Philosophers You Have Never Heard Of

Unmasking the Rebel of Existencilism

Flower Bomber graffiti

This is an article on philosophy - part eight of my series, “Philosophers You Have Never Heard Of”. I’m sure you’re thinking there is a misspelling in the sub-title. No, I didn’t mean “existentialism” - the philosophical inquiry into the issues of human existence. I actually meant “Existencilism”, which is what happens when you combine philosophy and graffiti.

Banksy.

He’s this week’s philosopher you’ve never heard of. If Banksy doesn’t quite ring a bell, don’t feel bad. Banksy is a pseudonym. His identity remains unconfirmed and although there has been much speculation over the years, his true identity has never been revealed. Despite remaining anonymous, he was named one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people, alongside Barack Obama and Steve Jobs. For his profile, he submitted the below image of himself with a paper bag over his head.

Banksy is one of the world’s most famous artists, but despite his global following, his identity remains, officially at least, unknown. What we do know is that Banksy is a British artist - graffiti master, painter, activist, filmmaker and all-purpose provocateur. He is the gold standard when it comes to urban street art. On his way to becoming an international icon, the subversive and secretive graffiti muralist turned the art world upside-down.

There are many branches in the field of philosophy such as political philosophy, philosophy of history, philosophy of religion, metaphysics philosophy, analytical philosophy, and others. I’m going to add one to the list: Street Art Philosophy. Banksy is the Father of Street Art Philosophy. Through several forms of urban art - graffiti, sculpture, installation and performance art - Banksy has impacted millions with his anti-establishment views, which as a reminder, are views in opposition to the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society.

This is a different article for this series. Banksy was not an academic, never published a book on philosophy, and would not appear on any list of philosophers. If you look at a list, you’ll notice a lot of middle-aged white Western men with button down shirts and overcoats, smoking cigars. Banksy, however, is more like frayed jeans, old Converse sneakers, hoodie, and a can of spray paint in his hands. You’re not going to find Banksy’s philosophy in essays and articles. It’s displayed in public parking lots, walls, bridges and tunnels.

In this piece, I’m going to let Banksy’s contributions to philosophical thought be revealed through his art. It’s an impossible task. You can’t squeeze Banksy’s artistic brilliance and subversive thought into a brief Substack essay, anymore than you can adequately capture the splendor of the Grand Canyon in one photograph.

Every image in this article is an artistic work of Banksy’s street art.

What exactly is “street art”?

A Palestinian boy looks at one of six new images painted by British street artist Banksy as part of a Christmas exhibition in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Street art is visual art created in public locations for public visibility. This form of art has evolved from the early forms of defiant graffiti to a legitimate form of artistic expression.

The issue of permission always been at the heart of street art, as graffiti is usually deemed illegal. Street art has historically carried the reputation of defacing public property and it’s creators subsequently becoming outlaws. These views were fermented in the 1960’s when graffiti was just painting simple words or pictures on subways and walls in American cities. The spray can was their brush and any flat and bland surface, their canvas.

Starting in the late 1970’s, urban culture came out of the concrete shadows, and into the limelight via the conduits of rap and break dancing. Exploding over the next twenty years, the freestyle of beats, sound, and movements drew in many youth from the suburban communities, expanding the exposure of graffiti. Forty years later, you can go to an urban event and see multiple groups of people painting walls, celebrating the art rather than protesting it. Many cities designate public spaces for the expression of graffiti art. For example, nearby in Boise, Idaho there is Freak Alley.

The art of tagging structures had been around much longer than 1960’s American urban centers. People had been marking buildings with their names and symbols since before ancient Egypt, on rocks and temples. Graffiti has become a worldwide phenomenon from New York to Hungary, to the UAE to Vietnam and Brazil. Throughout all these times, places, and cultures, they all share one common philosophy: the desire to express themselves through art.

Banksy protest graffiti

Graffiti, right or wrong, was and is the art of the underground, the oppressed, and the people who have no voice and still want to create. It’s not surprising that no small number of artists vandalized public property with some sense of sublime glee, as getting back at those whom they believed were holding them down. Banksy wrote, “Graffiti is one of the few tools you have if you have almost nothing.”

While graffiti can be seen romantically as the art of the people, in reality it is still just a tool. Oppressed people can use it to voice their displeasure with the world, but so can others with more malicious intentions. Racists and misogynists too have used graffiti to express their attitudes on walls, bathroom stalls, and even to desecrate tombs and grave sites. Violent gangs have also used it to mark out their territories as warnings to other rivals.

Street art is by its nature, subversive. It turns inside out accepted norms of visibility in public spaces. By appropriating in a carnivalesque way the city’s visible surfaces, street art functions as a fearless act of social and political resistance against commodified uses of urban spaces. By reclaiming a right to free expression for all, street art is inherently resistance.

That street art is subversive appears obvious when considering works in that kind that carry an explicit message of political protest. In these cases, street art’s subversive value is a function of its capacity to challenge dominant political forces or systems of beliefs. Politically and socially conscious street artworks that have an instrumental place in resistance movements are common around the world.

Banksy wrote, “A wall is a very big weapon. It's one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with.”