Thursday, August 05, 2004

DYNAMITE BLOWS BACK: The most eyebrow raising element of the latest stunt by Blur's artist in residence Banksy - a not especially inspired statue depicting Justice in frilly knickers and thigh high boots - is that his statement at the stuntue's unveiling was read out by Ms Dynamite. The corporate voice of Pepsi and the spokesperson for subversion, eh? That's quite a double role to pull off.

The knickers are meant to imply prostitute, which in turn is meant to suggest that Justice is untrustworthy, although both the leaps of interpretation you have to make are pretty dodgy: most working prostitutes don't actually wear kinky or fetish wear, do they?; more significantly, if you want to condemn justice as being peopled by "thugs, thieves, bullies, liars, the corrupt, the arrogant and the stupid", then why pick on women who are in a difficult trade to represent them? Aren't prostitutes just as poorly served by a criminal justice system which treats their rapes and assaults as lower-class incidents, which criminalises their activities but not those of the people who pay for their services, which harries them into working in ever less-safe environments? Or do they not count, Banksy? Or did you not really think it through?


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