Banksy's Christmas graffiti in Birmingham
Among Christmas markets , city competitions to watch who adorns with more lights its streets, simple installation appears to raise awareness . He does it forcefully but delicately. Two reindeer take flight. But the reins do not bind them to Santa Claus, but to a street bench.
there it is Ryan , which accommodates the head and body between his belongings, as a pillow and mattress between the wooden planks of the bench. This is Christmas for Banksy , a reminder that Christmas goodness, the illusion of family reunions and the gargantuan feasts are the stuff of a privileged few.
Thus, and with the reinterpretation by the subtle voice of Joy Williams of the famous Christmas carol par excellence of American houses ('** I'll be home for Christmas' by Bing Crosby**), we come face to face with this wall of Vyse street in the city of Birmingham.
A CHRISTMAS STORY CLOSER TO DICKENS
This is what Banksy has done, a Christmas story in a very short video. In it, with a slight movement of the camera, a zoom out that enlarges the scene, we realize that Ryan takes the place of the omnipresent Santa Claus; that the sleigh is a bench that serves as a home for a homeless man.
And a message on the artist's official Instagram: "God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on this bench passers-by gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars and a lighter - without him ever asking for anything" . (God bless Birmingham. In the 20 minutes we filmed Ryan on his bancho, the neighbors gave him a hot drink, two chocolate bars, and a lighter, without his asking for anything.)
An attention-grabbing comment on Banksy's combative rhetoric that, in this mural, he prefers to opt for gratitude to the residents of the city and compassion for those who are not going to celebrate the holidays in a home with Bing Crosby in the background.
Rudolph's nose in the Banksy mural was not painted by the artist
RUDOLPH'S NOSE THAT APPEARED LATER
Passers-by, neighbors and curious people of the English city will now see that the reindeer have a red nose (we will assume that it is Rudolph, as legend dictates). Nevertheless, in Banksy's video we don't see any trace of the ingrown nose.
It is presumed that some fan of the artist wanted to modify the work and add his grain of sand to the mural. And this is part of the greatness of Banksy's work : appears without attracting attention and that's why the world interacts with space as it always has (as Ryan, sleeping on the bench where he usually lives) , creating something larger than the mural itself.