I would give my left nut for a Banksy. But I wouldn't spend 20 bucks on the Elephant.
There seems to be a lot of drama surrounding the removal of Banksy's 'This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant'. Click the jump to hear what people are saying and view the new website proffering this piece for sale
Got a cryptic email this morning with nothing but this website link to Banksyelephant.com. The website is interesting in that it gives a brief breakdown of who Banksy is, and then tries to offer the Elephant for sale.
It tries to hype the Elephant saying 'One work stood out' from all of Banksy's work in LA. And no doubt the Elephant does stand out. It stands out as an eyesore along the highway. It also stands out as the least artistic, and the most difficult to have or display as this mammouth is bigger than a semi truck.
We are interested to see where this Banksy ends up, because it seems like no one wants it. Who wants to pay tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, for an industrial water tank with some words stenciled on it? Museums don't have the space, and collectors would go for something more aesthetic. Our take is that this beast will cost more to move than it is worth.
And we have heard talk that once a Banksy is removed, it loses context. And this could not be more clear than with this piece. Banksy's stenciled quip was not profound, but it is clever. And it was successful in that it got people to look at this industrial leftover in a different way. But once the elephant is domesticated, once it is moved out of its natural environment, it becomes much less clever. And who wants to look at something like this all the time? Not me. And probably not that many people out there.
After reading up on the history of the water tank before it became an 'Elephant', we have become suspicious that this spot was hit for the sole reason to have it removed. Many people had complained about the water tank being left along the highway for years. Maybe Banksy has a friend who wanted it gone, or maybe he is friends with the owner who finally had financial incentive to have the tanker removed.
And as for the website itself, it grinds us the wrong way. We hate websites that have constant motion, or banners that begin playing without being clicked. It is very professional, no doubt, but a headache to view. Which is kind of like the elephant in a lot of ways.
And the drama doesn't stop end with the Elephant going up for sale. We have been hearing a lot of rumors swirling about Banksy's 'Elephant'. A few days ago we received a brief email saying that the Banksy removal "was all my fault", and the person wanted an interview on the blog. We told them that we would love to hear what they have to say, but we haven't heard back yet.
We look forward to hearing the whole story, and think it will be interesting to see where the Elephant finds a home, and how much it is actually worth (if anything).
