All allocated 

Hinting he’s VIP 😂

It says 'over 1 million requests' - would you not read requests as applications?

nope

sourcedefense.com/glossary/web-request/

a request isn’t about filling forms in

It isn’t even a hit , it’s basically every refresh and site visit 

to put it in perspective Wikipedia has a million requests every 15 seconds

a bot could generate half a million requests in a minute just to see if it could knock the site off

it has no relevance to the raffle, which is why it’s so clever as they’ve actually told us nothing ;-)

The number is an interesting part of this piece. It's not particularly clear (no doubt intentionally) which can lead to different searches and different results. 

I read the number as starting with 0038, rather than 6038. Ukraine's International dialing code is 0038. The next set of numbers I read as being 25161, but it could also be 25181 or 25101. Either way, seems far too short to be an actual telephone number in Ukraine and I doubt they would put a real number up because about 30 numpties a day would be calling it.

The GPS coordinates for latitude 25 longitude 16.1 (25161) locate the town of Murzuq in Libya, which was bombed in 2020 by the Lybyan national army. Coincidence... ? Maybe but maybe not. All part of the fun!

Out of interest, did anybody do research on the number printed on the Barcode leopard and shark images? There may be a thread on it already but I don't recall ever reading it, if there is one.

It would be safe to assume they mean applications and not page request....

Are you d a n Brown .

I didn't read it as applications, I read it as requests as per the previous comment about web requests. It's all open to interpretation - only they know what they mean.

Okay.

Lots of writing required, but I'll play the professor. It's a good contrast to my more natural, real-life role as the blundering eternal student.



In our capacity as art fans, many of us probably like to view ourselves as thoughtful, perceptive and inquisitive.

And given that close to 36 hours have lapsed since my earlier post, those who wished to test themselves will have had over a day to do so, without a spoiler ruining the challenge.


__________



For the avoidance of doubt, by "tells", I was referring to the many clues indicating that red is one of the screenprinted colours of the Banksy artwork.

In other words, the piece was not made on the cut-out side of a cardboard box; it merely appears to have been.

This conclusion can be reached by using our eyes, logic, deduction and/or existing knowledge.








Regarding order of execution for the work's creation, I suspect it may have gone as follows:

(i)  sheets of cardboard cut to the desired size;

(ii)  the colour red screened first;

(iii)  parcel tape added around the edges;

(iv)  the remaining colours screened — black (possibly); brown; tan; silver grey; pale grey; white; and soft pink;

(v)  vertical cuts made with a blade and straightedge over the letters F and R; and

(vi)  the letters F and R, as well as parts of the cardboard and tape edges, roughed up and torn a bit, in a visually-pleasing way.


__________



As for actual CLUES, we have the luxury of being able to pick and choose:


1.  Placement of the parcel tape


1.1  At first glance, the tape — along with the sheet of cardboard — looks as if it was originally from one side of a cardboard box, repurposed by Banksy to create a work of art.

But parcel tape isn't applied to a cardboard box in such a manner, i.e. in a square shape. Rather, it is just used over the flaps to seal the box, and sometimes also over the flap edges along the side.

For the artwork, the tape enhances its upcycled appearance and also has a framing purpose.


1.2  As an aside, consider the likelihood in practice of a warehouse employee actually applying parcel tape over, and therefore partly hiding, some of the packaging-box icons — being symbols whose sole function is to help minimise the risk of any damage occurring in transit to the contents of the box.



2.  FRAGILE text

By way of preface, although plenty of stock illustrations can be found online, it is relatively uncommon for the Fragile warning to be printed so markedly (large scale and dead centre) on the sides of packaging boxes.

That said, the following applies to cases where conspicuous Fragile warning text does appear on boxes:


2.1  For message-reinforcement purposes, the Fragile warning is often accompanied by:

(i)  complementary text (like Handle With Care); and/or

(ii)  complementary packaging icons (such as the Handle With Care broken-wine-glass logo or the Keep Dry umbrella logo),

that have at least a comparable degree of prominence in terms of size and placement.


Banksy's piece doesn't really have these. The icons featured at the bottom-right seem too disproportionately modest in comparison to have come from an actual packaging box.


2.2  Again for message-reinforcement purposes, the Fragile warning would be in a chunkier, heavyset typeface.

Banksy's rather delicate letters do make sense for his artwork. This, for composition and balance reasons, because the emphasis needs to remain on the focal point — the white rat.

However, on a genuine packaging box, such finesse with the text would feel incongruous given its intended purpose.


2.3  The Fragile warning would be in a cleaner, more conventional typeface.

Banksy's Fragile letters are slightly distressed for aesthetic reasons.

But for the design of a real packaging box, such emphasis on aesthetics could be deemed unhelpful. It would risk detracting from the key objective, i.e. finding the most efficient way of clearly and immediately communicating a single message: The contents of this box are fragile.



3.  Previous use of the FRAGILE text

Many Banksy aficionados will be aware the artist has form when it comes to the word Fragile, including on cardboard boxes.

In addition, spot some of the arguable similarities in typeface design:










4.  Packaging icons at the bottom-right


4.1  Design

Examine a close-up of the icons, noting in particular their relatively rough execution:





This crudeness does have visual appeal, making it perfectly suitable for an artistic creation.

However, consider whether it would have passed any quality-control checks at a manufacturer responsible for mass-producing cardboard boxes for fragile goods.


4.2  Size

See the mismatch referred to in point 2.1(ii) above.


4.3  Placement

From a composition perspective, the icons look fine on the finished artwork.

But if they were on actual packaging boxes, their placement might seem a bit odd. I would expect them to be aligned more to the right.


4.4  Duplicate icons

Note the second icon with the arrow at the bottom-right — a symbol representing This Way Up or This Side Up. That icon also happens to be a pointless duplication of the larger double-arrow symbol already featured in Banksy's piece, along the top-left side.

This could easily have been an oversight by an artist creating new work on a substrate intended to resemble the side of a used cardboard box.

It seems doubtful, however, that a manufacturer of packaging boxes would have failed to immediately spot the redundancy.



5.  Code number along the bottom-left side

While more of a side note than conclusive in itself, the decision by Banksy to add the faux-identification code (including the December 2022 date of creation) on a vertical plane looks to have been guided by aesthetics.

On genuine packaging boxes, I would usually expect identification codes to be printed on the same plane as all of the other text, numbers, icons or symbols (in this case, horizontally) — for consistency, improved reader-friendliness, and therefore effectiveness and suitability for purpose.



6.  Practical considerations when creating editioned artworks

The Banksy piece is from an edition of 50. And, presumably, some APs and colour variants have also been created (perhaps including brown, grey and black rats). In terms of requisite organisation and materials, that is quite different to creating a one-off original.


Under such circumstances, query which alternative is more likely:

(a)  the artist somehow got hold of loads and loads of used packaging boxes with highly-fortuitous "12/22" dates already printed on them; or

(b)  the artist purchased widely-available sheets of plain cardboard, and then embellished them to resemble the cut-out sides of used packaging boxes.


__________



Now, a completely separate question would be, What should we make of the above?

Some individuals, especially those holding a grudge, may feel resentful about having been tricked. They're the kind who might get hung up over trivialities. For example, the date when the Girl With Balloon canvas, shredded at Sotheby's London in 2018, was actually painted.

That narrowness is most unfortunate. Because it completely misses the point.



For me, much of the beauty of Banksy's work lies with the element of illusion.

His skills of misdirection are part of a broader show for his audience. And they are integral to his performance as an artist.

You guys really need to get out more!

...and learn to tell the time.😉

met Having been a member here for just over a year, this is by far the most interesting post I have read. As a self-confessed dilettante, and newcomer to the world of art, I haven’t yet taken the time to develop my critical eye and have been very focused on my aesthetic preferences. If you have the time/inclination, I’d be fascinated to hear more of your thoughts on the element quoted above. Thanks for taking the time to create that post. 

5 in queue

you can see it is 6 or 7 layers then hand finished scratches.