Man Charged With Vandalizing Bansky (Illegal Street Art) Images

Oh the irony,

The Goss-IPgirl has learnt that Prosecutors in Park City, Utah, are charging a man who they alledge defaced and vandalised two works of graffiti by Banksy, the pseudo British street artist.

"It's not every day I get to prosecute somebody for vandalising graffiti," Matthew Bates, the lead prosecutor, told the Wall Street Journal.

According to prosecutors, David William Noll shattered the glass protecting the Banksy murals in Park City on New Year’s Eve, and then further damaged one of the works, an image of a boy praying on his knees, with dark brown paint. 

Often used as a political voice for change - to raise awareness of social and political issues. Street art & graffiti has not only radically transformed the way we view our public pavements and walls but the Graffiti industry has turned into multi-million pound industry, now deemed worthy of the attention of even legitimising institutions such as the Houses of Parliament, which the Goss-IP discussed: here.

Building owners are often infuriated when they discover graffiti marring their property. But as a result of the ‘cultural currency’ that comes with the prestige of works by artists such as Bansky, in Park City property owners whose buildings have been tagged have spent thousands of dollars preserving them. Ken Davis, the owner of a coffee shop where Banksy stenciled an image of a videographer filming a flower, paid out $1,500 for bulletproof and glare-free glass to protect it, and hired a local blacksmith to forge a custom-made frame. That glass was allegedly shattered by Mr. Noll.

Even the courts seem to be looking more favorably on what is still consider to be illegal acts of vandalism:  What "Banksy does at the moment he does it may be graffiti," but the prosecutor, Mr. Bates, said, “his world reputation…ensures that it becomes a treasured attraction.” 

On a separate note and one that is interesting for this PhD student, this highlights the ways in which law shapes culture and culture shapes the law. How law itself is both a product of culture and how culture is at the same time a product of law. Noll faces a fine of up to $10,000 and up to 15 years in prison; according to Bates, a plea deal is being negotiated, with a hearing scheduled for the 15th of September. 

Isn't it ironic? Don't you think...