A statement about art or an accident? That was the debate recently when the painting “Girl with a Balloon” by the famously anonymous English street artist called Banksy “self-destructed” during a Sotheby’s London sale. The painting of a girl reaching for a red balloon had just sold for $1.4 million. Minutes after the gavel came down on the sale, a whirring sound was heard as a shredder apparently built into the frame turned on. The canvas slid down and at least a part of it ended up in strips.
Sotheby’s declared it had been “Banksy’d.” The British street artist is well-known for his stunts. In 2004, Banksy snuck into the Louvre and hung his version of the Mona Lisa, with a yellow smiley face, face. In 2013, he set up a stall in a New York City market and started selling his artwork (worth thousands … or millions) for $60.
Soon after the Sotheby’s shredding incident, Banksy put a video up on Instagram that purportedly shows how he built a paper shredder into the frame of the 2006 painting.
Instead of, shall we say, shredding the painting’s value, some art experts are now saying, due to the ensuing publicity, that the buyer could see at a minimum a 50-percent increase in the painting’s value, up to possibly $2.6 million now. Remember, the artist altered the picture by shredding it. Don’t do this to your favorite picture!
When asked why he built a shredder into the frame, Banksy reportedly quoted Picasso, saying, “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”
Photo (Girl with a Balloon): Irish Sun
The artist intended the shreeding as part of the purpose of his art! He didnt completely shred the picture (its like fringes on a quilt, jacket or purse) its part of the finished creation..when the buyer bought the picture, no one knew it was unfinished and had the unique opportunity to see it finished by the creator when it was sold..try duplicating that act! Now its completed almost doubled in value.
Obviously, it must have been Bond, James Bond.
It’s clear to me that it was Bond, James Bond.
Sorry grandmax7 – but you need to understand Banksy and his artwork. Shredding it is HIS vision and HIS desire and how he wanted that painting to be “finished”. He is the artist and he didn’t destroy anything at all. If it had been at auction already shredded at the bottom, it would have sold for the same price. Now it’s worth even more because it’s like he “signed” it at the end of the auction. That’s so much more thrilling and “real” than a stagnant piece of art in a boring frame selling for $1 million. You notice how you don’t hear the buyer complaining?
The artist has the sole right to alter or adjust their work. Chances are, the shredder WAS set off remotely by either someone in the auction house, by remote, or other means. The fact that it was only partially shredded gives the idea that art is fleeting and could be gone quickly. I find it HILARIOUS simply because the agreement waa that the painting waa NEVER TO BE SOLD. Now we know why.
That is absolutely horrible! How dare Banksy shred the painting AFTER being bought by someone else! There is nothing cute or funny about this – absolute destruction of a beautiful piece. No one is entitled to do this!
Can someone explain how this occurred? Its made to sound as if “the painting” somehow knew it had been sold and the printer began. Obviously that is completely impossible. Surely someone had to have been there and by remote control or something began the shredding process. So how was this done? I’ve been wondering about this ever since that day when it made the news.