An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s • Hacker News Board

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#261

Post by slig » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:31 PM UTC

logicchains wrote: post #183

slig wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The saver, by exercising restraint and not consuming everything he produces, has contributed more to the economy by allowing the fruits of his labours to be invested, increasing future productivity. Is that so? I'm not so sure. How can we know that the spender didn't contribute more to the economy by spending 50k/year more on goods and services?

Value is created by production: someone has to make something before it can be consumed. To increase productivity, to increase the ability to produce more things, investment is needed, be it in research, infrastructure or education. If everything that is produced (the $100k worth of value) is consumed, there's nothing left to invest. More empirically, the fact that people are willing to pay the saver interest for his…

Thanks, good point.

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#262

Post by zseck » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:35 PM UTC

maym86 wrote: post #198

jakecodes wrote: post #148

As a magic aficionado my bet is that the picture was rolled into the frame and a pre torn version popped out the bottom. Like the old dollar bill trick. Still impressive.

I highly doubt it. I don't think Banksey is worried about a print being damaged.

From the video that Banksy posted, the shredding mechanism just doesn’t make any sense. X-acto blades at that angle wouldn’t shred in the way it come out of the frame. There’s clearly something else happening here.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-bristol-45770028

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#263

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:36 PM UTC

mygo wrote: post #106

codeulike wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah whoever bought that has probably made a profit already, its a lot more interesting now.

whoever bought it also payed the same exact price as Banksy’s all-time auction record set 10 years ago, down to the pound.

[deleted]

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#264

Post by booleandilemma » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:37 PM UTC

raverbashing wrote: post #226

avoutthere wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For an "anti-capitalist", he sure has a lot of books for sale on Amazon.

"Capitalism is dead" t-shirts are on sale now

And Che Guevara t-shirts are on clearance.

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#265

Post by spuz » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:39 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #142

spuz wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please tell me which other ingenious and clever marketing stunts Banksy, the anti-capitalist artist who refuses to allow his work or even prints (with rare exceptions) to be sold is known for?

> Banksy, the anti-capitalist artist (Alleged) anti-capitalism and marketing are not mutually exclusive. Banksy has an eye for publicity, from selling his art for $60 on New York’s streets [1] to parading a painted packiderm [2]. Whether it’s to sell his art (which it does), sell his name (which it also does) or sell his ideas (which it does, too) is orthogonal to it being clever and effective marketing. [1] https://…

Yes, in this case Banksy is clearly trying sell his name and idea, I can't dispute that. But the comment I replied to implied it was done in partnership with Sothebys in order to increase the value of his art and therefore make more money from it. At least, that is how I read it. That kind of 'marketing stunt' is one that just doesn't fit into his MO which makes it hard to believe.

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#266

Post by booleandilemma » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:42 PM UTC

clydethefrog wrote: post #223

nevster wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anyone been able to find video of the shredding happen? Finding videos on youtube is such a crapshoot nowadays with people uploading/copying the same videos or some lame commentary over static images.

https://twitter.com/zoelouisesmithx/status/10485771217429831... It happens at 0:37

How many people were involved in the recording of that video? Who did the editing? What a publicity stunt...

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#267

Post by spuz » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:44 PM UTC

chrischen wrote: post #234

nns wrote: post #119

This is a well orchestrated publicity stunt. A reputed auction house like Sotheby's would never put an item up before thoroughly checking and documenting it. Post this stunt, the artwork will now be valued much higher than what it sold for at this auction. Banksy has been known for such ingenious and clever marketing stunts.

Well I guess they must be feeling very charitable because they allowed the value to skyrocket after bidding ended.

As a piece of performance art, the stunt wouldn't have as much impact if it was shredded during the auction. The idea of establishing a classical 'value' of an object by process of auction only for that object to be classically devalued moments later allows you to explore what gave that thing its value in the first place and what takes away its value after its 'destruction'. Without having a clear moment of delineation between these two states, you don't have a clear way to discuss and understand this question.

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#268

Post by eecc » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:48 PM UTC

tomaskafka wrote: post #251

ljm wrote: post #201

Part of me feels like this stunt is clever because the nature of the performance improves the value of the work. So it's self-destructive in the technical sense of the term but it was designed in such a way to essentially transform the piece. While shocking in the moment, as the pictures of the scene show, the work has three separate qualities: the original significance of the piece, the new meaning it attains after…

> What would it say for a similar work of art to self destruct at a very glacial pace, and the only way to prevent degradation was to pay attention to it? That's our society. Or Earth. In either case no one cares.

Interesting how the most remarkable and deep comments come from such “what if” comments about the most hypothetical and abstract subjects. It reminds me of the internet when I first met it.

Oh and by the way, this very same comment space is itself a product, an effect, a derivative work of Banksy’s art.

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#269

Post by ridgeguy » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:54 PM UTC

It was only at the moment of shredding that Banksy finished his work.

I won't be surprised to see its estimated value double within a week.

Re: An artwork by Banksy shredded itself after selling for $1.3M at Sotheby’s

#270

Post by fallingfrog » Sat, Oct 06, 2018, 8:55 PM UTC

Good for him! That's one way to keep your work from being locked up in the private estates of the beautiful people. At least it won't be somebody's tax shelter now.