From the dawn of time, humanity has required authority to guide it and maintain its social order. Along with this presence of government, there have also been those who oppose it, or at least protest for important changes to be made. Bansky, an anonymous British street artist, is one such person. In his street graffiti painting, “Girl Frisking Soldier”, Bansky loads a gun with quite the robust political agenda. The painting itself depicts a young girl inspecting an Army soldier for weapons or other dangerous items, rather than the process being worked in the reverse way—quite the statement in such a simple piece. Here, Bansky reveals that it is the duty of every common citizen to keep their country’s military and government in check, ensuring that they truly do exist to protect the people and serve their best interests. In the portrayal of this intricate purpose, Bansky utilizes his artistic talents in incorporating numerous devices: a deep contrast of color scheme, the minimalist nature of the piece, and the medium of the work itself.
The obvious color choice here cannot be ignored. Bansky creates a stark contrast in color between the girl’s bright pink dress and the soldier’s dark green, nearly tan uniform. The purpose for such a difference is that the girl is meant to represent the innocence of youth and the population’s optimism for social intervention, while the color tones of the soldier’s uniform represent a sense of exhaustion and fading morality. The bright-dark comparison here therefore indicates that as the civilian population screens the military and law enforcement for their actions, they are the ones refreshed and justified in their endeavors, while the military grow increasingly weary from the perusal as the true enforcement of their policies becomes askew. Thus, the “girl” or population ensures that the armed forces and law enforcement are performing their tasks for the protection of the people as the military grow weary and stray from their initial moral guidance, according to Bansky.
A girl and a soldier. Those are all that appear in this painting, no more and no less. With such an opportunity to expand and create a work of more complex beauty, why would Bansky be satisfied with only these? The minimalist style of this piece is a highly intentional inclusion, one which Bansky utilizes to his full advantage in the portrayal of the populace’s observance of the armed forces. Through only painting these two figures, Bansky allows viewers to focus on the interaction between the two characters, realizing exactly what is occurring in the work with ease and without great expense of time. As the audience narrowly fixate upon the girl and the soldier, they realize that a common security practice of “stop-and-frisk” is reversed, as the girl checks the soldier instead of the opposite taking place. The two resolute individuals emphasize this bold claim and they are all that is required to make a public relevant statement. Rather than the viewer’s attention straying from a natural background to the foreground to other myriad details, the main focus here is upon the social implications being represented. An easy-to-analyze piece, therefore, concisely and efficiently portrays a complex ethical dilemma to the average person walking down the street, one who would view this piece with not much time to do so. This stylistic choice leads to the following significant device: the medium.
Arguably the most important artistic device Bansky uses here is his canvas—the wall of a building in the middle of a busy street. The location of Bansky’s work could not be more crucial here; a painting made public to passersby on the sidewalk will be viewed numerous times by individuals directly affected by the work. This audience itself is the “girl”! Bansky therefore is giving the entire civilian population a message they all can read on a daily basis, communicating that they should be the ones to monitor government and military service, ensuring that their initial purposes of serving the country are respected.
Thus, Bansky efficiently instructs his audience of the civilian British nation to step up and take action in observing and critiquing the current state of military affairs in the country. Through utilizing a frequented location and simple style to stunning color choice, Bansky expertly communicates that it is our responsibility to monitor the actions of state and ensure that they follow the laws laid down years ago for the benefit of the ones served. Bansky is directly indicating to those who view his work that the government and law enforcement are to serve by consent of those they serve, as the civilian population respects their service and seeks to ensure it remains the same institution that has so greatly protected them in the past.
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