Exit through the gift shop blog post

Exit through the Gift Shop

Exit through the Gift Shop was a very entertaining documentary. It was the first one of its kind meaning, there has never been a documentary strictly about “street art,” or graffiti. It is a whole new world that was opened up. The film really gave street art a story and told of the artists and how much of their heart, time and effort they put into making these images. Thierry Guetta filmed everything in his life which is true reality T.V and eventually stumbled upon his cousin Invader. His cousin was a street artist and he decided to document his art work and where/how he made it. Thierry filmed others including Banksy who really made sense of the film and the reasoning. The Film/documentary was intended to give street art a longer life film because street art does have a short life span. Also, by filming these works of art more people are exposed to it and have a better understanding of the reasoning behind these images. It is not just a random picture on a wall, it is meant to send a message to people in a creative and artful way.
Bansky is a very interesting character. He remains anonymous throughout the film and allows Thierry to film his art and travel with him around the world to capture the images he creates on tape. It was fun just to look at these images and how creative and well done they are. Street art is amazing because people can always find it no matter where they are, it is everywhere. Thierry however became too caught up in the film. Later in the documentary Banksy decides to film Thierry and his “supposed” art work that was actually created by other people. When money is involved everything changes and people change. Thierry becomes Mr. Brainwash and his complied art work gets noticed by companies and papers like the L.A weekly and he sells his art for millions of dollars! It is crazy to think about how much some of this art is worth. It would have been nice to watch just the artwork around the world that was produced and the crazy places these people would go to produce that art. It puts into question; do some artists create art just for the money? The key for art is creativity and exposure. This film was great for both and was a very entertaining look into the life of the artists and just how much these pieces of art affect their lives and how much of a life style street art is.
When compared to reality T.V the film “Exit through the Gift Shop” serves a much more different purpose. It is meant for entertainment but it is also meant to document these artists and tell their stories and show viewers their craft (art/street art) and exactly what the purpose of it is. “Reality Shows” on MTV like the real world are mainly for viewer entertainment. Yes, the life stories of the individuals in the house are briefly explained but the main purpose the real world, is to put a bunch of people who are different from one another and watch how they interact. It is almost like forced entertainment, the real world cast has a timetable for how long they live together and the show focuses on the drama between them. The people in the show are told where to live and what the purpose of the show is. “Exit through the Gift Shop” is more open, meaning it is rawer. Thierry started filming right from the get go. Nobody informed for example, Invader what was going on, Thierry just filmed him and his art work and the process that went with making that art work. The future was uncertain and at the same time a whole phenomenon was being introduced to viewers and that phenomenon was street art.
So both reality T.V and this film are similar because they are both unscripted, allegedly, and are about people who are not made up or celebrities. They differ in the purpose served. “Exit through the Gift Shop” is more about life story of these individuals instead of just strictly entertainment.

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Democratized media

1. How does keen define democratized media?
A democracy is when people get to elect representatives through a clear consensus and have equal control over certain matters. So basically it means being free to listen to who you want and to what you want. Andrew Keen doesn't mind the internet but he does mind what it stand for. He calls it democratized media. People can post there opinion about anything, record music and make art and put it on the internet. According to Keen this puts artist and musicians out of work. Anyone can upload a video and edit it without any film knowledge and put music on the internet without any recording experience. So users on the internet can download and view that art without paying for it. Mere amateurs can produce art or any content and put it on the internet, putting real artists out of business, that is what Keen has a problem with.

2. Keen vs. Rushkoff view on social media.
Both Keen and Rushkoff have a problem with social media in that it has taking control over people and their view points. The internet and media, no matter how biased or conniving it may be, has drawn people away from the appreciation of the work they do, for example the things they create and produce. Keen has a problem with the internet and how it makes the "amateur" something that they are not. It makes users look professional while the actually professionals are loosing money. An example is a musical artist who's music is being stolen offline for free instead of being bought. Rushkoff has a problem with the internet and media in that it forces people to work and produce just for corporations. I really find Ruchkoffs argument interesting. Social media has drawn people away from face to face contact, it has drawn people away from self worth. Everything is a monopoly and instead of creating for pleasure people are creating for corporations so they can make money.

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