Banksy does New York - DVD

Content: Who is Banksy? Who is behind the mysterious street-art artist who always causes a stir with spectacular actions? So far, the Brit has managed to keep his identity a secret. And this despite the fact that he no longer just leaves small works on the walls of buildings, but also carries out really big actions. It is all the more impressive that the artist has not yet been unmasked. One of the bigger actions was a 31-day art happening in New York in October 2013. Every day, a new work could be discovered somewhere in the city, which often disappeared again as quickly as it appeared. In addition to smaller and larger spray actions, there were also other performance actions that caused all kinds of commotion not only among street art fans, but also in the local media. For many, the search for the latest Banksy work turned into a veritable scavenger hunt through New York. Everyone wanted to be the first to discover it. And everyone wanted to see it before it disappeared again.

Banksy does New York traces this art action. Banksy himself was not involved in this HBO production, which is why there is no official footage of the individual actions. Instead, the makers have combined a mix of TV reports, Facebook videos and Instagram photos to a colorful collage, spiced with some small interview sequences of fans, artists or art dealers. It is quite fascinating to see how an actually quite worthless painting is suddenly worth close to 200,000 dollars because Banksy changed it a little bit, how it almost comes to a brawl because someone wants to get hold of a Banksy souvenir in a daring climb or how a truck with an art installation causes crowds.

Also, the question of whether the artworks disappear so quickly in part because they are removed by homeowners or the police, or whether that is also part of the performance, is an intriguing aspect of this documentary. And the fact that two Banksy hunters, of all people, who adore the street artist and are constantly on the road during the 31 days to see as many of the works as possible, always mispronounce his name (Banksky), makes for some rather amusing moments. But apart from a few side-swipes at the art scene or even the media, the film as a whole remains a bit too superficial. Especially in comparison to Exit through the Gift Shop, in which Banksy himself had a hand and in which the boundaries between documentary and performance are perfectly blurred, Banksy does New York lacks finesse. This is no doubt due to the source material, as one shouldn't expect nuanced depth from posts from breakfast television or small Facebook videos.

After all, the makers have managed to craft an entertaining collage from the snippets at their disposal, which works very well as a declaration of love to the birthplace of the street art scene and as a bow to Banksy and his really successful project. And for this there is then also a clear: worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The picture quality depends on the source material shown. In the interview sequences, the image sharpness is at a very high level and also in terms of colors and contrasts there is nothing to complain about. Mobile phone videos, on the other hand, can show small blurs and other weaknesses. Overall, however, the picture quality leaves just as good an impression as the sound, which is only available in the original English soundtrack, which conveys the voices of all interviewees powerfully and well understandable from the speakers. Good!

Extras: Unfortunately, there is no bonus material on the DVD!

Conclusion: Banksy does New York is a chronicle of a 31 day street art project by Banksy. Using news articles, Facebook videos and Instagram photos, the unusual art action is traced. At times, this is very interesting and entertaining, but also comes across as a wee bit tiring at times. Overall, the film lacks the finesse that distinguished the great Banksy documentary (?)Exit through the Gift Shop, among others. Nevertheless, this HBO production is absolutely recommendable for all admirers of the street artist, even if the technically well implemented DVD has nothing to offer except for the rather short main film. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp