Banksy
On October 5, 2018, at the famous auction house “Sotheby’s,” a gimmick pulled off by the well-known masked British artist “Banksy” became the talk of the world (see the video below).
This work, “Girl With Balloon,” was hammered down at 1.4 million dollars (approx. 150 million yen) at that auction.
The video captures how, the moment the hammer fell, a device hidden inside the frame activated and began shredding the work.
What a wonderful gimmick!
The public has been swirling with speculation, and, more or less as Banksy intended, the story has spread everywhere.
People have suggested that “the auction insiders were in on it,” “the shredding itself is part of the work,” “he was actually in the room and pressed the button himself,” and so on.
The story was pushed out simultaneously as breaking news, and even in Japan it briefly took the #1 spot in Google search rankings.
Who Is Banksy?
So who exactly is “Banksy,” the person at the center of all this instant attention?
He is a “masked artist,” so no facts about him are publicly confirmed, but I have tried to sum things up in the 7 points below.
*Please note these are my own personal summary and comments.
- He is a British artist
- He operates masked
- He mainly works outdoors, on the street, etc.
- He uses the web and social media skillfully
- He often takes up contemporary social issues
- The prices of his works are soaring
- He is disliked by many in the art establishment
Let me go through each point in turn.
[1] He is a British artist
As you can tell from Banksy’s official site “banksy.co.uk,” he uses the “UK” domain, indicating his home turf. Since there is no publicly disclosed profile, this is the basis for saying he is a British artist.
[2] Working masked — his real name and face are hidden *Contains spoilers
Banksy operates masked, and his real name and face have not been made public.
Recently, however, thanks to analysis of his movements and to photographs captured by passersby who happened to be there, his identity has been more or less identified.
Banksy’s true identity appears to be all but confirmed as “Robert Del Naja (a.k.a. 3D),” the central figure of the popular British music unit “Massive Attack.” Born in 1965.
For reference, here is one of Massive Attack’s famous tracks — a piece created with Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins on vocals.
[3] He mainly works outdoors, on the street
Works painted on walls in the city become talking points at the intersection of many different agendas, and Banksy has produced many pieces where “the participants themselves are part of the artwork.”
He goes to New York and spends a month doing guerrilla activity, and in various countries around the world he takes a similar guerrilla approach to producing work. His New York campaign became a “treasure hunt” in which the street and the internet worked hand in hand.
Of course, painting on the street is often treated as “illegal,” but back home in places like London the local government has taken the stance of tolerating it to some extent as a “tourism resource.”
[4] He uses the web and social media skillfully
By filming his street activity and rolling it out on the web, Banksy has succeeded in getting his work broadly recognized. His Instagram in particular has a huge following, with fans constantly watching his every move.
While Banksy makes a rule of “not signing the physical work itself,” he announces his pieces mainly through Instagram. Using Instagram photos and captions to announce and introduce his own work is one part of his approach.
*Works born on the street often end up in the hands of members of the public, but if you are looking for a reason he does not sign them, perhaps it is because he does not want them resold at auction.
His street actions are also frequently recorded on video and released on YouTube. Real footage and even faked-up footage alike are treated the same way and released to the world. In other words, all of this is a medium for producing the work. There is no doubt that the current shredder incident drew this level of attention precisely because we live in an internet society. Banksy and these platforms are inseparable.
[5] He often takes up contemporary social issues
War, conflict, politics, economic disparity, discrimination, animal abuse… Banksy’s practice is about shining a light on the many problems facing contemporary society, including power imbalances and structural violence.
The first time I really became aware of Banksy was through this video, “Rebel Rocket Attack” (released in 2013).
Islamist fighters fire a rocket, and the video realistically shows it striking a target — but what falls from the sky afterwards is none other than “Dumbo,” the familiar Disney character.
The film “Dumbo” was released during World War II, “DUMBO” was used as a code name by the U.S. Navy, and “Operation Dumbo” was a mission to rescue stranded sailors and pilots — a set of references that seem to be at play here. The idea of intercutting war with Disney is brilliant.
The current “shredder incident” may likewise carry a hint of mockery aimed at the high-priced auction market and the art industry. The prevailing view, however, seems to be that “by shredding it, he made news and further boosted the work’s value.” Whether that was Banksy’s true aim, whether things did or did not go to plan, whether it was just a publicity stunt — we cannot know exactly, but there is no doubt he succeeded in making news.
[6] The prices of his works are soaring
The shredded work mentioned at the top just fetched 150 million yen at this auction, so it has clearly built a very high-value market.
The following video shows guerrilla activity Banksy actually carried out near Central Park in New York.
It is a video in which he sold signed works — something he does not normally do. This campaign, too, was a “masked sales campaign.”
A salesperson hired by Banksy sold his works as mere “spray art” for “$60” apiece.
Not knowing they were by Banksy, buyers spent a total of just $420 that day. Some even negotiated the price down by half. Some of these works were later put up at auction, and the prices fetched came in as high as around $2.5 billion (28 million!) — Banksy is constantly commanding sky-high prices in the auction market.
For what it is worth, the first Banksy work I ever encountered was on this CD jacket. *Below links to Amazon.
I will keep watching Banksy’s future moves with interest.
