Applause combines photography with stencilling to deliver a biting political message. In the image, workers stand in scrubland holding a sign for an unseen audience, urging laughter as a military plane takes off from a naval vessel. By inserting this absurd cue into a scene of war, Banksy undermines cultural narratives that glorify military power.

The work draws on a well-known press photograph of former US President George W. Bush disembarking from a bomber. Banksy subverts the image by adding a cue card reading “APPLAUSE”, a satirical gesture that suggests we are expected to cheer political leaders who launch wars, regardless of the consequences. The piece lays bare the manipulation of public opinion and the troubling normalisation of conflict.