Million-pound Banksy painting gets shredded.

[Petrolheadia]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/1 ... -sells-1m/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/r ... e-13371453

Yesterday, an auction of Banksy's Girl With Balloon was held at London's Sotheby auction house, and the final price ended up being £1.042 million.

However, right after the auction, everybody was surprised by something Banksy hid for the buyer. The painting's frame had a shredder embedded in it that activated right after the sale, cutting the artwork to strips.

Sotheby's "talked with the successful purchaser who was surprised by the story. We are in discussion about next steps.”

Alex Branczik, Sotheby's senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe, said that "We’ve just been Banksy’ed. He is arguably the greatest British street artist, and tonight we saw a little piece of Banksy genius. The shredding is now part of the integral art work. We have not experienced this situation in the past where a painting spontaneously shredded, upon achieving a record for the artist. We are busily figuring out what this means in an auction context.”

Banksy shared a photo of the act on Twitter, captioning it "Going, going, gone...".

What do you think, NS?

I'd say the artwork's remains are now probably worth even more, given their history.

[Scottish Socialists]

Classic Banksy.

[Right wing humour squad]

I’d say this is another example of why art is a waste of time.

[Empire of Narnia]

Good trolling. I approve.

[Ostrov Svobody]

I’d say this is another example of why art is a waste of time.

Define "art", if you're going to use such a broad term.

[Freezic Vast]

What a waste of a million quid, especially if it's gonna be destroyed like that.

[Petrolheadia]

What a waste of a million quid, especially if it's gonna be destroyed like that.

I think it's more like another few hundred grand added to the value.

[Dumb Ideologies]

This act is a brilliant piece of performance art, far better than anything physical he's produced.

[Ostrov Svobody]

This act is a brilliant piece of performance art, far better than anything physical he's produced.

I actually have to agree. The general reaction is amused surprise. The fact that it's kind of - in Banksy form - tapping in to the absurdity of collection culture is pretty funny. And it's ironically going to drive the value up.

[Right wing humour squad]

I’d say this is another example of why art is a waste of time.

Define "art", if you're going to use such a broad term.

Any form of entertainment or decoration that has no specific educational purpose, and/ or has been designed to be inefficient, or purposely emotive.

[Olerand]

Huh?... This is really funny. First off, the fact that someone would pay over 1 million pounds for this thing... And did Sotheby's not know this was going to happen?

Honestly, overall, funny story.

[Petrolheadia]

Define "art", if you're going to use such a broad term.

Any form of entertainment or decoration that has no specific educational purpose, and/ or has been designed to be inefficient, or purposely emotive.

Don't we all do stuff that wastes time?

[Freezic Vast]

Any form of entertainment or decoration that has no specific educational purpose, and/ or has been designed to be inefficient, or purposely emotive.

Don't we all do stuff that wastes time?

What are we doing right now?

[Petrolheadia]

Don't we all do stuff that wastes time?

What are we doing right now?

Wasting time.

[Dahon]

Don't we all do stuff that wastes time?

What are we doing right now?

What we are doing, m'sieurs -- this! Is! ART!

[Ostrov Svobody]

Define "art", if you're going to use such a broad term.

Any form of entertainment or decoration that has no specific educational purpose, and/ or has been designed to be inefficient, or purposely emotive.

A lot of our cultural, philosophical and ethical bases have foundations in and around art. To be emotive and creative is part of our evolution, and isn't necessarily separate from the strictly educational. Things like this stunt ask the question "Why do we value carefully painted and framed pieces so much?", is humorous, etc.

We aren't the Borg, nor are we the Vulcans.

[Right wing humour squad]

Any form of entertainment or decoration that has no specific educational purpose, and/ or has been designed to be inefficient, or purposely emotive.

Don't we all do stuff that wastes time?

I don’t know about you but I’m testing arguments for accuracy right now.

[Petrolheadia]

Don't we all do stuff that wastes time?

I don’t know about you but I’m testing arguments for accuracy right now.

It isn't anything of actual value.

[Right wing humour squad]

I don’t know about you but I’m testing arguments for accuracy right now.

It isn't anything of actual value.

Learning what is accurate and what I have poor reactions to has value. If you know what is more accurate you can waste less time making decisions at work. Increasing your productivity and value for your entire work chain.

[The Grims]

So Bansky or an accomplice was in the audience with a remote and camera and can therefor be identified ?

[USS Monitor]

I’d say this is another example of why art is a waste of time.

Nah. Art is awesome.

There's just no need for the ridiculously inflated prices with big name artists. I actually like Banksy's work, but even if I had a million pounds, I'd never spend it on that. It's just a ridiculous amount to spend on something like that when there are millions of other pieces of artwork in the world, and you can easily find a nifty piece by a less famous artist that costs a few hundred pounds instead of a million. Of course, that's kind of the point of a prank like this, pointing out how silly the high end art market is. It doesn't mean art isn't worthwhile, or even that Banksy's art isn't worthwhile, just that some people are pretentious twits that overpay for things. It's no different than people who buy overpriced clothes because of the brand. Doesn't prove that clothes are a waste of time, just proves there are people who have more money than sense.

[Right wing humour squad]

I’d say this is another example of why art is a waste of time.

Nah. Art is awesome.

There's just no need for the ridiculously inflated prices with big name artists. I actually like Banksy's work, but even if I had a million pounds, I'd never spend it on that. It's just a ridiculous amount to spend on something like that when there are millions of other pieces of artwork in the world, and you can easily find a nifty piece by a less famous artist that costs a few hundred pounds instead of a million. Of course, that's kind of the point of a prank like this, pointing out how silly the high end art market is. It doesn't mean art isn't worthwhile, or even that Banksy's art isn't worthwhile, just that some people are pretentious twits that overpay for things. It's no different than people who buy overpriced clothes because of the brand. Doesn't prove that clothes are a waste of time, just proves there are people who have more money than sense.

Nah art is a waste of time.

The only good thing about it is it’s a clear sign of who to never employ.

[Petrolheadia]

Nah. Art is awesome.

There's just no need for the ridiculously inflated prices with big name artists. I actually like Banksy's work, but even if I had a million pounds, I'd never spend it on that. It's just a ridiculous amount to spend on something like that when there are millions of other pieces of artwork in the world, and you can easily find a nifty piece by a less famous artist that costs a few hundred pounds instead of a million. Of course, that's kind of the point of a prank like this, pointing out how silly the high end art market is. It doesn't mean art isn't worthwhile, or even that Banksy's art isn't worthwhile, just that some people are pretentious twits that overpay for things. It's no different than people who buy overpriced clothes because of the brand. Doesn't prove that clothes are a waste of time, just proves there are people who have more money than sense.

Nah art is a waste of time.

The only good thing about it is it’s a clear sign of who to never employ.

So people with any sort of hobby are unemployable?

[Ostrov Svobody]

So people with any sort of hobby are unemployable?

Or writing about any sort of philosophy, be it political, existential, or economical?

Or enjoying television, movies, books?

[Right wing humour squad]

Nah art is a waste of time.

The only good thing about it is it’s a clear sign of who to never employ.

So people with any sort of hobby are unemployable?

Not employable by me. And theirs hobbies that are actually worth doing.