Banksy shredding video reveals how £1m Girl With Balloon stunt was pulled off
Written by News on 08/10/2018
“The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”
Quoting Picasso, Banksy has released a video showing how he secretly built a shredder into the painting which made headlines around the world when it self-destructed during an auction last week.
Onlookers at Sotheby’s in London were stunned when, just moments after selling for more than £1m, the Girl With Balloon painting shredded in front of them, coming out of the bottom of the frame in strips.
Now, Banksy has revealed how he did it.
A video on his official Instagram page shows the device being installed, and says: “A few years ago I secretly built a shredder into a painting…
“In case it was ever put up for auction…”
It does not show how the shredder was activated, but it is thought to have been achieved through a remotely activated mechanism within the frame.
One of Banksy’s best-known images, Girl With Balloon was one of the star attractions at Sotheby’s Contemporary Art Evening Sale.
The artwork was signed and dedicated and the vendor acquired it from the artist in 2006, the auction house said.
Following the shredding, Alex Branczik, Sotheby’s senior director, said: “It appears we just got Banksy-ed.”
A buyer would not normally be expected to go through with the purchase if a work is damaged while in the care of an auction house.
However, it will perhaps now be worth even more now, going down in history as one of the art world’s greatest ever pranks.
(c) Sky News 2018: Banksy shredding video reveals how £1m Girl With Balloon stunt was pulled off
