This is just so impressive to me. That this was set in motion in 2006 with the engineering and frame design and executed perfectly 12 years later is just so magnificent I’m almost tearing up.
The way the it was shredded and stopping halfway allows the piece to still be hung, and in my mind, this massively increases the notoriety and value of the piece.
To prank Sotheby’s like this at the moment that the auctioneers gavel falls, is truly epic. Truly a great and well executed piece of performance art. I want video!
> Balloon Girl is a 2002 mural by graffiti artist Banksy depicting a young girl letting go of a red heart-shaped balloon.
It's a 2006 copy of a 2002 mural[0]. There is no mention of where the copy originated from though, nor any indication that the frame was part of the 2006 piece.
Sotheby's posts lot details on their site for all auctions. The provenance on this one is quite direct. Banksy -> "Current Owner" -> Whoever won the auction
Banksy himself made the frame.
However, rumor that I've seen among the art world is that Banksy was the "Current Owner" as well as the bidder. The piece sold for the exact same amount (to the pound) as his previous record Sotheby's auction. People are also not buying that Sotheby's wasn't in on it - wooden frames like this have to be verified to be free of pests like termites, etc., which the lot details report was done. It seems unlikely that in verifying the frame to be pest free they would have missed a motorized shredder in it. Especially since the shredded pieces had to go out somewhere...
The frame was part of Banksy’s original idea per the auction house.
>Sotheby's — which had noted before the sale that the work's ornate gilded frame was "an integral element of the artwork chosen by Banksy himself" — expressed surprise at the incident.
How would a bunch of X-Acto blades laying parallel with the canvas be able to cleanly cut it into strips? It seems more likely that the frame contained a pre-cut version that it just rolled out.
The portion of the artwork with the head at top seems disjointed from the rest of the shredded portion (the original picture has normal human proportions).
So, it seems at least, that there may be two works of art.
One which remains unshredded and one which was already shredded (and was released by some mech). Whatever powered the light, likely powered the release mechanism for the shredded and unshredded works of art.
The "disjointedness" is probably due to the artwork being fed back and forth between some rollers. You can see a significant kink at the bottom of the shredded portion, probably due to it being stored pre-fed into the rollers. The rest of the shredded portion lies flat, suggesting that it has been stored flat -- and may be the original piece.
I find it curious, though, that the piece was made with such a significant lower margin hidden by the frame. It certainly suggests it was created for this stunt.
The Sotheby's auction page says the piece was "Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner in 2006", so either the owner or Soethby's collaborated with Banksy, or Banksy built the shredder into the frame in 2006.
Or, I guess, Banksy could have offered the owner the frame prior to the auction, without the owner being aware of what it did.
Banksy is not typical, though. As noted in other articles, the auction house stated that the artist gave them the frame as it was an integral part of the artwork.
The way the it was shredded and stopping halfway allows the piece to still be hung, and in my mind, this massively increases the notoriety and value of the piece.
To prank Sotheby’s like this at the moment that the auctioneers gavel falls, is truly epic. Truly a great and well executed piece of performance art. I want video!