In a new update over the shredded painting prank by Banksy carried out immediately after it had been purchased at auction, the woman who bought the piece for £1.04 million has made it clear that she plans on keeping it. The famous “Girl With Balloon” has since, in its newly shredded form, been renamed “Love is in the Bin”.
“When the hammer came down last week and the work was shredded, I was at first shocked, but gradually I began to realise that I would end up with my own piece of art history,” the European collector told the Guardian.
Others have shared their fascination over the new artwork, including Sotheby’s senior director Alex Branczik who humorously stated: “we just got Banksy-ed”.
“Banksy didn’t destroy an artwork in the auction, he created one.”
Sothebys will display the piece at its London galleries from October 13-14, before its delivery to the successful buyer.
Since the prank, there have been claims that its value has increased since going under the shredder by around 20 per cent. It is definitely the “first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction,” according to Branczik.
Other works of Banksy are soon to be auctioned off with the promise that audiences will not witness another on stage demolition. On the same day, history was made as Jenny Saville became the most expensive living female artist, though it was overshadowed somewhat by the enigmatic Bristol artist’s stunt. “Propped”, a nude painting, sold for £9.5 million.
This of course wasn't the first major Banksy prank – we recently dove into his past tricks on the world, from entering the Tate in 2003 in disguise to hang his own work to his visit to Disneyland where he erected a life-size, inflatable doll dressed as a Guantanamo detainee.