Shoneshine

This piece, as Banksy always does in his works, disclosed the dark side of social or economic phenomenon. Banksy pointed to big corporations this time and the chosen one is the international fast-food chain giant: McDonald’s.

Instead of painting on the wall, Banksy built a big sculpture of Ronald McDonald with an abnormally big size of shoe. This mobile sculpture entitled “Shoeshine.” It was put in front of various McDonald’s restaurants and move around the city.

It was like a performing art. The ragged shoe shiner sat on the ground and rubbed Ronald McDonald’s big shoe back and forth with mournful face. On the contrary, Ronald McDonald stood with a hand on waist, and looked down at him with an impatient look. Here’s a short clip from a person who actually shot on sight.

The dominant position that Ronald McDonald held was very similar as the position of big corporates in the society. It reminded me again about the occupy wall street movement that I mentioned in OCCUPY! The musical article. The movement was also driven by the revolt against the corporation from the public. Banksy kept putting his attention on these controversial issues and demonstrated all his thought on different art pieces.

However, some people blast that compared to the fame that Banksy earned,the quality of his works doesn’t match to his fame. Not only the superficial meaning that his work delivered to the audience, but also the delicate art skill he has. In the attached audio guide on his website, Banksy also made fun of himself at the end about lacking fine technique of depicting details of the sculpture. Now it seems that Banksy admits his flaws personally.

-Written by Lesley