Urban Art Association

Pulp Fiction 2, by Daniel Silk on Jul 25, 2006 17:30:14 GMT 1, Sorry, Links to the Guardian dont work so here is the whole story ;D

One wall, four artists, two bananas

Leo Benedictus
Monday July 24, 2006
The Guardian

Late on the night of Saturday July 15, a person or persons unknown climbed on top of a nondescript parade of shops next to Old Street tube station in East London. By the time the intruder left, he or she had covered a second-storey brick wall with a painting of Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta pointing their guns in that iconic Pulp Fiction pose, their menace diminished only slightly by the fact that both were wearing banana costumes. It was the latest addition to what is becoming the underground art world's equivalent of Trafalgar Square's empty plinth.

Until about five years ago the Old Street wall displayed only a scattering of inexpert tags of the sort commonly found on bus shelters. Though of little artistic merit in themselves, the tags alerted more ambitious graffitists to the fact that the site was accessible. Soon, painted over the mess, appeared more ambitious work - a series of what are known as "filled-in throw-ups", with big, multi-coloured letters; the sort of graffiti that might occasionally have the word "art" appended to it.
Thus far, this could be the story of a thousand other walls, but when the famous street artist Banksy climbed up one night to make his mark, the Old Street site began to take on a special identity. Banksy painted the wall black, then, with white paint and stencils, added the classic Jackson/Travolta image - although in his original version it was the men's guns that were replaced with bananas.

The painting soon became one of Banksy's best-known creations. Impudent taggers defaced it from time to time, but the artist repaired the damage. He is said to have observed that, as well as being a prime location to display work, the Old Street wall is an excellent site for graffiti as the local police wear peaked caps and are therefore less likely to look up and see you.

The original Banksy picture lasted for around three years. Shortly after the 7/7 bombings, however, another, unknown artist felt impelled to make his or her own statement on behalf on London. The Pulp Fiction image was replaced overnight with the slogan "Fuck al-Qaida" in flaming red and white. Though low on wit, the painting's evident passion and timeliness won it some admirers, and it endured, more or less, until late this spring.

At this point Shepard Fairey intervened. Fairey is a California street artist famous for covering cities across the world in stickers bearing the face of a dead wrestler and the legend "Obey" (an experiment, it is claimed, in "phenomenology" - marketing a product that does not exist). Fairey arrived in London with the intention of making his own contribution to the wall. "He stuck a big Obey Giant poster on top of Fuck al-Qaida," recalls local graffiti artist Ben Flynn. "Then a guy called Faile from New York came and stuck his posters around Shepard's poster." Above the collage, Faile wrote in pink paint: "Banksy was here." It may have lacked finesse, but his intentions were made clear by the underscore on "was".

Then, the Saturday before last, the wall changed again. Flynn believes Banksy has returned. "I recognise his work," he says, even though the second Pulp Fiction image is unsigned. "I think it's quite true for all graffiti writers that once you've had a painting on a wall that's stayed there for quite a long time, and you've gone back and repaired it and looked after it, you consider that wall to be yours. And especially with that image being such an iconic image, it's Banksy's wall."

Sorry, Links to the Guardian dont work so here is the whole story ;D

One wall, four artists, two bananas

Leo Benedictus
Monday July 24, 2006
The Guardian

Late on the night of Saturday July 15, a person or persons unknown climbed on top of a nondescript parade of shops next to Old Street tube station in East London. By the time the intruder left, he or she had covered a second-storey brick wall with a painting of Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta pointing their guns in that iconic Pulp Fiction pose, their menace diminished only slightly by the fact that both were wearing banana costumes. It was the latest addition to what is becoming the underground art world's equivalent of Trafalgar Square's empty plinth.

Until about five years ago the Old Street wall displayed only a scattering of inexpert tags of the sort commonly found on bus shelters. Though of little artistic merit in themselves, the tags alerted more ambitious graffitists to the fact that the site was accessible. Soon, painted over the mess, appeared more ambitious work - a series of what are known as "filled-in throw-ups", with big, multi-coloured letters; the sort of graffiti that might occasionally have the word "art" appended to it.
Thus far, this could be the story of a thousand other walls, but when the famous street artist Banksy climbed up one night to make his mark, the Old Street site began to take on a special identity. Banksy painted the wall black, then, with white paint and stencils, added the classic Jackson/Travolta image - although in his original version it was the men's guns that were replaced with bananas.

The painting soon became one of Banksy's best-known creations. Impudent taggers defaced it from time to time, but the artist repaired the damage. He is said to have observed that, as well as being a prime location to display work, the Old Street wall is an excellent site for graffiti as the local police wear peaked caps and are therefore less likely to look up and see you.

The original Banksy picture lasted for around three years. Shortly after the 7/7 bombings, however, another, unknown artist felt impelled to make his or her own statement on behalf on London. The Pulp Fiction image was replaced overnight with the slogan "Fuck al-Qaida" in flaming red and white. Though low on wit, the painting's evident passion and timeliness won it some admirers, and it endured, more or less, until late this spring.

At this point Shepard Fairey intervened. Fairey is a California street artist famous for covering cities across the world in stickers bearing the face of a dead wrestler and the legend "Obey" (an experiment, it is claimed, in "phenomenology" - marketing a product that does not exist). Fairey arrived in London with the intention of making his own contribution to the wall. "He stuck a big Obey Giant poster on top of Fuck al-Qaida," recalls local graffiti artist Ben Flynn. "Then a guy called Faile from New York came and stuck his posters around Shepard's poster." Above the collage, Faile wrote in pink paint: "Banksy was here." It may have lacked finesse, but his intentions were made clear by the underscore on "was".

Then, the Saturday before last, the wall changed again. Flynn believes Banksy has returned. "I recognise his work," he says, even though the second Pulp Fiction image is unsigned. "I think it's quite true for all graffiti writers that once you've had a painting on a wall that's stayed there for quite a long time, and you've gone back and repaired it and looked after it, you consider that wall to be yours. And especially with that image being such an iconic image, it's Banksy's wall."