A British street artist made his painting self-destruct on Friday moments after it was auctioned for 1.042 million British pounds (1.37 million U.S. dollars) at Sotheby's in London.
Banksy, an anonymous street artist who made his name through a series of graffiti pieces across Britain, has installed a shredder on the back of his iconic "Girl With Balloon" painting. Moments after it was sold, the work passed through the bottom of its frame, producing a partially shredded canvas.
The 2006 stenciled spray-painting depicted a girl reaching out toward a bright red, heart-shaped balloon. In a video uploaded afterwards on Instagram that has been watched over 4 million times, Banksy revealed he had secretly built the shredder into the painting years ago in case it was ever put up for auction. He quoted Pablo Picasso as saying in the post: "The urge to destroy is also a creative urge."
The unexpected incident has grabbed world attention. In a statement Friday, Sotheby's described the move as becoming instant art world history and said it has marked the first time in auction history that a work of art automatically shredded itself after coming under the hammer.
So far, it remains unclear whether the final bidder has to pay the amount or not, though some surmise that the shredded work will in fact rise in value.
