Museum piece: is street art still street art when placed in a museum? The Banksy dangling rat from Croydon, now on display at the London Transport Museum
The London Transport Museum has bought an original Banksy which the world-famous street artist created six years ago on a TfL signal controller cabinet in Croydon.
The dangling rat artwork appeared around the same time that Banksy was “setting up shop” on Church Street, with an installation work that included the Stormzy Union Jack stab vest, all displayed in a shop window in the market in the heart of Croydon.
The shop was called Gross Domestic Product, perhaps with an emphasis on “gross”. It contained plenty of thoughtful messages about modern-day consumerism and public attitudes. One piece was a Welcome mat, tied to a (presumably asylum-seeker’s) life jacket.
What Banksy would make of his street art going “legit” in a museum is not known, because the artist has always maintained silence.
Gross Domestic Product: some of the ‘goods’ that Banksy displayed in his Croydon shop window in 2019, including a ‘Shredded Tee’ reference to his 2006 painting Girl With Balloon which was part-destroyed during a Sotheby’s auction, but has since been sold on for £18.5million
But others have often suggested that by removing street art from the street, often for the benefit of curators, dealers and auctioneers, in fact destroys the work itself.
“It’s not street art any more if it’s hung up in a museum,” another street artist, Sam Fishwick, has said.
“It’s raw, it’s gritty, it’s on the street, it’s not meant to be there.
“When you go and see it in a gallery it loses its charm, it loses its character,” Fishwick said.
And the author and academic, Rafael Schacter, wrote for The Observer last year: “Graffiti is supposed to naturally decay and die, not be preserved like a work in a gallery. The conservation of these public works by private organisations, as seen in the Banksy pieces trapped behind protective plexiglass, therefore goes against one of the most basic characteristics of graffiti: its being an artefact that should never try to defeat the natural cycle of life and death.
“Banksy’s works don’t function within the regulations of the museum, in which conservation and the freezing of time is key.”
The artwork bought by the London Transport Museum depicts a rat hanging from the arm of a clock. It was featured in a video posted by Banksy on Instagram in October 2019.
Free view: the Banksy rat design was discovered on TfL infrastructure in Croydon in 2019
The door of the signal controller cabinet, which still housed the technology for nearby traffic lights and tram signals, was “carefully removed” by Transport for London to prevent theft or damage of the artwork and to ensure the continued safe operation of the transport network.
“To recreate the original context of the artwork, it has been mounted on to an identical cabinet body,” the London Transport Museum says.
This is the museum’s first acquisition of a contemporary street artwork by a globally recognised artist.
It’s hard to justify the Banksy as part of the museum’s usual brief, which is to preserve and care for London’s transport history and heritage. But the museum is trying: “Adding a Banksy to the London Transport Museum’s displays is just one of the many ways the museum is using creativity to tell the story of London’s transport,” they claim.
The museum says that its “exhibits reveal how life in London has been shaped by transport, from engineering innovations that have brought about huge social change to the people who have kept the city moving”, or how artists “have influenced London’s identity”.
“Whilst this artwork could not remain in its original location, it’s fantastic to display it here in the museum for visitors to enjoy it up close,” said Elizabeth McKay, the CEO of the London Transport Museum.
Surrey Street shoppers had been able to “enjoy it up close” before someone at TfL decided to remove it in order to commodify it.
“Banksy’s work always sparks a reaction… and people really connect with it. Banksy’s art is part of the city’s story, loved by Londoners and visitors alike,” McKay said.
“Annual passes” for adults wishing to visit the London Transport Museum (you then need to book a timed slot) cost £25, while children can enter free when accompanied by a pass-holding adult.
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