Posted on 10/06/2018 10:08:10 AM PDT by simpson96
London (AFP) - British street artist Banksy has stunned the art world with arguably his most audacious prank yet, self-destructing one of his best-known works moments after it fetched more than a million pounds at auction in London.
"Girl with Balloon" had just sold at Sotheby's Friday for £1,042,000 ($1.4 million, 1.2 million euros) -- a joint record for the maverick artist -- when it unexpectedly passed through a shredder hidden in the frame, according to the auction house.
"It appears we just got Banksy-ed," said Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art for Europe, in a press release accompanied by a photo of the bizarre episode.
"The unexpected incident became instant art world folklore and certainly marks the first time in auction history that a work of art automatically shredded itself after coming under the hammer," the auctioneers added in the statement.
Banksy posted his own photo from midway through the shredding on his Instagram page early Saturday, showing onlookers aghast at the stunt.
The caption written below, imitating an auctioneer, read: "going, going, gone".
The post, and reports of a man dressed in black sunglasses and a hat scuffling with security guards near the entrance to Sotheby's shortly after the incident, led to speculation the artist was present to trigger it.
Sotheby's, which could not be immediately reached for further comment on Saturday, did not disclose if it had prior knowledge of the stunt.
Branczik said he was "not in on the ruse", according to The Art Newspaper.
"We are busy figuring out what this means in an auction context," he reportedly added.
"The shredding is now part of the integral art work."
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Was the idiot who bid the million for that work of junk still have to fork over the million?
Banksy’s a jackass and his buyer is an idiot. (sorry, I know that wasn’t perfect lady language, but I’m getting irritated with ... everything lately)
I didn’t know paint-by number pics were worth that much money.
No money changed hands so I don’t think a crime was committed except to the auction house.
Po-mo “art” continues its orgy of irrelevance.
I suspect that idiot was “Banksy’s” collaborator in this “performance art.”
Indeed there is.
I am not an artist, but I have examples of my own work on display that are much better.
He’s a jackass and a crappy artist, but he’s a rich crappy jackass artist lol.
I've been ignoring this, but no new art topics have shown up. This **** isn't and wasn't fine art. Better to run the so-called artist through the shredder, let's set up a group funding page to raise the million it will cost.
At least Banksy’s antics are pure at the core. I mean, he is still a commercial artist but compared to guys like these he seems like a hero: https://www.buzzfeed.com/bobby77/the-bouvier-affair-the-plot-thickens-1g0ql I have always said that the world of art is full of shady dealings and events like these prove this point of view.
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