I’m a fan of contemporary art, especially abstract and performance art. And while I like the style and power of the British graffiti artist Banksy, I can’t decide if I am delighted or dumbfounded by the fate of one of his recent paintings.
Three years ago, when bidding ended for “Girl with Balloon,” one of his most iconic pieces, at Sotheby’s in London — selling for $1.4 million — a beeping commenced and the painting lowered itself into a shredder Banksy had secretly installed in the lower part of the frame, cutting the piece into strips. The act was branded social commentary of the highest order: “... an attention-grabbing spectacle (the shredding) taking place within an attention-grabbing spectacle (the auction), which highlighted through dark satire how art has become an investment commodity to be auctioned off to ultrawealthy trophy-hunters,” opined one critic for the BBC.
Last week, the buyer of “Girl with Balloon” got the last laugh. Retitled “Love is in the Bin” — described as “Decommissioned, remote controlled shredding mechanism remains in the frame” — the still half-shredded piece was again auctioned off, this time fetching $25.4 million, more than three times Sotheby’s highest estimate and more than 18 times what the 2018 purchaser paid.
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