Love Is in the Bin

Love Is in the Bin
Girl with Balloon
Artist Banksy Edit this on Wikidata
Year 2006
Medium Aerosol paint, Acrylic paint, canvas, board
Dimensions 101 cm (40 in) × 78 cm (31 in) × 18 cm (7.1 in)

Love Is in the Bin is a 2018 art intervention by Banksy at Sotheby's London, with an unexpected self-destruction of his 2006 painting of Girl with Balloon immediately after it was sold at auction for a record £1,042,000. According to Sotheby's, it is "the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction."

Original work

The painting is an adaptation of Banksy's 2002 mural Girl with Balloon, rare as a unique work rather than a print. It was given by him to a friend shortly after the "Barely Legal" exhibition in 2006.[1] Banksy has said he prepared the self-destruct mechanism at this time in case the work was ever put up for auction.[2]

Auction and self-destruction

Sotheby's London sold the painting at auction on 5 October 2018, at an artist-record price of £1,042,000.[3] Within seconds of the gavel drop, the canvas began sliding out of the bottom of the frame and shredding itself to the audible sound of a siren and the surprise exclamations of attendees. The work was housed in a deep frame and was plugged in to facilitate built-in electrical lights, which powered the hidden paper shredder as well. Sotheby's said they had no foreknowledge of the mechanism.[4]

After the shredding, there was a negotiation with the buyer to confirm the sale, and on 11 October it was agreed that the sale would go through at the original price. The work was renamed by Banksy's representatives from Girl with Balloon to Love Is in the Bin. Market watchers speculated the self-destruction would increase the artwork's value.[5] Sotheby's released a statement that called it "the first artwork in history to have been created live during an auction".[4][6]

It was reported that the artist uploaded a video of the event onto Instagram, showing the construction of the shredding mechanism and frame, but deleted the post.[7]

Speculations and theories

It has been speculated that a man seen filming the shredding was Banksy or someone connected to him.[8][9]

Shortly after the auction, Josh Gilbert, an artist and blacksmith, noted a number of inconsistencies with the theory that the work had shredded itself.[10] In an interview with Bored Panda,[11] he noted that in the brief how-to video attributed to Banksy, what appeared to be X-Acto cutting blades were mounted sideways in an orientation that could not have shredded the painting. Additionally, the location and spacing of the blades could not have produced the results seen by the public. Gilbert concluded that no shredding occurred within the frame and a pre-shredded version was simply rolled out as the original was preserved, calling it "a classic magician's trick."[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Contemporary Art Evening Auction - Banksy - Girl with Balloon". Sotheby's. 5 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  2. ↑ Banksy (2018-10-06). ""The urge to destroy is also a creative urge" - Picasso". Instagram. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  3. ↑ Gina Martinez (October 6, 2018). "'It Appears We Just Got Banksy-ed.' Art Piece Self Destructs After Being Sold for Over $1 Million". Time. Yahoo! News. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Busby, Mattha (11 October 2018). "Woman who bought shredded Banksy artwork will go through with purchase". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Banksy renames shredded painting Love Is In the Bin as work sells to winning bidder after a week of negotiation". www.theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 2018-10-12.
  6. ↑ Kinsella, Eileen (11 October 2018). "Banksy Authenticates and Renames His Shredded $1.4 Million Painting—Which the Buyer Plans to Keep". artnet.
  7. ↑ "Woman to keep shredded £1m Banksy". BBC News. 2018-10-11. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
  8. ↑ "Who's the mystery man who films at Banksy prank auction?". Sky News.
  9. ↑ "Banksy's 'Girl with Balloon' sale is confirmed -- and it's got a new name". CNN. 11 October 2018.
  10. 1 2 "According To This Fan Theory, Banksy Shredding Iconic Painting Might Actually Be A Huge Prank". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
  11. ↑ "Guy Notices That Something Doesn't Add Up In Banksy Shredding, Explains Why It Was FAKE". Bored Panda. Retrieved 2018-10-13.
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