Banksy vs. Paris

[Adam Shand]

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5310416.stm
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sharl/sets/72157594266743665/ 
detail/

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Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest  
stunt by "guerrilla artist" Banksy.

Banksy has replaced Hilton's CD with his own remixes and given them  
titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?

He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US  
socialite topless and with a dog's head.

A spokeswoman for Banksy said he had doctored 500 copies of her debut  
album Paris in 48 record shops across the UK.

She told the BBC News website: "He switched the CDs in store, so he  
took the old ones out and put his version in."

But he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without  
realising it had been interfered with.

Banksy is notorious for his secretive and subversive stunts such as  
sneaking doctored versions of classic paintings into major art  
galleries.

His spokeswoman said he had tampered with the CDs in branches of HMV  
and Virgin as well as independent record stores.

He visited cities including Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle,  
Glasgow and London, she added.
A spokesman for HMV said the chain had recovered seven CDs from two  
Brighton shops but was unaware that other locations were affected.
No customers had complained or returned a doctored version, he said.

"It's not the type of behaviour you'd want to see happening very  
often," he said.

"I guess you can give an individual such as Banksy a little bit of  
leeway for his own particular brand of artistic engagement.

"Often people might have a view on something but feel they can't  
always express it, but it's down to the likes of Banksy to say often  
what people think about things.

"And it might be that there will be some people who agree with his  
views on the Paris Hilton album."

A spokesman for Virgin Megastores said staff were searching for  
affected CDs but it was proving hard to find them all.

"I have to take my hat off - it's a very good stunt," he added.