AI mural in ‘home of Banksy’ slammed for getting Bristol so wrong | News UK

It is well known AI will come for all our jobs – even street artists. A vinyl mural in the ‘home of Banksy’ has been called a ‘slap in the face of Bristol’ for its AI design.

Graffiti artists are in uproar over the AI depiction of the creative centre of the south west that was slapped on the side of the Jolly Colliers pub.

It depicts an unrecognisable version of Cabot Tower and an SS Great Britain that looks more like a steam-powered tugboat than the epic sails of the once-largest passenger ship in the world docked off the River Avon.

It also displays a wrong interpretation of Banksy’s Mild Mild West, which shows a one-legged figure pointing – not Banksy’s famous petrol bomb-throwing teddy bear.

The image appears to have been converted into a large vinyl before being pasted onto the building.

With Bristol’s international reputation for street art and connection to artists like Banksy, the AI mural has the community reaching for the spray cans.

Caroline Maggs from the Bristol Mural Collective (BMC) told Bristol 24/7: ‘AI designs not only devalue but undermine the work of artists’ and that the collective was ‘saddened and angered by the Jolly Colliers not choosing to support handmade work’.

‘We are small businesses, and as a small business themselves, they should have chosen better,’ she said.

‘In a climate where humans are being replaced by AI at an alarming rate, choosing art like this is not only an aesthetic choice but a political one.’

Maggs said having no mural would have been better than the AI art now on the pub.

She added that the collective was open to discussions with the Jolly Colliers and would like to commission someone from the collective to ‘rectify their mistake’.

On Tuesday, a letter from an unknown artist condemning the AI art had been placed below the mural, but it was swiftly removed.

The letter called the decision to erect the mural ‘a disrespectful affront to this city’.

‘I am not alone in this opinion. Your decisions have angered a large portion of the very community you supposedly wish to support and exist alongside,’ the letter said.

While it was not signed by anybody, the writer acknowledged Bristol’s reputation for creativity and hosting Upfest, Europe’s largest street art festival.

The letter said: ‘Hundreds of murals exist across the city, created by truly talented individuals, with passion, hard-earned skill and dedication.

‘By choosing to “create” (though that word gives more credit than is due) an Al generated image, produce it in vinyl and stick it to the side of your building, you are actively damaging the livelihoods of artists, disrespecting and contributing to the theft of their work, and making a mockery of what makes Bristol the city it is.

‘You have watered down the spirit, the originality and the very essence of the visual aesthetic you have tried, and failed, to recreate.’

Emily Tuffen, also an artist from BMC, said the mural was a ‘slap in the face’ to Bristol, adding that ‘Brunel would be turning in his grave’ over the piece.

Tuffen said the mural was a ‘very large, very public display of something that is fast becoming a very clear and real threat to the existence of humanity’.

Several other artists from the BMC also criticised the artwork, with Nina Raines calling the work ‘visually naff,’ and Fiona Finn Teo describing it as “an appalling and tone-deaf display of absolute nonchalance and disregard to artists residing in Bristol and beyond”.

Tuffen added: ‘The mural is like a giant green light telling all of south Bristol (and anyone who views it online) – AI is fine, let’s jump in feet first!

‘Tally ho! I don’t think it will last long, one way or the other. Bristol won’t stand for it.

‘On a personal level, I would be so happy if someone circled all the mistakes in red paint like a teacher or a spot the difference puzzle. That would make it actually a good street art piece and a clear statement.

“Bristol loves authentic creativity and won’t stand for intellectual property theft! It wouldn’t cost the proprietors too much if they wanted THAT commissioned!’

A spokesperson from Punch, who own the Bedminster pub, said the mural was ‘a temporary measure due to the condition of the external wall’ and they were looking forward to collaborating with local artists and the community in the near future for a permanent mural.

In a statement, the spokesperson added: ‘The external wall requires some minor works which would make a permanent mural at this time difficult, so we have opted for a temporary solution.’

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