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Banksy Artwork Shredded Itself Seconds After Being Sold For More Than 1 Million Dollars
Banksy’s painting Girl With Balloon is one of the best-known works of Banksy. The painting (made with spray and acrylic paint) is a reproduction of the original image that was painted on a building in East London back in 2002. According to the website MyArtBroker.com, which resells Banksy artwork, the worth of the re-painted and framed version of Girl with Baloon grew by 20% each year. Finally, this Friday, the painting was sold for a staggering amount of a little bit more than 1 million dollars.
Moments later after the Girl With Balloon was pronounced as sold, a shredder that was hidden inside the frame of the artwork started destroying the painting into little pieces. According to some sources, the shredding mechanism was triggered by a remote control.
Later Banksy himself posted an image on Instagram with the crowd of the auction in shock and with the caption below “Going, going, gone…” The following day on the same instagram account, he posted a video in which installation of the secret shredder was filmed. The short film opened with the caption: “A few years ago, I secretly built a shredder into a painting.” The video shows how someone is putting the finishing touches upon the painting frame and later on the text appears: “In case it was ever put up for auction.”
Accoring to Joey Syer, a co-founder of the website MyArtBroker.com, “The auction result will only propel this further and given the media attention this stunt has received, the lucky buyer would see a great return on the £1.02m they paid last night. This is now part of art history in its shredded state and we’d estimate Banksy has added at a minimum 50% to its value, possibly as high as being worth £2m plus.”
As Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s (one of the largests brokers of art, real estate and collectibles) senior director of contemporary art commented, “It appears we just got Banksy-ed.”
More info: Banksy
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One of the most famous works of Banksy – a world renowned artist – is a Girl With Balloon which originally appeared in East London in 2002
Image credits: Dominic Robinson
The image was re-painted and framed. Consequently, its worth started growing by 20% each year
Image credits: mrlunin
This Friday, Girl With Balloon was sold in the auction in London for $1.1 million
Image credits: thefreddyshow
However, the real surprise came about moments after the painting was pronounced sold
Image credits: Banksy
Shortly after the hammer came down, the painting started shredding itself
Image credits: Banksy
According to some sources, the shredding mechanism was triggered by a remote control. “It appears we just got Banksy-ed”, says one representative of the auction
Image credits: Banksy
The incident quickly made its way to the press and the worth of the shredded painting actually went up to $2 million
Image credits: Banksy
Below, see the video that Banksy uploaded himself in which you can see the preparation few years prior to the auction
Image credits: Banksy
The “shredding incident” caused a lively discussion among people
The internet was quick to react and some artists even took time to depict the incident creatively
Image credits: haxneul
Image credits: vittibenatti
Image credits: maltesecreative
Image credits: argo_concepts
Image credits: argo_concepts
Image credits: argo_concepts
Image credits: mehmetgeren.design
Image credits: seinpop
Even some brands used Banksy as an inspiration to promote their products
Image credits: ikeanorge
Image credits: Perrier
Image credits: MazuResortwear
Image credits: Lemonade_Inc
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What do you think ?
C.Marrero 7 years ago
Not sure why the shredded painting is worth double.
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Kenny Kulbiski 7 years ago
I probably don't understand all the nuances but my unsophisticated opinion is ............way cool.
Monika Soffronow 7 years ago
I love everything about Banksy. He is a shining, sane light in a world that seems to be getting shallower, shittier and less humane with each new Trump, Kardashian or Musk-type character with an überoversized sense of entitlement worshipping their own shadow, expecting you to do the same. Cheers Banksy!
Just a Purpler 7 years ago
I will never understand the art world hahaha... I don't understand how this qualifies for so 2 million dollars, but I do admit it's a new and exciting idea. I just wish I could be rich enough to buy 2 million dollar shredded art XD
Monika Soffronow 7 years ago
Well, when prices of artworks done by living artists reach a price like this it is purely because the buyer believes they are making a sound investment. There are some extraordinarily rich people that probably should have been paying their taxes with the money they instead spend on something to hang on their wall. I do believe that "I will never understand the art world hahaha... " is a great way to sum up what Banksy wanted to say by this, what-to-call-it-? statement? prank? instantaneous installation? Whatever one calles it, it was a great show of oneupmanship.
Load More Replies...
Dora Bedpan 7 years ago
Relatable to what Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp or John Cage (in music) did in their time. The spirit of controversy adds to the questioning about art: is an art piece supposed to last forever? It's shortlife makes it a plus-value because of its rarity. The question still is: how much can it degrade and still have a value? (subsidiary question: is the real value of art just a sum of money? Else, what is it?)
Norsman 7 years ago
People... if you don’t want for your art to be sold for money, don’t draw on a canvas!!!! Other then that, he did a great job pushing that painting’s price even higher and becoming even richer))) Ps - Sarcasm aside - all this is a smart PR/media strategy to sell bigger and better, Banksy is the Daft Punk of art, he sells awesome)))
ESL 7 years ago
Clever stunt/commentary by Banks! That said, I'm surprised an institution like Sotheby's didn't X-ray an artwork before auctioning it and found the shredding device. Don't they examine the stuff they sell closely for authenticity or other things that might drive up value (ie another painting on the same canvas etc)?
Biana Weatherford 7 years ago
Who was selling the art? Was the artist putting his work up for auction? Isn't Banksy still anonymous?
Night Owl 7 years ago
Banksy is a genius and I bet he had some help setting this up. But as the work almost doubled its worth, it seems he shot himself in the foot here.
Monika Soffronow 7 years ago
See, if you believe it is not worth it, then it is not worth it (for you) but if several other people believe that it is worth it, then it is worth it (for them). WE humans are a strange kind of animal to say the least.
Load More Replies... C.Marrero 7 years ago
Not sure why the shredded painting is worth double.
Load More Replies... Kenny Kulbiski 7 years ago
I probably don't understand all the nuances but my unsophisticated opinion is ............way cool.
Monika Soffronow 7 years ago
I love everything about Banksy. He is a shining, sane light in a world that seems to be getting shallower, shittier and less humane with each new Trump, Kardashian or Musk-type character with an überoversized sense of entitlement worshipping their own shadow, expecting you to do the same. Cheers Banksy!
Just a Purpler 7 years ago
I will never understand the art world hahaha... I don't understand how this qualifies for so 2 million dollars, but I do admit it's a new and exciting idea. I just wish I could be rich enough to buy 2 million dollar shredded art XD
Monika Soffronow 7 years ago
Well, when prices of artworks done by living artists reach a price like this it is purely because the buyer believes they are making a sound investment. There are some extraordinarily rich people that probably should have been paying their taxes with the money they instead spend on something to hang on their wall. I do believe that "I will never understand the art world hahaha... " is a great way to sum up what Banksy wanted to say by this, what-to-call-it-? statement? prank? instantaneous installation? Whatever one calles it, it was a great show of oneupmanship.
Load More Replies... Dora Bedpan 7 years ago
Relatable to what Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp or John Cage (in music) did in their time. The spirit of controversy adds to the questioning about art: is an art piece supposed to last forever? It's shortlife makes it a plus-value because of its rarity. The question still is: how much can it degrade and still have a value? (subsidiary question: is the real value of art just a sum of money? Else, what is it?)
Norsman 7 years ago
People... if you don’t want for your art to be sold for money, don’t draw on a canvas!!!! Other then that, he did a great job pushing that painting’s price even higher and becoming even richer))) Ps - Sarcasm aside - all this is a smart PR/media strategy to sell bigger and better, Banksy is the Daft Punk of art, he sells awesome)))
ESL 7 years ago
Clever stunt/commentary by Banks! That said, I'm surprised an institution like Sotheby's didn't X-ray an artwork before auctioning it and found the shredding device. Don't they examine the stuff they sell closely for authenticity or other things that might drive up value (ie another painting on the same canvas etc)?
Biana Weatherford 7 years ago
Who was selling the art? Was the artist putting his work up for auction? Isn't Banksy still anonymous?
Night Owl 7 years ago
Banksy is a genius and I bet he had some help setting this up. But as the work almost doubled its worth, it seems he shot himself in the foot here.
Monika Soffronow 7 years ago
See, if you believe it is not worth it, then it is not worth it (for you) but if several other people believe that it is worth it, then it is worth it (for them). WE humans are a strange kind of animal to say the least.
Load More Replies... You May Like 50 AI Art Fails That Are Both Horrifying And Hilarious 40 Famous Paintings That Changed Art Forever And Cost A Fortune Doing It 72 Creative Graffiti Art That Turned Blank Walls Into Objects Of Admiration
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