One of Banksy’s most well-known items, Girl with Balloon, was auctioned off at London public sale home Sotheby’s final night time for a cool £1.042 million.
While this determine is way from uncommon in the case of the elusive artist's work, it’s what occurred subsequent that took a flip for the sudden.
Moments after the sale was accomplished, an alarm sounded and the stencil spray portray appeared to shred itself, passing by means of a mechanism hidden throughout the canvas’ body.
Taking to Instagram, Banksy posted an image of the shredding in progress, photographed alongside a sea of shocked faces who have been watching the prank unfold. He captured the put up, “Going, going, gone…”
Sotheby’s have already issued a assertion discussing the stunt. They described the prank as, “instantaneous artwork world historical past”, including that it, “definitely marks the primary time in public sale historical past murals mechanically shredded itself after coming below the hammer.”
“It seems we simply received Banksy-ed,” mentioned Sotheby’s Senior Director and Head of Contemporary Art in Europe, Alex Branczik.
The piece in query depicts a woman and a crimson heart-shaped balloon. It initially appeared on a wall on Great Eastern Street, London, and final yr it was voted the nation's favorite paintings. The £1.042 million determine it bought for matched Banksy’s earlier file at public sale from again in 2008.
The identification of Bristol-born avenue artist Banksy has by no means been formally confirmed, nevertheless final yr Goldie appeared to disclose the artist’s identify in an interview, referring to Banksy as “Robert”. Although he solely hinted at a primary identify, many assumed he was referring to Massive Attack’s Robert ‘3D’ Del Naja.
Jasmine Kent-Smith is Mixmag's Weekend Editor. Follow her on Twitter
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[Photo credit: Sotheby's]