Today we’re picking up a story that has been doing the rounds in the media over the last few days.
To talk to you about this I’ll have to take off the graphic design studio outfit, set aside all the graphic designer gadgets and the Barcelona designer look, and put on the official office-gossip uniform: apron, tea towel and grubby pink slippers.
The headline is clear – » Are Robert Del Naja and Bansky the same person?»
The evidence is fascinating.
The journalist Craig Williams has carried out an investigation whose sole premise is his theory that Robert Del Naja and Bansky are the same person.
But who is Robert Del Naja?
Robert Del Naja is an English artist, born in 1965, also known (aka) as 3D: singer, songwriter and graffiti artist from the Bristol scene within the collective The Wild Bunch, who later founded Massive Attack, where he’s still active.
And who is Bansky?
Well, Bansky is none other than the pseudonym of a very well-known street artist of the highest quality, in both technique and concept.
What makes Bansky so interesting is that nobody knows his identity.
He’s believed to be from Bristol, and Queen Mary University of London believes his identity to be Robin Gunningham.
His work builds its design on political satire, pop culture, morality and ethnicity.
He combines graffiti writing with the use of stencils. Similar to Blek le Rat, who we’ll talk about another time.
And what is Craig Williams’s theory?
The thing is that Craig Williams, with an obvious obsession for uncovering Bansky’s secret identity, went about gathering information on both artists.
Comparing the dates and locations of the two artists — and that’s when the heavens opened for him, seeing the coincidences pile up with no other possible explanation than the classic one – They’re the same person!!!
At the studio we’ve been thoroughly enjoying the story and we’ve already had more than one debate about it — most of the graphic design team are fans of Bansky’s street art.
It’s worth highlighting the great investigative work Craig Williams carried out and published on Transmission Glasgow.
Whether it’s true or completely off the mark, the cultural gossip is magnificent: it’s underground in its purest form, the meeting of neighbourhood tittle-tattle and graphic design, something that rarely happens.
So from now on we have a new character at the studio: the office gossip.
