Respect Authority

When I wrote about Banksy’s recent additions to New York City’s growing street art collection last week, I mentioned he had a show opening in the city soon, but I never expected anything like this.

The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill

The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill opened on October 5th at 89 7th Avenue between West 4th and Bleeker Street to little fanfare because, well, nobody really knew what it was at first. Nonetheless, it didn’t take very long to realize this was far from an ordinary pet store — the “store’s” name alone is more than a little suggestive. What do you think the dessert special is? Chinchilla a la mode maybe?

The store is actually Banksy’s latest project — an installation of animatronics within an extremely tongue-in-cheek pet store facade. The store’s window displays features a leopard on a tree branch lounging, a mother hen watching over her Chicken McNuggets, who are gettin’ crazy on some barbecue sauce, and my favorite, the security camera and her just-hatched young. Clearly, this bodes well for the interior.

Things continue on the weird track once inside — Bansky has quite the variety of exotic pets here, such as fried fishsticks swimming around in a fishbowl and hot dogs in terrariums basking under heat lamps. And you know, somehow, the appetite is not aroused.

What’s incredible is that aside from reading about the installation, you would never know it’s Banksy’s work — there are no stencils or graffiti to speak of, everything is hidden under the unassuming guise of a simple pet store. Also particularly notable is the fact that, although the store closes at midnight, the installation is visible 24/7 thanks to the large window displays which allow passer-bys to peer in and get put off their 2 AM drunk trip to McShit’s.

The store is a huge diversion from my concerns that he was perhaps veering too commercial. It’s not just amazing in concept and execution, it’s also an incredibly outspoken project. For one, this is Banksy’s first venture into the realm of animatronics and is quite obviously a total success, along with a beautiful implementation of the technology to make his statement. Additionally, the project seriously stretches the boundaries of what “street art” can be defined as. Technically, the project transformed a typical storefront, plus the entire installation is always visible from the street thanks to the windows. Could that be considered street art? Banksy’s not sure either, saying “If it’s art and you can see it from the street, I guess it could still be considered street art.”

Whatever you’re supposed to call it, how about we just settle for “fucking awesome” and leave it at that?

The show runs until October 31st.

[Wooster Collective]