Banksy reveals shredding his art was planned for years

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Going, going, gone...

A post shared by Banksy (@banksy) on Oct 5, 2018 at 6:45pm PDT

It is a bit of a Bansky weekend.

A post by G. Jim Daichendt is ready. He wrote on how a Banksy became an educational tool in Texas.

Then the British street artist pulled off a spectacular prank on Friday night. His trademark painting,  "Girl With Balloon," a 2006 spray paint on canvas, self-destructed at Sotheby's in London moments after selling for $1.4 million at auction. The work was the last item during Sotheby's "Frieze Week" evening contemporary art sale and went more than three times the estimate. It was a new auction high for a work solely by the artist, according to Sotheby's.
 
When the hammer hit marking the final bid, an alarm went off.  The painting starting  escaping the frame. It was being shredded by remote-control device on the back of the frame.  "We've been Banksy-ed," Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art in Europe, said at a news conference afterward, adding he was "not in on the ruse."

The painting as performance piece became a hit. "I never much liked Banksy's art and act. This I love. I am yours Banksy," said art critic Jerry Saltz on Instagram.

From Sotheby's Saturday statement: "The successful bidder was a private collector, bidding through a Sotheby's staff member on the phone. We are currently in discussions about next steps."

With all the interest of the Banksy shredded, presumably by Banksy, may have increased the value of the piece that is now in pieces. 

Below, how Bansky vandalized his own work.

Afternoon add: Everyone is on Bansky, including CNN + NYT + Art Newspaper + Hyperallergic (with new pics).

​Evening add: LATimes "Artist Isaiah King, who is exhibiting at The Other Art Fair in London, said the event was abuzz with news of Banksy’s antics. “I keep waiting for him to be irrelevant, and then he goes and does something like that,” King said. “If he was a lesser artist, he would have destroyed the art’s value. But because it’s Banksy it will only be worth more now.”