This Banksy Painting "Self-Destructed" After Being Sold For $1.3 Million"It appears we just got Banksy-ed."
Hazel ShearingOctober 6, 2018, at 4:05 a.m.
Banksy might have just carried out the *greatest ever* troll of the art world at a Sotheby's auction when his painting seemed to self-destruct moments after it sold for $1.3 million.
$1,300,000 BANKSY artwork piece just “self-destructed” right after it was sold at Sotheby’s auction! (An alarm sound went off and the frame began to shred the art piece.)https://t.co/TAsrE9ptIh
02:35 AM - 06 Oct 2018
Banksy's iconic "Girl With Red Balloon" sold at Sotheby's Contemporary Art Evening Sale in London on Friday for just over £1 million ($1.3 million).
But just after the auctioneer's hammer went down, the painting began to shred itself through its frame, apparently triggered by a remote device.
"It appears we just got Banksy-ed," Alex Branczik, Sotheby's head of contemporary art for Europe, told shocked onlookers.
This human is a GENIUS. $1.3M Banksy Artwork “Self-Destructs” right after it’s sold at Auction.
https://t.co/9KAmZoJu95 https://t.co/Wmq1lvU3BM02:01 AM - 06 Oct 2018
Banksy, who chooses to remain anonymous, appeared to confirm the hoax on Instagram.
Instagram: @banksy
Needless to say, people absolutely loved it.
@MichaelSurtees I like to think that this is because Banksy's artwork is meant to be seen, and experienced, not owned. I may be wrong but I love this. Best thing I've seen on twitter all day.
04:51 AM - 06 Oct 2018
They said it was the enigmatic street artist's way of telling the world that his work "isn't meant to be owned".
@DanFleyshman #Banksy was clearly making a statement about anyone who thinks you can actually own his art. He’s essentially saying art is free and isn’t meant to be owned...also would you really expect anything less...IT’S BANKSY!!!
05:34 AM - 06 Oct 2018
And that Banksy is probably the only person who could pull this off.
It must be a lot of fun being Banksy. Making a (theatrical) point about art that no one else in art can make.
https://t.co/LcaY42Z9uy05:51 AM - 06 Oct 2018
Some questioned whether it had actually been shredded at all.
So, I have a theory about that Banksy shredded girl w/the red balloon: It's not shredded. It's still rolled up inside the frame. A pre-torn canvas rolled out from behind the one in front that is rolled up behind itself. The torn canvas doesn't line up w/the one in front:
https://t.co/fuyCaxAcMj04:57 AM - 06 Oct 2018
In any case, others concluded, Banksy can continue to hold the well-earned title of "world's smuggest man".
Anyone who says ‘classic Banksy’ or ‘epic’ or anything that isn’t ‘world’s smuggest man continues to have cake and eat it’ can leave my timeline $1.3M Banksy Artwork “Self-Destructs” at Auction
https://t.co/o36LAJqOEq06:35 AM - 06 Oct 2018
https://www.buzzfeed.com/hazelshearing/ ... nting-self 
