Banksy artwork self-destructs just after $1.4 million sale

Breitbart.com ^ | October 6th 2018 | AP

[Mad Dawgg]

LONDON (AP) — Art prankster Banksy has struck again.

A work by the elusive street artist self-destructed in front of startled auction-goers on Friday, moments after being sold for 1.04 million pounds ($1.4 million). In an Instagram post Saturday, Banksy claimed the dramatic artistic payoff had been years in the making.

The spray-painted canvas “Girl With Balloon” went under the hammer at Sotheby’s in London, fetching more than three times its pre-sale estimate and equaling a record price for the artist.

Then, as an alarm sounded, it ran through a shredder embedded in the frame, leaving half the canvas hanging from the bottom in strips.

A post on Banksy’s official Instagram account showed the moment — and the shocked reaction of those in the room — with the words “Going, going, gone…”

[Mad Dawgg]

Some say he is a faker some say he has no talent, but there is one thing for sure, when it comes to self promotion Bansky is a certified Jedi Master! 😎👌

[right way right]

Did the buyer like it more or less after the shredding?
Did they get a refund???

[Artemis Webb]

He has talent. He’s nobody’s Rembrandt, but he’s a lot more talented than say, Andy Warhol. I’ve heard it said, “If I can do it, it ain’t art.” Well, I can’t do what Banksy does.

[Artemis Webb]

I heard that the value probably doubled after it was shredded.

[Hodar]

When everything is art;
Nothing is

[bigbob]

New art skill: building shredders into picture frames.

[saintgermaine]

There is an old adage “A fool and his money are easily parted” I wouldn’t be surprised if the buyer was a liberal as most of them are mentally challenged. But since I am not an art connoisseur, its brilliance and value probably has escaped me. But whoever the artist is, he sure knows how to pull one over.

[Army Air Corps]

This action further enhances Banksy’s anarchist “street cred.”

[Mad Dawgg]

"Did the buyer like it more or less after the shredding? Did they get a refund???"

The art will triple in value at the least I am sure since Bansky did it himself.

I am sure the person that bought it is happy as a clam.

[lee martell]

That shredder must have been activated by Remote Control and powered by a long, long lasting battery.
A. Someone at the auction must have passed the word of the sale.
B. The shredder frame may have been put on later, by an associate.

C. This looks like something Yoko Ono would do.
I recall she once had an Art Show June 2012 in London. The show featured three identical piles of DIRT. The exhibit was named; “Country A, Country B, Country C.”
Some critics called the work ‘fabulous!. Others called it
‘groundbreaking!’.

[Big Red Badger]

It Is real Dang Funny.

[Dr. Sivana]

There is an old adage “A fool and his money are easily parted”

Let me suggest a predicate: "Unless he can find a bigger fool." There are plenty of multi-million $ artworks of questionable artistic merit that continued to appreciate.

[Mad Dawgg]

He is a certified genius at staying way out on the edge yet selling his warez for millions. He does not take himself or his so-called “art” too seriously and I believe everything he does he executes while his tongue is firmly in cheek.

[Army Air Corps]

I agree completely, he paints with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.

[I want the USA back]

Betting the a$$hole who bought it thinks that this doubles its value.

[Reverend Wright]

dropped glasses at the San Fran Museum of Modern Art

[lee martell]

Both pathetic & comical!

[Artemis Webb]

The artwork in question:

[Artemis Webb]

Re #15:
It DID double it’s value, at least.

[Williams]

Idiots.