For those who haven’t seen the story, last Friday, a Banksy painting of “Girl with Red Balloon” (one of his most famous images) sold at auction for $1.4 million. Moments letter, a shredder that was hidden in the frame started running and shredded half the painting before stopping. Apparently, Banksy played a longcon and built the shredder into the frame two years ago. Nobody knows how it was activated, but speculation is that he was at the auction and triggered it with a remote device.
The most interesting thing to me is that not only did the buyer decide to keep the painting anyway, but speculation is now that the painting, which Banksy renamed “Love Is in the Bin,” is worth even more than the sale price. I think that the love for Banksy can be overly pretentious at times, but regardless, this to me is a microcosm of what really makes collecting great–the value is all about the story that the collectible represents. It’s funny how the article references another collector who shredded his own Banksy print to try to increase its value after this news came out–now there’s somebody who is totally wide of the mark.
news.artnet.com/market/banksy-re-authenticates-shredded-1-4-million-european-buyer-will-keep-1369852