User:Cairnsch/sandbox

Overview
The “Banksy of Bulgaria” is an unknown person or persons that turned a monument of Soviet soldiers from World War II into a pantheon of superheroes and pop culture icons, including Superman, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Wolverine, the Joker, Batman’s sidekick Robin, Santa Claus, and Ronald McDonald in Sophia, Bulgaria. The Soviet flag was painted over as an American flag and the phrase "moving with the times" was sprayed in black ink below the monument in Bulgarian. The now painted monument became an immediate attraction with the public. The paint job was eventually cleaned off.

The original ‘Banksy’ is a pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, film director, and painter. He is known for his stenciling graffiti and his works are often political satire and cast social commentary. The Soviet army monument was initially constructed to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Red Army’s advance on Nazi-allied Bulgaria in 1944.

Sociological Concepts
The painting of the monument is an example of critical realism. Critical realism is art with a negative function done in an aesthetic style depicting tragedy of reification and is often iconic or heroic. It serves as a negative function because it challenges the audience to determine what constitutes art by asking is this vandalizing of a memorial dedicated to fallen soldiers, or is it an artistic expression attacking a symbol of communism. By confronting societal norms and ideals of heroic patriotism and challenging the audience to look at this old statue of brave soldiers fighting for communism in this new ‘colorful’ way, helps to serve as a negative function.

The painted monument can be described as Theodor Adorno’s idea of true art. True art, he claims, is art that “negates the social order” and it opposes any resemblance to corporate or commodity art. The Banksy of Bulgaria’s makeover of the sculpture does not serve as a corporate bauble as it does not ‘beautify’ the area in the traditional sense and being very politically charged would keep businesses from associating with it nor was there a known financial motivation behind the act. The sculpture is too big for it to be a commodity, and the sharp ostentatious colors keep it from integrating with the surrounding dark and solemn marble statues. These characteristics allow the piece to fall under the category of Adorno’s definition of true art.

The memorial can also be described using Emile Durkheim’s concept of the sacred and profane which states that there are objects or structures in society that are considered ‘sacred’ and any alteration to these objects is seen as defilement. Objects become treated as representations of concepts larger than themselves. For example, the American flag is basically a cloth with colors on it. But it represents many values held dear to Americans such as courage, bravery, and freedom. The monument can be seen as sacred as it serves as a reminder to the men that have fallen in World War II. Spraying the Bulgarian monument ‘profanes’ the monument and can be perceived as an attack or insult to those who died, but yet it is done in jest and a playful manner and maybe the artist is stating that one should not dwell on the past (there are many monuments depicting Russian soldiers in Bulgaria) but “move with the times.” The artist challenges individuals to think what is truly sacred and what is profane.

Controversy
The painted monument received mixed reviews from the Bulgarian people. Some applauded the work with some even having their picture taken with it. Others called it vandalism with the Bulgarian Culture Minister declaring the act ‘vandalism’ and the Russian embassy stating, “The Russian embassy is again compelled to highlight an outrageous act of vandalism against the Soviet army monument in Sofia.” The Banksy of Bulgaria has yet to be caught and may face charges of vandalism.