Bansky Vs Paris Hilton

September 3, 2006 8:33 AM

Street Artist Banksy "Shop Drops" 500 remixed copies of Paris Hilton's new album across the UK

Instead of Ms Hilton's own compositions, the replacement CD features 40 minutes of a basic rhythm track over which Banksy has dubbed Ms Hilton's catchphrase "That's hot!" and other extracts from her reality TV programme The Simple Life. Inside the accompanying booklet, a picture of the heiress emerging from a luxury car has been retouched to include a group of homeless people. In another shot, Ms Hilton's head has been superimposed on a shop window mannequin beneath a banner reading: "Thou Shalt Not Worship False Icons". [Independent] Mp3 soon, no doubt.
posted by takeyourmedicine (57 comments total)

One word: brilliant. But it says he replaced CDs with his own, surely he just put them up on the shelves along with the originals? Otherwise wouldn't they be looking to nab him for stealing a bunch of CDs?
posted by Orange Goblin at 8:36 AM on September 3, 2006

Why do I fear this might cause more people to rush out an buy her album, hoping for a fake copy?
posted by vagabond at 8:39 AM on September 3, 2006

Any attention whatever paid to Ms. Hilton and people like her counts as worshipping false idols. File under "JonBenet."
posted by jfuller at 8:39 AM on September 3, 2006

"He switched the CDs in store, so he took the old ones out and put his version in."

But he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without realising it had been interfered with.

I'm guessing he (and his gang of cronies fellow street artists) didn't steal 500 albums - but I wouldn't put it past him.
posted by takeyourmedicine at 8:41 AM on September 3, 2006

No customers had complained or returned a doctored version, he said.
posted by oraknabo at 8:42 AM on September 3, 2006

Thank goodness for allofmp3 for allowing me the opportunity to preview her 'songs'. The processing of her 'vocals' is not only obvious but in many places fails to mask her shortcomings as a singer.

Paris may hang out in Pure like it's her throne room, but Celine Dion has nothing to worry about.
posted by mischief at 8:43 AM on September 3, 2006

Behold the formation of the anti hero !
posted by elpapacito at 8:45 AM on September 3, 2006

Doesn't anyone understand that the reason Paris Hilton is famous is because of stuff like this? Everytime I hear someone complain about Paris Hilton being useless I just think... "well why are you talking about her then?"
posted by wigu at 8:48 AM on September 3, 2006

Is Paris Hilton a Simulacrum?

"However, I think it is important to realize that Paris Hilton is a real, live, human being, and as such, there is an 'original copy'. It is her fame (or the 'essence' of it) that is the similacrum." (sic)
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 8:51 AM on September 3, 2006

If there was a god, an anvil would fall from the sky on Ms. Hilton's head.
posted by birdherder at 8:52 AM on September 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

Doesn't anyone understand that the reason Paris Hilton is famous is because of stuff like this? Everytime I hear someone complain about Paris Hilton being useless I just think... "well why are you talking about her then?"

That's the same logic that is often employed to try to convince people to create an alternate universe where Ann Coulter doesn't exist. It doesn't work, as there will always be more people fascinated by such shite than there will be those that want not to hear about it. For reasons passing my own understanding, the prominence of Paris Hilton and Ann Coulter in America's cultural consciousness says something important (and horrifying) about us. I'm not quite sure what that is as yet (working on it), but Blazecock Pileon's gets pretty close to articulating it.
posted by Hypnic jerk at 9:03 AM on September 3, 2006

Thank goodness for allofmp3 for allowing me the opportunity to preview her 'songs'. The processing of her 'vocals' is not only obvious

Thanks for the recommendation mischief. If it's even half as good as you make out I'll love it.

I can't stand bands that are too cheap to process their vocals.
posted by cillit bang at 9:04 AM on September 3, 2006

posted by ericb at 9:04 AM on September 3, 2006

wigu's right - Every mention of her just makes her a little more famous. So why the hell am I commenting on this? Damn.
posted by davebush at 9:05 AM on September 3, 2006

Ms Hilton's head has been superimposed on a shop window mannequin beneath a banner reading: "Thou Shalt Not Worship False Icons"

I get the uncomfortable feeling Banksy would rather have us worshipping him.
posted by MetaMonkey at 9:13 AM on September 3, 2006

wigu writes "Doesn't anyone understand that the reason Paris Hilton is famous is because of stuff like this?"

Lots of people understand that. You're never going to hear from them, though, because they avoid threads like this.
posted by Bugbread at 9:17 AM on September 3, 2006

Ignore her.... she'll go away. Ya
posted by RufusW at 9:27 AM on September 3, 2006

Simulacra require an audience to persist.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:31 AM on September 3, 2006

I'm guessing he (and his gang of cronies fellow street artists) didn't steal 500 albums - but I wouldn't put it past him.

I don't think bansky gives a shit about the morality of buying 500 Paris Hilton album and swapping out store copies, even if it is technically 'stealing'.
posted by Jairus at 9:34 AM on September 3, 2006

This is funny, but he's giving her way too much credit (as it were) by doing this.

Besides, her album tanked.
posted by O9scar at 9:45 AM on September 3, 2006

I get the uncomfortable feeling Banksy would rather have us worshipping him.

Bingo. The irony of one desperate-for-attention, no talent "artist" climbing on the back of another is the only thing remotely amusing about this. It probably doesn't occur to this clown that the people who buy the Paris Hilton CD won't even notice the switch.
posted by three blind mice at 9:46 AM on September 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

trust fund kid vs. trust fund kid
posted by TetrisKid at 10:04 AM on September 3, 2006

The irony of one desperate-for-attention, no talent "artist"...

Well the guy can draw reasonably that seems pretty obvious without even getting into a discussion about how "good" his works are. Saying that Banksy is talentless seems rather unfair. Unless of course you think Banksy is actually some sort of very intricate viral marketing campaign.........

His stuff is generally at least vaguely thoughtful and/or entertaining for 5-6 seconds which is more than you can say about Ms Hilton.
posted by public at 10:22 AM on September 3, 2006

whatever, gang. Banksy is awesome. check out more of his works before you start playa hatin'!
posted by mcsweetie at 10:24 AM on September 3, 2006

don't Hilton and that crowd (Lohan, Davis) actually pay the paparazzi to hound them, so that they're constantly in some sort of headlines? I cannot imagine that the residuals or rights to the pics they get could be supporting the photographers. I understand it takes a certain quality of person to choose such a profession, but damn, does that really mean we have to buy it?

all that said, I like this guy's approach.
the real kicker is that out of the 500 he replaced, what, 10 will be actually bought (and rest will be shredded along with the rest of the unsold stock). Surely the internet could've afforded him a much better venue to show off his skills to more people.
posted by Busithoth at 10:27 AM on September 3, 2006

Bansky is getting tedious.
posted by delmoi at 11:08 AM on September 3, 2006

I agree, mcsweetie. His art gallery gag was genius. This seems much less inspired in comparison.
posted by O9scar at 11:09 AM on September 3, 2006

What people don't understand is that Paris is actually profitable, far more of her income (although I don't know about her net worth) comes from appearances and "modeling" then it does from her inheritance. Remember, the Original Hilton's fortunes have been divided among a lot of people.
posted by delmoi at 11:14 AM on September 3, 2006

At least his stencils were quite nice to look at, but now he's shifted into these conceptual interventions there's a slight problem: his level of imagination when it comes to picking targets for his biting satire is below the level of your average stoned fifth former. Or to put it another way: Banksy is as thick as shit.
posted by jack_mo at 11:15 AM on September 3, 2006

This might be not be as cool as the art gallery gag but imagine actually buying one of these CD's (I know that is very hard to imagine), getting home and listening to it. I can't imagine the reaction. Because unlike the gallery, where in a sense you have other people also there to be confused with. With the cd, it is just you.

Also, no telling how much these cd's are worth.
posted by Ajit AP at 11:27 AM on September 3, 2006

I've just asked to be notified of items matching search string banksy, hilton at Ebay UK, just to see, out of curiosity if one turns up.
posted by nthdegx at 11:42 AM on September 3, 2006

I want one of banksy's versions almost as much as I want Paris. that album is hot!
the internal conflict I experienced writing this comment nearly tore me apart. luckily, nobody wants my body, nor thinks I'm sexy, so there's no cause for concern.
posted by carsonb at 11:45 AM on September 3, 2006

I met bansky once in a bathroom of a club in London. Me and some anonymous waif were doing lines of the toilet seat. Now, this particular club had a 'powder' room just for doing coke but I mean if you're going to do coke in a club you've got to do it off the toilet seat, I say.

So in comes this big black woman -- I thought she was a drag queen at first -- into the woman's locker room and he has a smaller dude in a dog collar. Maybe it was the coke thinking but I found this fascinating. So I ended up going back to her flat with the dude, who turned out to be none other then bansky himself. Or he said he was bansky. Anyway we made out and I would have fucked him, but as you may know I'm not having sex this year. I told him as much and he became quite dejected.

So I believe all of this is just bitterness for not having the opportunity to claim he fucked me. Of course we all know sex with me is more about bragging rights then the "Johnson amusement index", which is why I've given up sex for a year. Bleh.
posted by Paris Hilton at 11:52 AM on September 3, 2006 [1 favorite]

Banksy is as thick as shit.

Maybe if he were spending his time talking shit about a strange on the internet, he would be accomplishing more?
posted by poweredbybeard at 11:53 AM on September 3, 2006

stranger, sorry.,
posted by poweredbybeard at 11:54 AM on September 3, 2006

I like Paris Hilton. I admire the fact that she has accomplished exactly what she set out to do, which was to become the world's number one party girl. Now this achievement doesn't place her in my list of the truly great persons of the world, but I do have respect for people who have the determination, drive and good luck to reach their goals. And at least on her path to self-fulfilment she hasn't done the harm that so many other egotistical and ambitious people have done.

I understand why people react badly to the Paris phenomenon, because this kind of idolization of the selfish and valueless would seem to come at the expense of those who actually deserve recognition for serious achievements, and it reflects badly on our society that we choose her to be placed on a pedestal. But when I'm not dwelling on the sad state of the human condition, I get a kick out of watching this woman doing exactly what she wants and having so much fun doing it.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 12:05 PM on September 3, 2006

Did you see the "firecrotch" clips? Paris Hilton is mean. She's bitchy, catty, and mean; I didn't expect that somehow. Paris Hilton is that popular girl in high school everyone secretly hated, who ended up an overweight, single mother of three, sucking on cigarettes while waiting for a bus on her way to the Salvation Army store. Except I guess she'll have more money after we get tired of her.
posted by Hildegarde at 12:18 PM on September 3, 2006

I wouldn't frame this as "Banksy Vs. Paris Hilton" because Paris Hilton doesn't give a crap who banksy is.
posted by PenDevil at 12:33 PM on September 3, 2006

Banksy Vs. Obscurity? He's done some cool stuff, but this smacks of cheap attention-whoring and desperation.
posted by MetaMonkey at 12:38 PM on September 3, 2006

Her track 'Stars Are Blind' is a revelation.
posted by mooreeasyvibe at 12:57 PM on September 3, 2006

Did you see the "firecrotch" clips? Paris Hilton is mean.

Wasn't it Paris's male friend who was doing the all the talking in the "firecrotch" clip? Paris was giggling along with him, but I don't think she said anything.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 2:07 PM on September 3, 2006

Isn't it just a little ironic that the Paris Hilton is on the Avenue of Sufferin'?
posted by DenOfSizer at 2:17 PM on September 3, 2006

Paris was giggling along with him, but I don't think she said anything.

That pretty much sums it up; she was obviously loving it. She's that girl who isn't really smart enough to come up with a rant against someone else; she's the one sits there and giggles and thinks it makes her an innocent because she wasn't the one saying it. She was obviously enabling it, and enjoying it the whole time.

Brandon Davis is a disgusting lump of grease, and Paris Hilton has the maturity of a 13 year old.
posted by Hildegarde at 2:43 PM on September 3, 2006

"Shop Drops"?

Come on, its called droplifting.
posted by Remy at 2:51 PM on September 3, 2006

Images of the doctored artwork at Flickr
posted by takeyourmedicine at 3:09 PM on September 3, 2006

Oh! Is this one of those posts where a team of talentless hacks tear Banksy a new arsehole because he decided to try and be creative again? Cool!

Bad Banksy! Bad! Don't be interesting! Bad boy!
posted by Jimbob at 4:26 PM on September 3, 2006

meh
posted by keswick at 5:23 PM on September 3, 2006

Why are people even talking about a hotel in France? How can a hotel in France even record an album. You guys are pulling my leg, aren't you?
posted by ZachsMind at 5:35 PM on September 3, 2006

Your favourite graffiti artist sucks.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 6:10 PM on September 3, 2006

Jimbob : "Oh! Is this one of those posts where a team of talentless hacks tear Banksy a new arsehole because he decided to try and be creative again? Cool!

Bad Banksy! Bad! Don't be interesting! Bad boy!"

I think this is interesting, so in that way we're on the same side, but you're massively mischaracterizing the people pissing on Banksy. A proper characterization would be:

Oh! Is this one of those posts where a team of people tear Banksy a new arsehole because he decided to try to be creative again and they think he failed? Cool!

Bad Banksy! Bad! Be interesting! Bad boy!

I don't agree with them, but that's what they're saying, not "Stop doing interesting and creative stuff!" but "Stop doing uninteresting and uncreative stuff!"
posted by Bugbread at 8:00 PM on September 3, 2006

Shop-dropping as cultural guerilla warfare was an interesting & funny enough concept when I first read about it, in Adbusters five or more years ago, and Banksy would be well aware of its history.

You people are just missing the multiple, interleaving real, virtual & meta layers of self-referential postpostmodern ironico-retro-irony that make this spectaculacrum so very metaclever.
posted by UbuRoivas at 9:50 PM on September 3, 2006

I don't agree with them, but that's what they're saying, not "Stop doing interesting and creative stuff!" but "Stop doing uninteresting and uncreative stuff!"

No, they're really finding ways to say they don't like Banksy as an artist, and probably a human being. Which is all well and fine, frankly, as far as this place goes, but let's call it what it is.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:26 PM on September 3, 2006

Blazecock Pileon : "No, they're really finding ways to say they don't like Banksy as an artist, and probably a human being."

I think we're in agreement. When I say "They're saying 'Stop doing uninteresting and uncreative stuff!'", I don't mean to imply that they're right that he's uncreative or uninteresting. Just that, from their perspective, his work is uncreative and uninteresting. I usually parse "not liking someone as an artist" as meaning "thinking their work is uncreative, uninteresting, or otherwise lacking", so when I say they think his artwork is uncreative/uninteresting, I'm saying they don't like him as an artist, which is what you're saying.

Besides which, I was trying to reparse Jimbob's comment as a fair representation of what people were saying while still maintaining Jimbob's basic comment structure, which is why I didn't just say "No, people are saying they don't like his art" or something else straightforward like that.
posted by Bugbread at 11:27 PM on September 3, 2006

This stunt seems far too dull to be intended literally. I'm hoping Banksy is taking the piss out of his fawning fans by laying in to such a cheap target. That would be clever.
posted by cillit bang at 7:45 AM on September 4, 2006

£370 on ebay at the moment..................
posted by RufusW at 6:12 PM on September 4, 2006

You people are just missing the multiple, interleaving real, virtual & meta layers of self-referential postpostmodern ironico-retro-irony that make this spectaculacrum so very metaclever.

I'm using that line on the first person who buys Voice Of The Violin tomorrow.
posted by carsonb at 6:24 PM on September 4, 2006

In the Land of Beautiful People, an Artist Without a Face.
posted by ericb at 12:00 PM on September 16, 2006