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The Editorial: Authentic. Bullshit.
There have been whispers around London over the past several weeks that Banksy is up to his old tricks. New guerilla works in his trademark style have sprung up unexpectedly. But Banksy isn’t taking credit. They are probably works of copycats. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time. But they’ve created a ruckus because we believe they might be authentic Banksys, made by the prescient hand of the urban artist himself.
In any case, the new works are laced with incisive social commentary and add a cheeky, engaging touch to otherwise drab urban spaces. So why would they only be perceived as valuable and/or qualitatively “good” if made specifically by the well-known artist?
Quite simply, it’s because we buy blindly into the amorphous idea that authentic = superior. And we in fashion do it more than most. So, while there are justifiable reasons you should want that real Rolex instead of the fake one from down on Canal Street, sometimes there isn’t much of a quantitative reason to choose one thing over an alternative. And in many cases, we ignore what is actually good in favor of something which is (dubiously) authentic.
But authenticity seems to translate into legitimacy. And feeling that something is legitimate (to the exclusion of something else, of course) makes us fallible humans do crazy things. Religion X is authentic, and thus religion Y must be false. Infidels! Nonbelievers! And that convoluted lack of logic, kids, is how wars get started.
On a less dramatic playing field, authenticity is used to great effect in influencing our consumption habits. Look around your house – at your food, bathroom products, labels on clothes – and find the buzzwords: real! genuine! premium! Italian! French! natural! original! You’ve most definitely been had. We’ve all been had.
In fact, among one of the requisite volumes every brand manager today has read is called, succinctly enough, Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want. And to be fair, the book makes several valid points: we desire quality and originality and novelty, so products and services should do their best to achieve those ends in the most pragmatic ways possible. But it gets wildly out of hand when we invent or impose authenticity. We saw this all too clearly in the scandal a few years back in which inexpensive Chinese labor was imported (illegally) into the textile factories of Prato in Tuscany. The garments certainly were Made In Italy (and because of the dishonest business behind them, were made to earn the highest possible margins). But it’s certainly not what the world has in mind when fashion marketers want you to imagine Grandpa Gucci cobbling away at the shoes you’re paying a very hefty premium for.
At one point in the early 1990s, eternally warring Coca-Cola and Pepsi launched slogans of authenticity. Coke fired first with its salvo, “The Real Thing,” to which Pepsi quickly responded with “Nothing Else Is A Pepsi.” Both brilliantly appealed to the desire for authenticity, each implying that it was the most legitimate. Thing is, both Coke and Pepsi are similar-tasting mixtures of chemicals and sugar and water made in anonymous bottling plants in batches by the thousands. Is anything authentic about either one?
And in art, this issue is more contentious and divisive than just buzz and sales figures. Entire movements have been based on appropriation, and all art is to some extent remixed art. Ideas beget ideas. It is treacherous to parse out what might be considered “authentic.” Sherry Levine has probably explored the question most saliently: she most famously photographed the depression era photographs of the legendary Walker Evans. The photos she took were hers (she loaded the film and pushed the button), but they look identical to Evans’ (they are, afterall, photos of his photos). But wait: the photograph is an appropriation of existing light captured onto media, which is then process and reproduced. So, is a photo ever authentic?
Levine brilliantly continues to ask similar questions, and has gone on to appropriate and twist the works many other well-known artists. The discourse she opens is her art, and the notion of authenticity is in her crosshairs. Just think: the images on this post are scans of Levine’s images (thereby extending by one degree her original question) and can be downloaded at After Walker Evans with original certificates of authenticity! Ha!
Which brings us back to Banksy. The man’s work is/was brilliant and appropriate and timely. People respond well to it. And Coke and Pepsi are both equally bad for you. And your Made In Italy handbag might be less authentic than you want to believe it is…
Tag Christof – Images courtesy www.afterwalkerevans.com
