Banksy reveals how he executed plan to shred $1.1 million painting after it was sold at Sotheby's auction
A painting of 'Girl with Balloon,' one of Banksy's most famous works, shred itself immediately after it was sold to a buyer for over $1 million.
Banksy is well-known for his satirical street art and subversive epigrams, as well as his disdain for art auctioneers who have, in the past, attempted to get him to sell some of his photographs or reproductions of his street graffiti. The artist eventually gave in when he gave Sotheby's in London the permission to auction off one of his best-known works: Girl with Balloon. But one should have suspected that he had something a little more sinister in store.
In what is quite possibly one of the most audacious pranks ever to be executed successfully, Banksy waited until his art piece — which was the final item in the auction on Friday night — was sold for £1.04 million before activating a device within the frame that tore it to shreds.