Rat with 3D Glasses first appeared on a stage door at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City, Utah, during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Its appearance coincided with the premiere of Banksy’s documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop.

In this image, one of Banksy’s recurring rat characters wears oversized red and blue cinema glasses and looks toward a group of flies. The glasses connect the work to its film festival setting, while the unlikely spectator adds humour to the scene. They also raise a question that runs through much of Banksy’s work: are we seeing what is in front of us, or only what we have been encouraged to see?