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Well, that didn’t take long…
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Banksy’s newest work, a traffic bollard casting a shadow of a lighthouse with the words “I want to be what you saw in me” written over it, was temporarily defaced once its location was confirmed last weekend.
Geoguessers on social media turned out to be right when they speculated that the street art was located in Marseille, in the south of France. And the city, known for its rambunctious spirit, lived up to its cheeky reputation.
The artwork was vandalized, with the lighthouse and its poignant message turned into a penis with an added pair of testicles.
Hardly very original, but also not entirely surprising.
The elusive UK artist has often stated that their works are meant to be reinterpreted – even hijacked – but we’re not sure if this is what he / she / they had in mind.
The crudely altered lighthouse was promptly restored and shining again within 24 hours of the purple gonad additions.
“I tried to clean up some of the tags that had been made last night, because in fact it takes a while for the anti-graffiti varnish to really work,” explained Agnès Perrone, a heritage decor painter, to AFP.
“They waited until I went to bed, even very late, to come and add a nice pair of bollocks around the lighthouse,” she said, adding: “I find it very stupid. But at the same time, I’m used to it, I’m from Marseilles: it’s a national sport to fight tags here.”
The artwork has been gaining traction online and many fans have been flocking to the tunnel near the Catalans beach to admire a more intimate statement from Banksy, whose work is usually characterised by satire or socio-political meaning, often addressing war and the pitfalls of consumerism.
Additional sources • AFP
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