How does a famous artist make art work with out disturbance? How does someone become famous? These are the questions addressed by Banksy and a fellow ITPer David Steele Overholt.
Banksy’s identity may never be known. So how does he go about making a mural in a corner street wall in NYC to promote his gallery exhibit in the West Village? Well lets see, he could wear a really cheesy mustache, crazy glasses and a hoodie to conceal his identity ( or just the glasses if you can grow one =), or he could send a “friend” to wear the garments (or grow them) and paint his designs for him.
While Banksy’s “friend,” R Nicholas Kuszyk was painting the mural to promote the show (which reads “There’s no such thing as good publicity”) David noticed the distinguishable style of the graffiti. David asked about the artist’s whereabout in hopes of meeting the great Banksy. This encounter then turned into an email1311 dialogue by David and the so called “friend.” The dialogue of the conversation is very entertaining, so David decided to put the transcript on his blog for everyone’s amusement.
I must say that this was one of the most interesting things that I have heard about since reading about Banksy’s museum fiasco.
image by gothamist.com
But seriously, a “friend” with a beard and sunglasses just like Banksy’s?
I’m not convinced. I think David may have had an encounter with the most secretive artist around, and now we have a new fictional character. I wonder if Banksy looked up to Andy Kaufman?