"Banksy" news and stories

No, it's not the latest genetic modification by KFC (thank God, right?). It's a display by British conceptual artist Banksy at his project The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill in New York City's Greenwich Village.

As Joe DiStefano reported a few weeks ago, the display, which just closed on Halloween, featured chicken nuggets like the above, as well as "living" fish sticks, and sausages wriggling toward water. The idea was to challenge our perception of the foods we eat. According to io9.com, children thought the creations in the cages were real and tapped on the glass.

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Your eyes aren't playing tricks on you folks. That's a pair of Mickey D's Chicken McNuggets in their natural habitat slurping down some barbecue sauce. They're part of the Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill that opened in New York City's West Village earlier this week. Other critters at this decidedly strange pet store include a pair of fish sticks swimming happily around a bowl. There's also a wide selection of hot dogs that behave oddly like snakes as they enjoy the warm rays of heat lamps. There some more conventional pets too, like a rabbit that preens in its cage applying her makeup.

I haven't been to the Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill yet, so I'm not sure what kind of food they serve. It strikes me as kind of cruel to eat chicken nuggets and hot dogs once you realize they're sentient beings. If I were a betting man I'd say the whole operation is a big hoax and that they don't sell any pets or cook anything on a charcoal grill at all. And that's because it is a hoax of sorts. All of the "pets" at the store are actually animatronics designed by the prankster artist Banksy as part of his latest show.

Village Pet Store is located at 89 7th Avenue between West 4th and Bleeker Street and is open from 10 a.m. to midnight until Halloween. Those not in the New York City area can check out the bizarre goings on in this video. I'll leave it up to the critics to decide whether this weird little emporium qualifies as art. At least the dude found an amusing way to repurpose Chicken McNuggets.

[via Wooster Collective]