06/14/2007
Toilet-henge: Banksy Targets Upcoming Glastonbury Festival
Street artist/prankster Banksy has unveiled his latest public artwork, a recreation of Stonehenge made with portable toilets on the site of the upcoming Glastonbury Festival.
The Guardian reports: "The altar stone at Stonehenge, installed around 2,600 BC, is a six ton slab of sandstone brought by means unknown from Wales to Salisbury plain. The central monument in Banksy's latest installation, a replica of the ancient monument built on the site of the forthcoming Glastonbury festival, is a portable toilet that has been sawed in half and sunk into the Somerset field. A photograph taken by the graffiti artist himself and published exclusively in the Guardian today, shows a druidic figure standing atop the monument, in tribute, the artist's spokesperson Jo Brooks said yesterday, to the summer solstice on June 21, the first evening of the festival."
Banksy supplied the paper with the photograph above. Said the artist: "A lot of monuments are a bit rubbish, but this really is a pile of crap."
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Posted 5:30 PM EST by Andy in Art & Design, Banksy, Great Britain, Music | Permalink
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a six ton slab of sandstone brought by means unknown from Wales to Salisbury plain
Sandstone is the easiest thing to create. Sand + Lime + Water + simple mold made from wood + time to absorb CO2 from air creates stone. You to can create 6 ton artifical stones. Also how the stones of the pyramids were created on site. Simple cave man primitive cement.
The simplest answer is usualy the right one. No merlin did not float the stones over, no they did not drag 6 ton stones over long distances, and no UFO's
Posted by: anon | Jun 14, 2007 5:57:31 PM
I'm sure some Druid group somewhere will find this offensive.
Posted by: Daniel | Jun 14, 2007 6:11:51 PM
Anon: the altar may be sandstone but the capped standing stones are bluestone which is a dolerite that needs to be quarried. The nearest quarries to Stonehenge are miles away. Most archaeologists reckon the bluestones were quarried in Wales.
Posted by: John C | Jun 14, 2007 7:19:43 PM
what a crappy exhibit.
Posted by: CHUX | Jun 14, 2007 8:15:07 PM
Freekin' Guy's a Genius! Will love to see people's reaction to this next week and will definitely be heading there for a few photo's before the punters get in on Wednesday and some drunken fools actually try and use them!
Posted by: Roo | Jun 15, 2007 5:04:00 AM
I am no Druid, but I find this "art" very offensive.
Stonehenge is a relic of an ancient culture in Britain, the ancestors of most of us who are English or are of English decent. It was a remarkable achievement and is a cultural treasure. Mocking Stonehenge's beauty and the accomplishment of its builders and creators is disgusting.
To be honest, I am not a Banksy fan. Some of what I have seen of his work indicates that he has great talent, but I put this Stonehenge mockery in the same league as Christo's ridiculous "art". Ever heard of a canvas, Banksy?
To each their own, but Banksy crossed a line with me this time.
Posted by: Jonathon | Jun 15, 2007 9:14:32 AM
"a portable toilet that has been sawed in half and sunk into the Somerset field"
...in a half-ass way.
Posted by: A.J. | Jun 15, 2007 10:11:25 AM
...perhaps Morgan Freeman is to blame.
Posted by: A.J. | Jun 15, 2007 10:16:17 AM
Portojohns? C'mon Bansky, not Coffins?? Now you're just being lazy.
Posted by: mark m | Jun 15, 2007 11:10:52 AM
"A lot of monuments are a bit rubbish, but this really is a pile of crap." - Banksy taking British self-deprecation to a whole new level.
Posted by: PC | Jun 15, 2007 11:46:08 AM
Andy,
Why do you cover Bansky so fully? I really would like to know. I mean I think he is ok but world shattering? Is he gay? I am just curious I guess.
Everyone check out the mindblowing Richard Serra show at MOMA this month for a true art moment. Unbelievable scale and content.
Posted by: Br!on | Jun 18, 2007 6:35:19 PM