Freshman Destroys Writing Sem Portfolio in Homage to Banksy

Writing Seminar—a time-intensive rite of passage for freshmen (and more than a few seniors) which culminates into two portfolios of work, one for the midterm and one for the final. 

The portfolios are meant to encompass an entire term’s worth of work: in the days before the first major deadline, freshmen can finally be seen picking up the assigned book, throwing it aside in disgust, and googling terms like "online summary," "sparknotes," and "is there a movie version." 

But one brave and artistic freshman, Amy Li (C ’22), decided that her portfolio would differ from those of years past. Inspired by the recent performance of street artist Banksy, Li decided that she would destroy her portfolio work in a “tribute to the anarchist revolution against the artistic bourgeois started by our Lord and Savior.”

Li had been working on her project when she read an article about Banksy’s “sticking it to the man” and said that she was “inspired.” 

“I mean, he’s just such a hero, you know? Yeah, he might be a millionaire now, and some people said that he did this only to increase the value of his work, but I can see the truth. I wanted to honor the sacrifices of such a wise sage and destroy that which this capitalist imperial exercise has deemed to be of value according to outdated classist principles. By burning my midterm portfolio, I'll join the ranks of the artistic elite throughout history.”

Li invited all the residents on her hall to her room, as she pulled up the document on her screen, poured kerosene and vodka on the device, and then proceeded to light it on fire while the hall joined arms and moved in a circle around the burning wreck, chanting “art," “capitalism,” and "fury."

She received an A-.