Banksy Artwork Shreds Itself At Auction

The famous (infamous?) British street artist cites Picasso - "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge" - after a painting sold at auction for $1.4 million shreds itself in front of shocked onlookers at Sotheby's.

Personally, I think the whole thing was just a stunt.  Though I'm not sure whether Sotheby's was in on it or not.  (With all the security there, wouldn't they have checked out the painting more thoroughly?)

But it's a little fishy that the seller was anonymous, and the buyer was anonymous.  And the artist doesn't show his face in public.  

That being said, it was a heck of a stunt, and Banksy posted a video on Instagram, showing how he built the shredder into the artwork, in case it was ever auctioned. There are those who think Banksy was in the gallery when it happened, orchestrating the whole thing.

And there are those that talk about the deeper meaning, the rebuke of empty consumerism, etc... 

Me? I just hate that it got shredded, because I really liked the painting.  But maybe I'm just simple like that.


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