Elusive graffiti artist, Banksy set up a stand in NYC selling his signature work for $60. Normally his work goes for about $40,000, to $200 thousand and up.
This says less about what art is worth and more about what we perceive as art. Reporters are not doing Banksy any justice by not reporting on why he is establishing residency in NYC one day at a time through the movement he dubs “Better Out Than In.”
This has two positive, but counterintuitive results.
Banksy’s spray art has always been to communicate a message. That message is up to each individual to decode and then act on. Since news reporters are failing to report on the messages of the work, it is completely left to the individual who sees it to make their interpretation and the mass are failing at it. This is why Banksy only made $420 from selling his work the other day.
Many would blame Banksy for not creating work that convinces people to analyze it. To that I would ask what art work does do that?
The other result is if the media did begin to analyze his efforts and voice their interpretation of his artwork, that closes the value of those who interpret Banksy’s art different from how the media says to interpret it. 
For example, the media could pawn this piece off as being purely humorous, when, in fact, it could have hundreds of different purposes beyond simply invoking a chuckle.
It does not matter that Banksy sold his work for $60 a piece. What matters is why he did.
All the same, it does not matter that Banksy sprays his art work around NYC. What matters is why he is.
It doesn’t seem like the media is going to give us any answers on that. However, by the end of the month, I imagine Banksy will.
Stay Positive & Perhaps It’s Better That The Media Doesn’t(?)
Garth E. Beyer
