Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on July 2011

L.A. Frenchman Thierry Guetta one day picked up a video camera and began to document the inherently impermanent street art movement. He traveled the world recording and frequently assisting the likes of Shepard Fairey, Invader, and the legendary anonymous Brit known only as Banksy. He said he was making a movie, but it turns out he was merely an obsessive-compulsive cameraman and hadn’t the slightest idea how to put it all together. So Banksy (this film’s director) turned the camera around and advised Guetta to make some art of his own while Banksy went through his massive library of tapes. Guetta ran with the idea of reinventing himself as an artist, and mounted a huge first show. This unoriginal, untalented “artist” who had never sold a painting or even been reviewed sold over a million dollars worth of derivative junk. Now it gets interesting. There’s been speculation that this is a hoax, a “prankumentary” (look at the title!). Wouldn’t put it past Banksy. But the thing is, it doesn’t matter if it’s real, a total hoax, or somewhere in between, because in addition to being a permanent record of a subversive artistic movement, it’s also a fascinating observation/condemnation of the art world and speculative art collectors.