The genius of Banksy was on display again Friday night in London when his iconic Girl Red Balloon sold for a record £953,829. Right after the hammer, the piece from the British artist ran through what appeared to be a remotely activated shredder hidden in the unusually thick frame, leaving half of the work hanging from the bottom in strips. The elusive street artist later took to social media to claim that he added the self-destruct option in the frame in case the piece was ever put up for auction while quoting Picasso – “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.”
Alex Branczik, the auction house’s head of contemporary art, claimed that the they were not in on the prank and we will leave it up to you to decide whether Banksy set this up or if the seller really was in the dark about the true nature of the frame. Also, there is speculation the piece might arguably be worth even more now after the whole incident.
Discuss Banksy here.
