Exit Through The Gift Shop is a documentary focusing on the Street Art movement, throughout its early underground history to its massive takeover of the art world. It’s a documentation of where the line between what is real and what might be fake blurs, as modern art and celebrity are put into play.
It’s significant that Exit is directed by Banksy, one of the most progressive – and elusive – street artists. Banksy forces people to reassess some of their beliefs about life and society. Using the documentary form and told from the involved life of an artist turned filmmaker, Banksy subverts the form of documentary.
The documentary focuses on selected elements of the street art movement, shifting our view to certain parts, like the social commentary and anarchy of street art, and only briefly touching on other parts, like its illegality, to change our perspective throughout.
The film starts with a short introduction by Banksy. “The film started out as being a documentary on me, but turned toward to a much more interesting person behind the camera.” The film then proceeds with a brief history and look at the man behind the camera, Thierry Guetta. Once the audience is given the knowledge of Thierry, they have a protagonist figure to follow throughout the film. Early in the film, Thierry has an encounter with his cousin a.k.a. Space Invader, a known name in the underground street art movement. Early in the film, the illegal aspect of the movement is addressed but mainly looked at as an entertaining but unimportant aspect towards the higher ranks of the new movement.
Thierry films everything in his life: his business, his family, walking down the street. To create an even stronger bond between the audience and Thierry, the documentary explores the reasoning behind his obsession with filming, talking about his mother and his lost time with her due to her sudden murder. Making him become a deeper “character”, to the audience, showing his powerful drive towards filming, provides emotional depth and sympathy for Thierry. He is obsessive. Once Thierry adds the new trend of Street Art to his obsessions, he unknowingly captures the beginning of an entirely new trend in popular but socially significant art.
Banksy the street artist is a god to Thierry. Due to a turn in events, Banksy suggests Thierry should put down his camera and follow his new found interest in street art. This is the central point of the film. Banksy the director turns the focal point of Exit from an exploration of street art or an interesting character like Thierry into an expose of what Thierry does with a sincere, socially conscious movement. He documents Thierry Guetta’s transformation as a student of street art into a commercializer of street art. Thierry turns himself into Mister Brainwash.
Now in my belief and opinion, Mister Brainwash is one of the biggest fakes in the art world and the largest in the street/pop art movements. Mister Brainwash takes the work of others and mass produces the concept, if not the art, by throwing random ideas at a group of paid workers. There is nothing sincere or significant about his work, only fashion. He used shrewd marketing and little passion to thrust himself and his new name into the spotlight to prepare for a massive art show in Los Angeles. He creates frankly copy-cat and very simple artwork, and had other artists design make and construct the idea. He had others make and add the “artistic touch”. He made works that are mockeries or copies of others’ work. With artists, including Banksy and other street artists, there is learning and progression and finding your signature over time. Thierry – or Mr Brainwash -- skipped that rather large step to make money off of the newly-discovered street art movement.
Exit, throughout most of the documentary, follows Thierry’s intensity with sincerity. It doesn’t question him but instead supports his journey and eventually his success. Exit gives him legitimacy and credibility as a person and a protagonist. The viewer has sympathy for him.
Banksy, being the director, then morphs our view from watching a sympathetic situation from a movement’s confused perspective told from through a singular person’s passion, to watching that same person blurring the line between real and possibly fake work, and possibly getting away with it.
The camera work in Exit Through The Gift Shop is unprofessional, filmed mostly on a portable camera. I believe that it came as more of an advantage to the film, it creates a less formal documentary and more of a home film with friends recording the movement they were in. Which is exactly what this film is.
The music used in Exit Through The Gift Shop was well chosen. When used, it heavily influenced the mood and attitude towards the scene. While Thierry talks about his Mother’s death and why he films, the music becomes very simple deep and heavy. When someone is introduced with a quick burst of images and video, the music (most likely a hip hop instrumental) is added with a high tempo to capture the intensity and interest of [the artist] and their reputation, to even someone with no knowledge of the movement would feel the anticipation to learn more of this new person.
Banksy has some more “legitimate” names in the film share some more negative views of Mister Brainwash, allowing the audience to question the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the work. In the end everyone is kind of confused, since how does anyone judge when the rules are broken in an art movement based on anarchy?
“Thierry didn’t play by the rules, but really there were no rules” – Banksy
[Photo of Banksy's "ATM Girl" taken by Jack De Ferrari]
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