2024-04-25
Even being forcibly confined due to an epidemic, an artist can give vent to his inspirations. Banksy proves this by posting an interesting post on Instagram.
Quarantine is not able to stop artists from developing their own creativity and working on new works of art. What's more, isolation certainly provides a lot of free time that you can devote to reflection and provides universal and original inspiration. An example of the consequences of such inspiration are five photographs of the artist's bathroom published on April 15, on Banksy's Instagram profile. The artist made the personal toilet a space for his art and an epidemiological isolation for a group of eight rats, who, due to boredom, caused by isolation, began to demolish the room. One is playing with toilet paper (what a shameless approach to deficit goods!), The other is wasting toothpaste, more animals are turning the mirror or destroying the toilet bowl. The last rat, which we see only as a reflection in the mirror, counts down the days spent in quarantine on the wall like a criminal in prison. The entire published post was signed with the sentence: "My wife hates it when I work from home.".
There is no doubt that rats are not an accidental choice of the artist. These animals very often appear in the works of Banksy. This time, however, the pandemic trapped them at home, which is why they cannot appear on the murals of London or other world capitals. Rats are creatures that specifically address the plague issue. Although scientists have confirmed that they were not necessarily the cause of death of many millions of people during the medieval "plague", the culture sealed this view by creating a stereotype of the rat responsible for all epidemics (this is, among others, the great merit of the well-known Albert Camus). This time, however, the rats are innocent, and Banksy's work is proof of that. Rodents sit responsibly at home, and although they are restless and bored, they do not endanger the health of others, and this attitude can not always be expected from people.
Banksy, by creating during an epidemic, shows how self-sufficient the artist is, even if it seems that the means of expression are gradually being taken away. No one will be surprised when in the history textbooks for future generations of students, the topic "Epidemic of Covid-19" will be illustrated by Banksy's rats.
For holders of an Instagram account, we place a link to the profile of the active artist on this social medium: https://www.instagram.com/banksy/.