September 5, 2006 at 11:53:00 AM | more stories by this author
Famed UK guerilla artist distributes 500 doctored copies of Hilton's Paris, complete with remixed music and song titles like, "Why Am I Famous?" and "What Have I Done?"
UK guerilla artist Banksy, notorious for his antiestablishment and satirical graffiti in England, New York, and even the West Bank over the years, has taken aim at hotel heiress-turned-singer Paris Hilton.
Banksy has distributed 500 doctored copies of Hilton's debut album, Paris, to 48 UK record stores, with each album featuring artwork that sharply jabs at Hilton's fame.
The albums, which the artists reportedly swapped out but left the original bar codes on so that unaware buyers will be able to buy the fakes, also include remixed music with reimagined song titles like "Why am I Famous?," "What Have I Done?," and "What Am I For?" One song features a lengthy instrumental rhythm over which Hilton repeats her trademark phrase, "That's hot." Liner notes indicate that the music was remixed by "DM," leading some to speculate that Gnarls Barkley beatmaker Danger Mouse contributed to the project.
The doctored albums include cover art that alters the Paris cover to show Hilton topless, with inside photos replacing Hilton's head with that of a dog. The liner notes includes taglines like, "Every time someone asks me how I am I hesitate for a little bit too long."
The CDs have already made their way onto eBay, with at least one drawing bids of $950.
"I guess you can give an individual such as Banksy a little bit of leeway for his own particular brand of artistic engagement," a spokesperson from retailer HMV, one of the stores in which Banksy placed the doctored CDs, told BBC News. "And it might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album."
Banksy, who has largely been able to keep his identity a secret over the years, has made a habit out of poking fun at the establishment.
In 2003, he glued one of his paintings onto a wall in Tate Britain, where it went unnoticed by staff for hours. The following year he smuggled a display case with a stuffed rat wearing sunglasses and a backpack into the Natural History Museum. At New York's Museum of Modern Art, he placed an Andy Warhol-style print depicting a tin of Tesco Value soup. Last year, he also painted trompe l'oeil-style images representing holes and ladders on the Palestinian side of the Israeli West Bank wall.
He's also scrawled slogans inside animal enclosures in two British zoos, including the phrase, "We're bored of fishes" on the wall of a penguin enclosure. Banksy is no stranger to the music industry. He designed the cover for Blur's 2003 Think Tank album, and Green Day's Tre Cool reportedly has two tattoos of Banksy's designs.




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