Banksy tags Elephant, Radio Host plays Dumbo

When I fired up this bucket of typos in Oct '03, two of the blogroll links were to Wooster Collective and Stencil Revolution. Great places to go for spontaneous ideas and art and documented misdemeanors. British born Banksy was already a legend there 3 years ago, it's interesting to see he's getting the Basquiat/Jeff Koons treatment over here so heavily. "If it's not Scottish British it's crap!

BBC A 37-year old Indian elephant has been painted, from head to tail, in a floral pattern reminiscent of an old fashioned living room or a British pub.

The animal is made to stand in a makeshift living room, complete with sofa, chandelier and decorated with wallpaper in the same pattern.

Banksy, as ever, was not on hand to discuss his creation, but it is understood that the elephant, blending into the background, is meant to represent the big issues in life, such as poverty, that some people choose to ignore.

"I don't feel particularly incensed at the fact that he painted a live animal," said journalist Sorina Diaconescu. "But I think he's treading a pretty thin line and it's part of his charm."

The meaning of the stunt appeared to be lost on some observers. "I've still got to get my head around that one," said Jason Bentley, a commentator on US Public Radio. "I'm not sure what the point of having an elephant in a warehouse in downtown Los Angeles is."

It's a metaphor, Jason. And a cliche. It means a big embarrassing obvious thing that everyone pretends isn't there. You know, kinda like public radio for the last 5 or 10 years.