Banksy
Trolleys, also known as Trolley Hunters, is a sharp and humorous critique of modern society’s dependence on consumer culture. The image depicts three cavemen, armed with primitive weapons, crouched as if stalking their prey—but instead of a buffalo or woolly mammoth, their quarry is a herd of supermarket trolleys.
By replacing traditional game with a mundane shopping cart, Banksy highlights the irony of contemporary life: city dwellers, cut off from the means to grow or hunt their own food, rely entirely on the products supplied by massive supermarkets to survive. The piece also satirizes the hunters themselves—their focus on trolleys rather than sustenance underscores humanity’s misplaced priorities, hunting symbols of consumerism rather than what is truly essential.
Through this clever twist, Trolleys lampoons both our reliance on modern conveniences and the absurdity of a society where survival is mediated by commerce.
