Exit Through the Gift Shop: Banksy's Documentary Analyzed

Introduction to the Documentary

In his documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010), Banksy seeks to highlight street art and convey the difficulties inherent in being a street artist and making a living from it. He wanted audiences to understand that being a street artist means maintaining a crew that is combat-ready and earning their trust through various means in order to preserve anonymity. The documentary examines the emergence of street artists in Los Angeles and makes the friendship between Banksy and Thierry Guetta — his devoted fan — central to the narrative.

Guetta is fascinated by street art in Los Angeles and follows artists around, filming them in order to make a documentary of his own. He eventually meets Banksy and films his "Guantanamo" stunt within Disneyland. The footage Guetta shot over several years proved difficult to watch, prompting Banksy to describe him as "somebody with mental problems who happened to have a camera." Banksy therefore takes control of the camera, convincing Guetta to become the star of his own documentary instead. With no camera in hand, Guetta quickly begins producing a style of pop art similar to Banksy's, working under the name "Mr. Brainwash."

Exit Through the Gift Shop captures Guetta's journey in transforming Mr. Brainwash into an overnight sensation. Throughout the documentary, Banksy's own work is shown being dismissed or ridiculed, with little appreciation for its artistry or creativity. Banksy's art operates as inspired forgery while simultaneously devaluing and debunking authoritative symbols (Bradshaw, 2010).

The Filmmaker's View

In his documentary, Banksy tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French videographer who begins filming Banksy and his street art and ultimately ends up becoming a street artist himself. Guetta becomes an aspiring street artist in Los Angeles and opens his own art show in 2008 under the title Life is Beautiful. Through this arc, Banksy exposes how our search for authenticity conflicts with our standards for evaluating art in modern culture (DuBois, n.d.).

Banksy, who has been a street artist since 1992, contributes to conversations about authenticity and art through this documentary. In Exit Through the Gift Shop, he focuses on Guetta, whose original intention was to make a documentary about street art, but who finds the spotlight turning on himself instead. Guetta begins producing art similar to Banksy's, and through the documentary Banksy investigates the authenticity of that work. The film opens with several masked artists creating their pieces, and the audience can sense their emotions and attitudes as the artists express themselves in an openly rebellious manner. The question of authenticity — and its relationship to the artist's motivation — is then placed at the center of the film.

Banksy delivers the message that street art, at its best, is authentic. He shows how Guetta begins his filming work alongside his cousin, then follows the work of Shepard Fairey and Borf. By highlighting these artists, Banksy demonstrates his appreciation for their craft and acknowledges the years they have spent perfecting it and establishing their personal styles (DuBois, n.d.).

According to Banksy, it is self-expression on the artist's part that makes art authentic. Although he stands for authenticity, he also questions the art created by Guetta. The audience is shown how Guetta begins recreating the works of the artists he had followed over the years. Whether he does so for self-expression or for fame remains unclear, but Banksy successfully conveys the message that not all street art is authentic.

Emotion is another element Banksy highlights as motivational for the street artist. Guetta's interview with Borf is shown in the documentary, in which Borf describes a piece he created in memory of his deceased best friend — demonstrating that emotion is an important part of an artist's identity. Since emotions reflect the identity of a person, they also carry authenticity. However, Banksy holds a different point of view: pleasure in work does not automatically make the artist's work authentic. He questions Guetta's practice of pasting stickers and printouts of himself holding a camera, arguing that authenticity requires greater originality.

Banksy uses the documentary to convey that beyond emotions and pleasure, the history and prior experience of an artist are also important when judging authenticity. Guetta was a videographer who suddenly began creating street art that brought him fame, and Banksy cites this lack of artistic experience as a critical factor when evaluating the authenticity of the resulting work (DuBois, n.d.).

Banksy ultimately feels that street artists are cheated by such depictions, and this sense of injustice intensifies when Guetta opens his show in Los Angeles. Guetta earns nearly a million dollars through art he produced without any prior experience and without the years of hard work that other artists had invested. According to Banksy, the people praising Guetta's work reveal how eager audiences are to believe in the authenticity of art. Banksy claims that Mr. Brainwash is essentially a hoax — someone who produced art for fame and money (DuBois, n.d.).

Structure and Story

The opening of Exit Through the Gift Shop features exhibitions and works by renowned street artists, touching on contemporary trends in both high and popular art culture. The film begins with Thierry Guetta, who works in a clothing shop but carries a camera with him everywhere. On a holiday in France, Guetta discovers that his cousin "Invader" is an international street artist and begins documenting both his work and that of his friends. Invader then visits Guetta in Los Angeles and meets Shepard Fairey, after which Guetta continues filming Fairey's activities as well as those of other artists including Buffmonster, Borf, Azil, Swoon, Dotmasters, Ron English, Cyclops, Sweet Toof, Neck Face, Seizer, and Poster Boy. Notably, Guetta does not disclose to Fairey that he has no real plan to turn the footage into a film (Lowe, 2010).

The story develops when Banksy visits New York but his usual accomplice is denied entry into the United States, leading him to contact Fairey for help. Fairey in turn contacts Guetta, who becomes Banksy's guide and begins filming him. Banksy recognizes the opportunity to document street art through this arrangement. Shortly afterward, Banksy is preparing his Guantanamo detainee doll installation at Disneyland when Guetta is caught filming and subsequently interrogated. Guetta destroys the photos on his camera but manages to conceal the tape in his sock.

After Banksy's show Barely Legal becomes an overnight success, he asks Guetta to assemble a documentary from his footage. The resulting edit is so disjointed that Banksy questions Guetta's filmmaking ability entirely. He considers the street art footage too valuable to waste, however, and decides to shoot his own documentary while encouraging Guetta to pursue his own art show. The documentary concludes with Guetta launching his career as Mr. Brainwash and, within six months, producing Life is Beautiful — an overnight success that earns him nearly a million dollars. While Guetta basks in the limelight, he fails to notice that many of the paintings are missing; Banksy calls in professionals to complete and install the remaining work. The success of the show leaves both Banksy and Shepard Fairey bewildered, as Guetta's pieces begin selling for large sums around the world (Lowe, 2010).

References

Bradshaw, P. (2010, March 04). Exit Through the Gift Shop. Retrieved from The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/mar/04/exit-through-the-gift-shop-review

DuBois, E. (n.d.). Banksy's 'Exit Through The Gift Shop': Street Art and Our Quest for Authenticity. Retrieved from Arts and Sciences Writing Program: http://www.bu.edu/writingprogram/journal/past-issues/issue-3/dubois/

Leopold, S. (2010, April 08). Banksy Revealed? Retrieved from LA Weekly:

Lowe, J. (2010, October 14). Exit Through the Gift Shop — Film Review. Retrieved from Hollywood Reporter: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/exit-through-gift-shop-film-29192