High-brow vs Low-brow

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I came across this article in New York Magazine through one of my friend's blogs. He is actually one of the street artists, Broke Rodriguez, featured in the article. His link to the article was titled, How Graphic Designers Copy Street Artists. While I don't necessarily agree with that idea, I do think the article presents some interesting juxtapositions. Is one artist really "copying" the other or we all just referencing the same popular culture? I tend to think that it is the latter. You can find similar trends occuring in any visually based field.

On another note, the poster created by/for Virgin Atlantic is particularly interesting to me. I think it is remarkable that a "business-driven" company would create an artifact that has a lifespan that is out of their control. I'm not sure if I think it's slightly refreshing or slighly wasteful. Thoughts?