Given recent reports of anxiety and financial trouble for the owner of the Port Talbot garage on which Banksy installed his most recent work, Janice Aitken asks: is his art made in the interests of local communities, and who should pay to protect it?
When a mural by artist Banksy appeared on a garage wall in Port Talbot, the building’s owner, Ian Lewis, had no idea just how many people would want to get a good look at it. The mural has attracted thousands of visitors and Lewis has been keen to protect it, by employing guards, and building a see-through covering over the work.
But should there even be security on a piece of graffiti? After all, the essence of graffiti is that it is temporary and subject to the possibility of being covered over with the next slogan or image... Keep reading on The Conversation