Latest news with #philosophy
BBC News
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Five works that reveal the philosophy of Banksy
Banksy's new mural in Marseille is not the first image he has connected to the history of ideas. From Plato to Foucault, a Banksy expert reveals the philosophy behind these popular artworks. Which is the real you, the person you are now or the one you are capable of becoming? It's a heady question, to be sure, and not one you would expect to be confronted with while strolling down a street in Marseille in the waning days of May. Yet it's precisely the existential dilemma that Banksy, who once asserted "being yourself is overrated" – has surreptitiously installed in a cloistered stretch of the quiet Rue Félix Fregier, the site of a new work – the latest installment in the elusive artist's decades-long career as a provocative philosophical prankster. For more than 30 years, Banksy has spiked many of his most iconic works – from his girl reaching hopelessly for a heart-shaped balloon to his masked rioter hurling a bouquet of flowers – with barbed allusions to Old Masters, from Michelangelo to Monet, Vermeer to Van Gogh. But there's more. Beneath his stealthy stencils lies a deep and deliberate engagement with the history of ideas as well, from classical Stoicism to postmodern deconstructionism. On 29 May, Banksy posted on Instagram a photo of his first new piece in more than five months, piquing the internet's interest by withholding its precise location. Discovered shortly thereafter in the major port city in southern France, Marseille, the mural is, at first glance, deceptively simple: a tall silhouette of a lighthouse spray-painted on to a blank beige urban wall; a rusting street bollard positioned nearby; and a painted shadow stretching across the pavement, joining the real-world object to its augmented, if two-dimensional, echo. Stencilled across the black lighthouse are the words: "I want to be what you saw in me." Anyone keen to find a source for the ideas that inform Banksy's new work needs merely to flip open any history of philosophy to Plato's seminal allegory of the cave (from the Fourth-Century BC treatise The Republic), then flip the ancient metaphor on its head. In Plato's parable, prisoners chained inside a cave mistake shadows on the wall for reality, unaware of the truer forms that cast them outside. But here, Banksy, being Banksy, baits us by switching the set-up, reversing the relationship between essence and shadow. In Banksy's mural, the drab bollard casts not a diminished imitation of itself, but something far grander – a lighthouse, a symbol of illumination and guidance. Here, it's the silhouette, not reality, that's true. Banksy's inversion urges us to ask where reality really resides: in what is, or in what might be? His poignant phrase – "I want to be what you saw in me" – is alluringly elastic. Is this the bollard dreaming of being more than it appears? Or the shadow wishing to become light? Or is it all of us – Banksy included – struggling to live up to the better versions imagined by those who believe in us? The answer is surely yes to all of the above. And it's a yes too to the question: 'is this new work a lamp capable of shining light on further levels of meaning in Banksy?' What follows is a brief look back at some of the artist's best-known works and how they too are invigorated by, and often upend, many of the most important philosophical tenets – both social and intellectual – that underwrite who we are and who we might be. Girl with Balloon, 2002 Banksy's new mural in Marseille is not the first to be accompanied by an affecting caption connecting the piece to the history of ideas. Among his most famous murals, Girl with Balloon, which portrays a child reaching towards a heart-shaped balloon drifting away from her, first appeared in 2002 in various locations in London, including on the South Bank, alongside the consoling assertion, "there is always hope". That conviction, which fuels the ceaseless striving for an ideal that is seemingly unobtainable in the mural (there's no way that balloon is coming back) rhymes richly with aspects of 19th-Century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's ideas concerning an unquenchable and irrational "Will" as a fundamental force that drives humanity. When, years later, Banksy mischievously concealed a remote-controlled shredder in the frame of a version of Girl with Balloon that came up for auction in 2018, and sensationally destroyed the work before the eyes of aghast auction-goers, he succeeded in upping the ante on Schopenhauer's belief in the futility of desire by boldly manifesting it himself. Where there's a will there's a fray. Flower Thrower (or Love is in the Air), 2003 Banksy's famous mural of a masked man frozen forever in the instant before he unleashes not a brick or a bomb but a bouquet of flowers may seem, at first blush, to exemplify a pacifist's commitment to peaceful disobedience. The work appears to echo the precepts of Mahatma Gandhi's Satyagraha – a philosophy of non-violence that the Indian ethicist coined in 1919. Banksy's fully flexed figure, incongruously armed with a fistful of beauty, appears to epitomise Gandhi's insistence on wielding moral, not physical, strength. Doesn't it? Or has Banksy slyly subverted the philosophical assertion of pacifistic force by portraying his hero as an enraged rioter? The figure's anger has not been tempered by an appeal to the higher ideals of beauty and truth. Instead, those ideals have been weaponised by Banksy. Here, beauty and truth are not disarming, they are devastatingly explosive. One Nation Under CCTV, 2007 Banksy's mural in Marseille employs a tried-and-true technique to ensure the work protrudes into the urban space in which we'll encounter it – elevating its philosophical potential from something flimsy and flat to something undeniably urgent. It's a tactic he used in a 2007 work that appeared near London's Oxford Street in which he depicts a boy atop a precariously high ladder, spray-painting the penetrating observation that we are "One Nation Under CCTV" in outlandishly outsized letters. Also portrayed within the mural is a uniformed officer and his obedient police dog who surveil the young vandal, while above them all an actual CCTV camera, presumably recording everything, juts out from the wall. The endless layers of surveillance-within-surveillance to which the work attests – as we watch the state watch an officer watch the boy – captures with uncanny precision the philosophical contours of the vast and all-encompassing prison machine in which the French poststructural philosopher Michel Foucault believed everyone in society was now irredeemably enmeshed. In Foucault's study Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, he resuscitates a blueprint for a prison proposed by the British utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham at the end of the 18th Century, "The Panopticon" (meaning "all seeing"), and uses it as a menacing metaphor for how no one can escape the perniciously penetrating eye of the panoptical state. Mobile Lovers, 2014 Banksy's witty 2014 work Mobile Lovers shines a chilling light on the state of contemporary relationships. The mural depicts a couple whose almost affectionate embrace is interrupted by the deeper fondness they have for the warm glow of their smartphones. The French existentialist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir, who died in 1986, may not have lived long enough to witness the emergence of mobiles. Yet her profoundly influential 1947 book The Ethics of Ambiguity – published exactly 60 years before the iPhone was launched in 2007 – with its exploration of the devastation that detachment and disconnection can wreak on the realisation of our truest selves, is profoundly proleptic of our modern predicament. To be free, de Beauvoir insisted, requires a deep attentiveness to each other. She believed in the authenticity of human encounters, without which life is a futile performance, dimly lit by disposable devices, rather than something profound and meaningful. How Banksy Saved Art History by Kelly Grovier, published by Thames & Hudson, is out now. -- For more Culture stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Metro
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
'SXSW London will be a love letter to the city - we ought to be here'
SXSW, a conference encompassing music, art, business and innovation, kicked off in London today for the first time in its 38-year history. Attendees will witness a historic 'love letter to London', SXSW CEO Max Alexander tells Metro, one of the conference's media partners, with more than 25 Shoreditch venues hosting daily talks, panels, performances and more. What began as a music industry conference in Austin, Texas, evolved into a broader cultural festival which has served as a platform for some of today's most successful artists and businesses. 'It makes no sense when you hear about it. But when you arrive, it suddenly makes sense because what you're being invited to do is to get out of your comfort zone. To challenge yourself by experiencing speakers or music, or cultural events that are not in your domain,' Max explains. 'This is at the heart of what Austin and London do as cities, which is to invite people to seek ideas. I have a profound love affair with London. 'I think it's the greatest city on earth. SXSW's ambition is to become part of the cultural fabric of London.' 'We want SXSW to be a love letter to London, while being incredibly respectful of what London already is: a profound nexus of culture, business, creativity, ideas, technology, finance, and philosophy,' Max adds. Ticketing app DICE has put together a list of their 25 grassroots artists you need to see in London over the next six months. With tickets ranging from free to £27.50, these shows will ensure a great night to suit all tastes and budgets. Click HERE to catch the full list. Choosing Shoreditch as the core of London's first SXSW conference was intentional. The London neighbourhood is like if the world itself were 'fractalised', Max says. 'Within Shoreditch alone, you have a mixed and diverse little city within itself. When planning this event, we looked at cities across Europe, but in the end, the siren song of London was impossible to resist. We ought to be here.' This year's conference is addressing six themes: Humanity, Machines & The Future of AI; Our Future Health; New Tech Frontiers; Tech, Government and The Future of Society, Navigating Business in a Changing World; Innovation Meets Imagination: The Future of Creativity. Hundreds of businesses and music artists will be platformed at this year's event – all intentionally chosen, so SXSW can be a place where attendees can come and see them to 'dream' about what they might be, Max said. 'We want to help amplify for London and for Britain and indeed for, for Europe and showcase technologies, business models, art forms, music creatives, and give people a really explicit platform for presentation and discovery and investigation,' he said. 'There is simply put, nothing else like it in Europe. We want to encourage people to see and value each other's disciplines. More Trending 'This is a space we invite people to come to and to be inspired in and to dream in. That's valuable in and of itself, and I hope will be incredibly valuable in the medium and long term to the city and to the United Kingdom.' But the thing Max hopes attendees will take from this year's conference is to learn something new, and make a new friend in East London. He said: 'Learning something new is just such a fabulous thing, because when we stop learning, we die.' SXSW begins today and will run until Friday, June 7. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: SXSW London: Everything you can expect from festival's inaugural week in the Capital MORE: Brothers deny murder of man who died from 'catastrophic' injuries 41 years ago MORE: 'Beautiful' woman in her 20s stabbed to death in middle of town centre
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Meet the man infecting America with a deadly new disease... he has your kids in his crosshairs
Set back from a rural New Jersey road, 10 miles from Donald Trump 's Bedminster golf course, the unassuming bungalow makes a strange setting for a death cult. But, inside its walls, a long-haired 65-year-old is preaching a disturbing new philosophy – one that has already had deadly results.
IOL News
3 days ago
- Sport
- IOL News
Riveiro deserves to coach the biggest club in Africa
FORMER Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro was given a two-year contract at Al-Ahly. | BackpagePix Image: BACKPAGEPIX Not in his wildest dreams must Jose Riveiro imagined that it'd get this big. But now that it surpassed his imagination, he must soak it all in. He's earned it! Riveiro ascended to the hottest coaching seat in club football on the continent as he was announced as Al Ahly's coach this week on a two-year deal. Of course, this is Al Ahly we are talking about - he might even be lucky to last a full season at the club if he doesn't win the CAF Champions League at full attempt next season. I am not trying to jinx things for him - but he knows that he replaced Marcel Koller who came up short in the semi-final after winning back-to-back African crowns. But let's not spend time increasing the volume on what comes with expectations of coaching the Red Devils, instead let's congratulate Riveiro and wish him well in his new role. Riveiro is proof that when one works hard in silence, their success speaks for them as he arrived on the continent as an unpopular figure and changed that in four years. He might have reached the ceiling in a coaching role in club football in Africa, but his coaching prowess, and personality is going to be tested. He must hold dear to the philosophy that made him succeed at Orlando Pirates, but he must be able to acclimatise - know when, and how to react in match and daily life situations. He should be able to do that as well. Not only did he bring his own trusted lieutenants, but he feels he's at the right place where he can fully succeed as a coach. 'I'm in a European club. You don't lack anything. This is what I dreamt of and hoped for, to coach a team the size of Al Ahly,' said Riveiro according to reports from Egypt. But while Pirates might be inferior to Al Ahly, what Riveiro did at the club wasn't short of success in just three seasons as well. He duly made the Ghost 'Happy People' yet again, winning five cup finals out of six, and finishing up as the runners-up to serial champions Mamelodi Sundowns. The three successive misses on the title are what dented his CV as the greatest honour that a coach can get is by being crowned the king of his domestic league. But, boy, it's safe to say that Riveiro made up for that blemish by planting seeds which can yield positive fruits not only for Pirates, but the nation at large in the near-future. 'Cocomelon football' was in motion at Pirates last season, with youngsters getting promoted and making their mark. That didn't go unnoticed as well. Youngsters, Mbekezeli Mbokazi, Mohau Nkota and Simphiwe Selepe, who made their debuts this year, recently got Bafana Bafana call-ups. The trio are in coach Hugo Broos' final 23-member squad which will face Tanzania and Mozambique in two international friendlies in June. And while they'll all admit that Broos' decision was independent, they'll be grateful for the opportunity to make their professional appearance under Riveiro at Pirates.
Globe and Mail
3 days ago
- General
- Globe and Mail
Your daily horoscope: May 31, 2025
The year ahead could be good and it could even be great but it certainly won't be boring. Take events as they come and strive to see the opportunities in each and every situation. Above all, believe you deserve the very best that life has to offer. Make it your business this weekend to clear the air of any bad feelings at home and at work – then everyone can start as friends again come Monday morning. Forget what other people said about you and invite them to forget what you said about them! Not everyone can be as rational in their thinking as you, so make allowances over the next 48 hours for some of the stupid statements that friends and family members come out with. Treat them like you would treat a child, with amused indulgence. The fact that your heart is not really in what others expect of you is of no importance. The only thing that matters is that you go out of your way to make them happy – because if they are happy they won't make life difficult for you. The fact that you helped out a friend in a crisis does not mean they will help you out in a similar way. If they say they are not in a position to assist you don't argue about it. The planets indicate that could work in your favour. If some of the people you love get excitable this weekend make it your business to calm them down by explaining that whatever it is that got them upset it means nothing in the greater scheme of things. Help them take a more philosophical attitude to life. A task you thought was going to be simple could turn out to be one of the hardest things you have ever done. That will make it all the more satisfying when you make a resounding success of it, which of course you will. If you find yourself in the spotlight this weekend don't try to escape it – instead, put on a show and make sure everyone knows what a hugely talented Libra you are. It's not always enjoyable being in the public eye but it could be if you embrace it. Someone who can use their influence to help your career will move into your life over the next 48 hours and you must not let them move out again without taking advantage of what they can offer. Don't hide your ambition, flaunt it instead! There is no point reacting to criticism if it comes from people you don't respect. Whatever it is they say about you this weekend just treat it as a joke and let them know you won't be changing your ways, not for them and not for anyone. The more other people try to wind you up this weekend the more you must call on your powers of self-control. The only reason they are trying to upset you is because they know you will outshine them. Stay calm and refuse to take the bait. If you are beginning to have doubts about what you are doing then it might be a smart move to make a tactical, if temporary, retreat so you can think it through from a safer position. A sight adjustment to your plans is probably all that's needed. Make an effort to see a dispute of some kind from the point of view of the people who oppose you. It can be all too easy to label others 'the enemy' just because you have contrasting ideas. Difference is what makes the world go around. Discover more about yourself at
