{{Short description|Series of artworks by Banksy in Melbourne, Australia}} {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Parachuting Rat''}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}} {{Infobox artwork | title = Parachuting Rat | other_language_1 = | other_title_1 = | other_language_2 = | other_title_2 = | image = | image_upright = | alt = | caption = | artist = [[Banksy]] | year = {{start date|2003}} | completion_date = | catalogue = | medium = Stencils and spray paint | movement = [[Street art]] | subject = A black rat with aviator glasses descending by parachute | height_metric = | width_metric = | length_metric = | diameter_metric = | height_imperial = | width_imperial = | length_imperial = | diameter_imperial = | dimensions = | dimensions_ref = | metric_unit = cm | imperial_unit = in | weight = | designation = | condition = | museum = | city = [[Melbourne]] | coordinates = | owner = | accession = | preceded_by = | followed_by = | module = | website = }} [[File:Parachuting Rat (Banksy).jpg|thumb|One of the ''Parachuting Rat'' stencils in Melbourne]] '''''Parachuting Rat''''' was a series of [[Work of art|artwork]]s in [[Melbourne]], created by [[Banksy]]. On 26 April 2010, one was painted over by council contractors, leading to local and international coverage and debate on the nature of [[street art]] and its [[Conservation-restoration|preservation]], and new measures for its protection.
Another was accidentally destroyed in May 2012 by building work.<ref name=ABC2012>{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/melbourne-builder-destroys-banksy-art/4014514 |title=Banksy rat destroyed by builders |work=Australian Broadcasting Corporation |date=16 May 2012 |accessdate=16 May 2012 |archive-date=17 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517061252/http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/melbourne-builder-destroys-banksy-art/4014514 |url-status=live }}</ref> {{As of|2015}}, there was one still remaining.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Reid|first1=Graham|title=Melbourne: Walk the city's graffiti art laneways|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/australia/71053575/melbourne-walk-the-citys-graffiti-art-laneways|website=[[Stuff.co.nz]]|accessdate=27 December 2015|archive-date=30 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150930113353/http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/destinations/australia/71053575/Melbourne-Walk-the-citys-graffiti-art-laneways|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Concept== ''Parachuting Rat'' was a black rat with [[Goggles|aviator glasses]] descending by [[parachute]]. Banksy's ''oeuvre'' is largely directed towards [[anti-capitalist]] and [[anti-war]] themes, and this piece was painted in 2003.<ref name="Reuters">{{cite news |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-banksy-idUSTRE63R09F20100428 |title=Cleaners paint over priceless art |author=Taylor, Rob |work=[[Reuters]] |date=28 April 2010 |accessdate=11 March 2011 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306051845/http://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-banksy-idUSTRE63R09F20100428 |url-status=live }}</ref> Banksy's work is described as distinctive in style, satirical, and provocative.<ref name="Reuters"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/australia/2010/04/29/254488/Australian-officials.htm |title=Australian officials apologise over Banksy blunder |work=[[The China Post]] |date=29 April 2010 |access-date=11 March 2011 |archive-date=15 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515024501/http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/australia/2010/04/29/254488/Australian-officials.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> Banksy himself has written, in connection with his works involving rats, 'they exist without permission. They are hated, hunted and persecuted … if you are dirty, insignificant and unloved then rats are the ultimate role model'; that 'you can win the rat race but you're still a rat'; and also that he had been painting rats for three years before someone told him that the word is an [[anagram]] of art.<ref>{{cite book |title=Banksy: Wall and Piece |pages=83–90 |author=Banksy |publisher=Century |year=2005}}</ref>
==Medium== ''Parachuting Rat'' was executed using [[stencils]] and [[spray paint]]. While earlier in his career Banksy painted [[Hand|freehand]], in his later work from the mid-2000s he adopted the use of stencils to accelerate the [[creative process]] and reduce the likelihood of being caught.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/46984-banksy-house-art-destroyed |title=Bansky house art destroyed |work=[[Metro (British newspaper)|Metro]] |date=27 April 2007 |accessdate=10 March 2011 |archive-date=18 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218125044/http://www.metro.co.uk/news/46984-banksy-house-art-destroyed |url-status=live }}</ref> His works generally appear anonymously and overnight.<ref name="Times">{{cite news |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article7109200.ece |title=Cleaners accidentally paint over Banksy stencil |author=Tedmanson, Sophie |work=[[The Times]] |date=27 April 2010 |access-date=11 March 2011 |archive-date=25 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125142619/https://www.the-tls.co.uk/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Banksy has written that 'graffiti…is the most honest artform available. There is no elitism or hype … nobody is put off by the price of admission. A wall has always been the best place to publish your work'.<ref>{{cite book |title=Banksy: Wall and Piece |page=8 |author=Banksy |publisher=Century |year=2005}}</ref>
==Context== Melbourne is recognised as the street art capital of Australia.<ref name="Telegraph">{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7639037/Melbourne-council-cleaners-paint-over-Banksy-stencil.html |title=Melbourne council cleaners pain over Banksy stencil |author=Malkin, Bonnie |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=27 April 2010 |accessdate=11 March 2011 |archive-date=23 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523005145/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/7639037/Melbourne-council-cleaners-paint-over-Banksy-stencil.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Banksy, who spent a few months in the city earlier in his career, described the city's street art as 'arguably Australia's most significant contribution to the arts since they stole all the [[Indigenous Australians|Aborigines]]' pencils'.<ref name="Times"/> ''Parachuting Rat'' is one of a number of works he executed in the city in 2003.<ref name="ABC">{{cite news |url=http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2887629.htm |title=Melbourne debates street art |author=Fitzsimmons, Hamish |work=[[ABC Online]] |accessdate=11 March 2011 |date=30 March 2010 |archive-date=13 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613221403/http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2010/s2887629.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
''Parachuting Rat'' adorned the wall above a doorway of a council building behind the [[Forum Theatre]] in [[Hosier Lane, Melbourne|Hosier Lane]], a tourist attraction which attracts up to a thousand people a day because of its street art.<ref name="Reuters"/><ref name="The Age"/> While Hosier Lane had at the time five approved areas for street art, ''Parachuting Rat'' was not in one of these.<ref name="Times"/> It was allowed to remain 'by exception' because the council was aware of the popularity of Banksy's works.<ref name="Leader">{{cite web |url=http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/ |title=Anti-graffiti crew accidentally paints over Bansky art in CBD |author=Hamish, Heard |work=[[Leader Community Newspapers]] |date=27 April 2010 |accessdate=11 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100429030922/http://melbourne-leader.whereilive.com.au/news/story/anti-graffiti-crew-accidentally-paints-over-banksy-art-in-cbd/ |archivedate=29 April 2010 }}</ref>
==Removal== While Melbourne has a policy of encouraging street art, it also has a problem with gangs [[Graffiti#Characteristics of common graffiti|tagging]] walls and public property.<ref name="CBC">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/banksy-art-painted-over-in-melbourne-1.877960 |title=Banksy art painted over in Melbourne |work=[[CBC News]] |date=29 April 2010 |access-date=11 March 2011 |archive-date=2 August 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120802234140/http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/artdesign/story/2010/04/28/melbourne-banksy-street-art.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Melbourne's deputy [[Lord Mayor]] Susan Riley sent cleaners to Hosier Lane after residents complained about squalid conditions in the alley.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/arts/design/29arts-ABANKSYRATIS_BRF.html |title=A Banksy Rat is Victim of a Cleanup Campaign |author=Itzkoff, Dave |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=29 April 2010 |accessdate=11 March 2011 |archive-date=3 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503235104/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/29/arts/design/29arts-ABANKSYRATIS_BRF.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The cleaners were instructed to tidy up the rat-infested garbage and remove all graffiti from unapproved street art sites. Leaving alone the approved sites, the cleaners painted over ''Parachuting Rat'', by then thought to be the only remaining work by Banksy on public view in the city, with a thick layer of battleship-grey paint.<ref name="The Age">{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/city-does-give-a-rats-for-banksys-wipedout-art-20100427-tq3c.html |title=City does give a rat's for Banksy's wiped-out art |author=Gill, Raymond |work=[[The Age]] |date=28 April 2010 |accessdate=11 March 2011 |archive-date=11 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211154421/http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/city-does-give-a-rats-for-banksys-wipedout-art-20100427-tq3c.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Challenged at the time by a local resident, the cleaners replied 'we are just doing what we're told'.<ref name="The Age"/>
Another was destroyed in May 2012 by builders working on plumbing.<ref name=ABC2012/> The building owner, who knows Banksy through a New York contact, said that he laughed at the fact that "TV Cameras took an interest in his work" in an email she sent them about the incident.
==Reaction==
===Melbourne Council=== [[Robert Doyle]], [[Lord Mayor of Melbourne]], who had recently posed for a publicity photo before Hosier Lane's street art, praised such art as 'legitimate [[Emotional expression|expression]] of artistic intent', although he also said ''Parachuting Rat'' 'was not the [[Mona Lisa]]' and declared it an 'honest mistake' by the cleaners.<ref name="ABC"/><ref name="The Age"/> Melbourne City Council CEO Kathy Alexander said it was not an error on the part of the cleaners since they had been instructed to clean all unapproved areas, and had not been informed of its [[Cultural heritage#Cultural property|cultural significance]]. She also highlighted that there was no legal permit for the ''Parachuting Rat'', and acknowledged that the council should have acted sooner to approve and protect all known Banksy works.<ref name="The Age"/>
The council subsequently discussed whether it should invite artists to [[Conservation-restoration|restore]] their damaged works and announced that it would issue [[Ex post facto law|retrospective legal permits]] to ensure other famous and significant works of street art are [[Historic preservation|protected]].<ref name="Reuters"/><ref name="The Age"/> The difficulty of protecting street art was also acknowledged.<ref name="CBC"/> The council had previously attempted to protect 'Diving Bell' by Banksy by erecting a perspex sheet; its vandalism in 2008 was linked to discontent within the street art community over bureaucratic interference.<ref name="Guerillas">{{cite web |url=http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/guerillas-with-the-mist-breed-banksy-rats-20100428-ts54.html |title=Guerillas with the mist breed Banksy rats |author=Levy, Megan |author2=Hunter, Thomas |work=[[The Age]] |date=28 April 2010 |accessdate=11 March 2011 |archive-date=8 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110908001714/http://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/guerillas-with-the-mist-breed-banksy-rats-20100428-ts54.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Art world=== ''Parachuting Rat'' was potentially worth tens of thousands of pounds.<ref name="Times"/> An [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] debate suggested that street art is by nature [[ephemeral]]; that it should not be heritage-listed and protected with glass; that in restoring a painting you see not the artist's work but a representation of that work; and also raised the questions of [[ownership]], [[public art]], finance, and the [[egalitarianism]] of the selective preservation of works of art.<ref name="ABC"/>
Within a few days ten replacement parachute rats, in fluorescent shades of pink, blue, green and purple were created in Hosier Lane using stencils, along with another rat in the lifts of 121 Exhibition Street, the offices of the [[Department of Justice (Victoria)|Department of Justice]].<ref name="Guerillas"/> An anonymous expert in Banksy and Melbourne's street art observed 'I think [Banksy] delights in placing authorities and councils in this funny position of trying to preserve his work because it's worth so much money now'.<ref name="Guerillas"/> He also claimed that there were a number of other works by Banksy in the city and argued that the locations should remain undisclosed to protect them from destruction.<ref name="Guerillas"/> Later in 2010 an image of a rat stolen from an electricity meter box outside the home of a well-known underwear designer was claimed to be by Banksy; the [[Authenticity in art|authenticity]] of this work was questioned, with some calling it a [[Forgery|fake]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/stolen-banksy-a-fake-doubt-cast-on-designers-missing-graffiti-20100617-yicp.html |title=Stolen Banksy a fake? Doubt cast on designer's missing graffiti |author=Levy, Megan |work=[[The Age]] |date=17 June 2010 |accessdate=11 March 2011 |archive-date=29 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110529050959/http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/stolen-banksy-a-fake-doubt-cast-on-designers-missing-graffiti-20100617-yicp.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==See also== *[[Street art in Melbourne]] *[[Banksy]] *[[List of works by Banksy]] *[[List of damaged or destroyed works by Banksy]] *[[Ephemera]] *''[[Bird in Space]]''
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Banksy}}
[[Category:2000s murals]] [[Category:2003 paintings]] [[Category:Graffiti and unauthorised signage]] [[Category:Public art in Victoria (state)]] [[Category:Vandalized works of art in Australia]] [[Category:Works by Banksy]] [[Category:Mice and rats in art]]