THIS HOUSE WILL LOSE THE BATTLE TO WIN THE WAR

 Last year I debated the topic “This House will lose the battle to win the war”. Obviously, it was a very, very vague topic and my whole team just kind of stared at the words on the screen like they were the boogieman out to get us. It wasn’t until the debate was over -- and we had suffered a painful loss -- that I realized there were some very good ways to define that topic. We should’ve used graffiti. The “battle” would be graffiti and the “war” would be cleaning up a city. Sure, it was a stretch, but it would’ve made for an interesting debate.

That debate topic was what led me to the artist known as Banksy.

Banksy is a political graffiti artist that also makes some wonderful documentaries, such as “Exit Through the Gift Shop”. After initially finding out about him, I now own a couple art books that have his art and writing in them. They’re excellent and very thought-provoking. Although, I don’t recommend them if you don’t enjoy dry or dark humor. His works also pose some great questions about what we should consider vandalism and what we should consider art, and where to draw the line. And I like art a hundred times more when it poses questions to me.

So, what do you think of graffiti? Vandalism? Art? Or something else entirely?

 All pictures were taken from Banksy.co.uk.