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How Banksy Authenticates His Work

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Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#21

Post by [deleted] »

t0astbread wrote: post #17
recursive wrote: post #13

I'm missing something here. Anyone can produce a torn-in-half "Di-faced" fake banknote with Lady Diana's face on it, with a handwritten ID number across the bill. Hell, I'll validate your Banksy pieces for £64. Where's the authenticity coming from, and whats even the point of the torn note?

The point of the torn note is (as far as I understood) that the authenticator keeps the other half. So anyone can contact the authenticator and ask them if they have a counterpiece for any given note. I don't see how this prevents someone with visual access to the note and the painting from creating a fake though. (The article mentions the tear is hard to reproduce but I doubt that.) Additionally I don't see how this…

[deleted]

Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#22

Post by [deleted] »

chrischen wrote: post #20
t0astbread wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The point of the torn note is (as far as I understood) that the authenticator keeps the other half. So anyone can contact the authenticator and ask them if they have a counterpiece for any given note. I don't see how this prevents someone with visual access to the note and the painting from creating a fake though. (The article mentions the tear is hard to reproduce but I doubt that.) Additionally I don't see how this…

They’d have o create a precisely matching tear.

[deleted]

Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#23

Post by [deleted] »

recursive wrote: post #13

I'm missing something here. Anyone can produce a torn-in-half "Di-faced" fake banknote with Lady Diana's face on it, with a handwritten ID number across the bill. Hell, I'll validate your Banksy pieces for £64. Where's the authenticity coming from, and whats even the point of the torn note?

[deleted]

Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#25

Post by steve19 »

sin7 wrote: post #24

Couldn't I sell a fake Banksy with the real authentication?

Yes but then you now have a real Banksy that will be labeled a fake because the fake print #18375 has a letter of authenticity while your real #18375 does not.

You would need to get Pest Control to keep issuing certificates for the same print, which they probably won't do.

Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#26

Post by patio11 »

recursive wrote: post #13

I'm missing something here. Anyone can produce a torn-in-half "Di-faced" fake banknote with Lady Diana's face on it, with a handwritten ID number across the bill. Hell, I'll validate your Banksy pieces for £64. Where's the authenticity coming from, and whats even the point of the torn note?

It being pointless is the point. That is normally a fairly low-brow dismissal, so I will clarify that in this case I mean it as the straightforward reading of a piece of performance art. Banksy is an enormously successful commercial artist who has made a career out of mocking the notion that you can own art. The meaning of the piece is that the art is the authentication that you have the art, and that is the art, and if this all sounds a little twee well you’re not the kind of person who buys original Banksys.

Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#27

Post by wp381640 »

hjk05 wrote: post #4

There’s nothing cryptographic about this. It’s a central authority that either says “yes it’s real” or not. The system revolves around trust in that central authority. Everyone can easily fake a certificate which cannot be independently falsified without asking that central authority, who will be more likely to check their books than to do anything related to the actual certificate.

> It’s a central authority that either says “yes it’s real” or not.

/me looks at his browser CA roots

Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#29

Post by manicdee »

wp381640 wrote: post #27
hjk05 wrote: post #4

There’s nothing cryptographic about this. It’s a central authority that either says “yes it’s real” or not. The system revolves around trust in that central authority. Everyone can easily fake a certificate which cannot be independently falsified without asking that central authority, who will be more likely to check their books than to do anything related to the actual certificate.

> It’s a central authority that either says “yes it’s real” or not. /me looks at his browser CA roots

That’s right, the CA certificates in your browser can be tampered with because they aren’t the actual CA saying “yes it’s legit” they are a token containing a cryptographic key which claims to prove authenticity mathematically.

Banksy is more secure than web browser crypto.

Re: How Banksy Authenticates His Work

#30

Post by gitgud »

cycrutchfield wrote: post #15
gitgud wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cryptographic implies math is used, which doesn't seem to be the case here.

That’s a rather restrictive definition of cryptography, don’t you think?

Well yes strictly speaking it's not just math, but usually it does imply math.

What are some examples of cryptography without math of some kind?

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