Season's Greetings

    The artwork I chose from Banksy was created on a wall corner. One side of the corner portrayed a little kid, with his arms sprawled out and his tongue ready to catch the snowflakes that fell on his side of the corner. However, when the other side of the corner was revealed, it was evident that these “snowflakes” the boy was attempting to catch on his tongue where actually heaps of ash created by a dumpster fire. This art piece creates dramatic irony, though we know those snowflakes are just ash, the little boy in the artwork does not, his back is faced to the other side of the wall unaware to the reality of these “snowflakes”.

            The tone of Banksy’s piece is very somber, it portrays childhood innocence but in a darker context. The whole piece is surrounded around the dramatic irony, and the fact that the child is clueless to the other side of the corner, innocent from what is happening around him because he hasn’t learned of the other side of the wall. Banksy uses the dumpster fire to represent a toxic part of our society, or a reality, that kids often aren’t exposed to at a young age or don’t understand yet. Therefore, when we see the art work we know that it’s ironic because we’ve grown up enough to notice a good amount of harsh reality, however, if a child were to see it they would view it the same way the boy in the art piece had.

            I think this piece was very effective and impactful. Banksy’s use of the street corner was super clever and really brought the point home. If it had been across a flat surface I think it would have lost some meaning because the kid could have easily turned around and been exposed to the truth. However, with the use of the corner, the boy has no knowledge of the dumpster fire and therefore it drives the point that it has to be taught to him over time. He can’t yet differentiate that it isn’t snow but ash, he doesn’t know the difference yet.