unconventional and leaves one thinking. without giving away the plot, is it recommended? can it possible be as good as Transformers II?
Not having seen Transformers II, I don’t know … But your comments are right on: entertaing and leaves you thinking. I recommend it to you.
Thanks for the comment.
Tim,
I have a theory that the movie itself was street art, not a documentary. That all the events were staged or recreated to create the film as a comment on the commercialization of street art. Whaddya think?
Jen: Interesting thought. That aligns with the comments of Banksy etc. At the end where they were giving no cred to BrainWash. To be staged, the timeline would have to be made up too. All possible – I would need to watch again to see if one can see any discontinuities over time. It would take a lot of thinking to recreate multiple years of shooting – continuity would be a real challenge.