Famed underground graffiti artist Banksy went viral over the weekend when he shocked a Sotheby’s auction crowd by triggering a painting – The Girl with the Red Balloon – to shred itself immediately after it was sold for more than $1 million to a bidder.
The viral video of the stunt only showed the painting after the deed had been done, but a since deleted Instagram video by Banksy shows the actual shredding of the painting and footage of him building the shredder into the frame, “In case it was ever put up for auction.”
Based on the looks on the faces of all the blue bloods and stuffed shirts at the auction, it looks like was well worth the extra effort.