Banksy, the anonymous street artist known for guerrilla art pieces and installations, recently caused a stir in the art world for his self-destructing painting “Girl with Balloon”. Once the winning bid was placed at Sotheby’s in London for $1.4 million, an alarm sounded and the painting slipped down through a shredder hidden in the frame which destroyed the bottom half of the piece. According to Banksy’s Instagram, he secretly built the shredder “in case it was ever put up for auction” and meant for the entire painting to be completely destroyed; not partially. On YouTube, Banksy posted a video titled “Shredding the Girl and Balloon– the Director’s half cut” and shows that “in rehearsals [the shredder] worked every time”. Now known as “Love is in the Bin”, the piece is now even more coveted by art collectors everywhere because it “became instant art world history and certainly marks the first time in auction history that a work of art automatically shredded itself after coming under the hammer” (Sotheby's). The winning $1.4 million bidder, a private collector, is now the owner of an arguably even more famous piece. Some people wonder why Banksy might have intended to destroy his painting. Personally, I think it was to make a statement about consumerism. Banksy has repeatedly resisted the commercialization of his work. In 2013, he set up an unidentified stall in Central Park where he sold $225,000 worth of artwork for only $420. Additionally, Banksy quoted Picasso on his Instagram after the fiasco. He wrote, “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge,” (New York Times). This leads us to believe that his destruction of the piece was an additional component of the creative process. Many treat Banksy’s work, mainly street art, as “fine art”- a concept that is highly debated in the art world. Regardless, Banky’s legacy and mysterious aura live on, spicing up the art world one demonstration at a time.
