Going, going, gone: How Banksy pranked the art world by shredding a painting in New York

In a twist of events, a rare piece of artwork from Banksy went up for auction this evening — only to self-destruct moments after it was sold. According to sources, a copy of Banksy’s iconic “Girl with Balloon” painting was auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York City on Friday night. However, almost immediately after the record-setting bid of $1.1 million was announced aloud, an alarm was triggered inside the frame and proceeded to shred the painting to pieces.

Last year, Banksy opened the Walled Off Hotel, a full-service art hotel located in the West Bank city of Bethlehem billed as having “the worst view in the world,” with musical contributions from Massive Attack’s 3D, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Flea, Hans Zimmer, and more. In 2015, Banky constructed his very own Dismaland “bemusement park” in London.

So Banksy put a video on Instagram and deleted it almost immediately about the whole shredder in the painting. I screen recorded it for anyone who missed it! pic.twitter.com/uryPvP21ge

— Zoe Smith (@zoelouisesmithx) October 6, 2018