JMVL writes about the graffiti artist Banksys perhaps most controversial stunt; the Auctioning of “Girl With Balloon”. The blog describes how the painting was sold at an auction, but instantly shredded by a mechanism in the frame, and how this actually increased the market value of the piece.
I think JMVL have done his research, as I learned details about the case I didn’t know. He makes it clear that Banksy is an artist that creates what he wants to create, and since he is anonymous, creating a cashflow is not his motive. He might want to create political debates. From his writing, I think JMVL knows that one of the things that deduces at what price a piece of art can be sold for, is the artists reputation. The lengths auction houses and museums are willing to go to obtain a Banksy original are expressed fairly, and selling prices are steep.
Since the main focus of this text seems to be the relationship between price and artistic reputation, I think JMVL could have discussed a bit deeper the mechanism itself as to why he thinks the price value of the painting went up when it shredded itself. One might suggest that building a shredder into a frame that activates once the piece is sold is a very “Banksy thing” to do, and thus increases its value because of an increase in his own artistic reputation.
This also opens up to explore why Banksy is such a well known name globally. Especially since graffiti often is subject to judgement, frowned upon, and washed away, and characterized as “low-life-art”, or not art at all, as it in many cases is vandalism. That’s why it is interesting to debate why the price in this case is higher than approximately 100 % of pieces generally sold at auctions. Why is Banksys art of such an exclusive status, when it seems that he wants his art to be a thing of public domain? I think, ironically, it’s because of his brand as an expressive artist that doesn’t sell out, and he does not want to be exposed; he just craves that debate and when someone wants to earn money from it, he simply gives them the finger and tears his art apart.
But JMVL touches this matter and clarifies that Banksy put out a statement about his art by pulling this stunt, and the statement is a powerful artistic tool. As an artist of his nature, he does not like it when his art is commercialized as the whole point of it evaporates. It’s either his own property, or for public eyes to see.
Making sense of art and design industries 