This was probably British street artist Banksy's most well known work .....
....... Girl With Balloon. The image that really cemented his place in popular culture.
In October 2018 it was auctioned by Sotheby's auction house in London, fetching £860,000 (with add ons £1,042,000), from an unidentified female 'European buyer'.
It then underwent a transformation in front of the whole world, engineered by the artist himself.
Thus becoming the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction. This prank by Banksy has cemented his reputation as a witty observer of contemporary culture. However it has to be said that the artist later confirmed that the shredder should have completely destroyed the image, instead of creating a new work of art.
But of course he isn't the first artist to make this kind of statement ...
In 1953 Robert Rauschenberg obliterated the original image given to him by the revered Dutch artist Willem de Kooning. He mounted the now blank sheet of paper in a gilded frame, onto which his friend Jasper Johns inscribed with the words, 'Erased de Kooning Drawing. Robert Rauschenberg'.
Jasper Johns has Neo-Dadaist sensibilities .... a movement that once inspired Marcel Duchamp the French conceptual artist, to place a urinal in a gallery in 1917 (under the name R.Mutt), which was rejected by the Society of Independent Artists, but changed Western art.
.... and was the birthing point of Damien Hirst's shark in formaldehyde and Tracey Emin's unmade dirty bed.
Of course there are some who think that Banksy is in fact also the 'unnamed buyer', and that the whole thing is actually an even bigger hoax. But reportedly the buyer is pleased with the outcome and has paid Sotheby's, as she reportedly has said "At first I was shocked, but I realised I would end up with my own piece of art history." ..... You pays your money and makes up your own mind.
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| Girl With Balloon ~ Iconic Image |
....... Girl With Balloon. The image that really cemented his place in popular culture.
In October 2018 it was auctioned by Sotheby's auction house in London, fetching £860,000 (with add ons £1,042,000), from an unidentified female 'European buyer'.
 |
| The Transformation .... £1m Shredded ...... |
It then underwent a transformation in front of the whole world, engineered by the artist himself.
 |
| 'Love Is In The Bin' - Formerly 'Girl With Balloon' |
Thus becoming the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction. This prank by Banksy has cemented his reputation as a witty observer of contemporary culture. However it has to be said that the artist later confirmed that the shredder should have completely destroyed the image, instead of creating a new work of art.
But of course he isn't the first artist to make this kind of statement ...
 |
| Erased de Kooning Drawing ..... |
In 1953 Robert Rauschenberg obliterated the original image given to him by the revered Dutch artist Willem de Kooning. He mounted the now blank sheet of paper in a gilded frame, onto which his friend Jasper Johns inscribed with the words, 'Erased de Kooning Drawing. Robert Rauschenberg'.
Jasper Johns has Neo-Dadaist sensibilities .... a movement that once inspired Marcel Duchamp the French conceptual artist, to place a urinal in a gallery in 1917 (under the name R.Mutt), which was rejected by the Society of Independent Artists, but changed Western art.
 |
| "Fountain" by Marcel Duchamp (1917) |
.... and was the birthing point of Damien Hirst's shark in formaldehyde and Tracey Emin's unmade dirty bed.
Of course there are some who think that Banksy is in fact also the 'unnamed buyer', and that the whole thing is actually an even bigger hoax. But reportedly the buyer is pleased with the outcome and has paid Sotheby's, as she reportedly has said "At first I was shocked, but I realised I would end up with my own piece of art history." ..... You pays your money and makes up your own mind.
The way the painting stopped shredding makes it look like a magic trick where it could be rolled back up, unharmed.
ReplyDeleteBanksy has done some good art but this looks more like a stunt rather than more art.
It was meant to be a piece of performance art (or stunt if you will). The fact that the shredder would jam and create a new bit of permanent art wasn't factored in. That makes it more interesting in my eyes.
DeleteThanks for the comment mate.