I think the video came from Banksy’s site so it could have been Banksy himself.
I think it would be pretty risky if Banksy was the cameraman if he truly values his anonymity. All it would’ve taken to expose him is one person snapping a picture or taking a video of the booth with him in the background holding his camera. Then, someone (reddit) would’ve identified him.
As did Warhol, who is essentially the father of mass-manufactured pop art. It’s like Banksy is taking a play from Mr. Brainwash’s playbook here. I wish I could have a Banksy, less for the art, but more because I imbue Banksy onto that piece of art.
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A very good friend of mine bought a real Banksy at his first (I think) US showing in LA in the early 2000’s - it’s the “Laugh now…” monkey. She saw it, loved it, and plopped down a few hundred dollars for it, which was a considerable sum since she was an art grad student at the time.
She parted with it at auction a few years ago for about $120k. She had not idea at the time that it would appreciate in value to that extent - she just loved it and went with it, but as a struggling artist it helped pay for needed photography equipment.
I contrast that with thinking about Lars Ulrich making a shitload off of his Basquiat’s in Some Kind of Monster and reflect that at least there’s some justice that occurs in the art world - few and far between but it does happen.
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I really do not know too much about him other than he is pretty anonymous, but you are probably right about that, but if he is that anonymous who knows, you might be even speaking to him right now 
I’m with Redstarr. All those street art dealers are frauds. They cut a picture out of a magazine or run it off on a color printer, put it in a cheap frame with some matting and sell it to a rube tourist for $10. Why believe something was a real Banksey? Why even look twice at this junk? The one thing I’m going to buy: a spray painting of space done on 7th Avenue. I’ve always thought they looked neat.
He’s already been publicly outed depending on who you ask (or choose to believe). The real reason his name and face aren’t widely known is that most people enjoy the mystique more.
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And that’s really the key. Buying art as investment takes a lot of work and a willingness to gamble. Buy art you love, and that is within your budget, and you’ll always at least get your money’s worth and may sometimes get lucky.
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I don’t get it. Most commenters in this thread seem to think that art is all about money - getting a good price, investing in something in the hope that the price will go up, etc. Others seem to think it’s about authenticity.
That’s all complete bollocks. Art is about beauty and meaning. If you see a painting that you think you would like to have hanging on your walls, and it’s in your budget, then buy it. If not, don’t.
If you care about your money going directly to the artists, then buy the art directly from them (the internet makes this easy). If you don’t care, then buy it wherever you like.
If you’re worrying about whether it’s a good investment, you’re doing it wrong. Buy bonds instead.
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I agree, Banksy was drawing attention to how silly and celebrity-driven the art world has become. People don’t buy or value art based on the quality of the art itself so much as the prestige of who created it. At the end of the day, why does it matter if the piece you hang on the wall was created by a famous artist or not? None of that alters its appearance. Some famous musicians have done similar stunts by posing as anonymous street performers just to see if people still appreciate their music.
This Banksy bit is a bit like the climax of Exit Through the Gift Shop in reverse. In that documentary, Banksy and his compatriots showed the world how easily they could make an instant celebrity out of a mediocre and derivative artist simply through association with their own celebrity.
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Does Banksy even exist? Randall’s proof of the non-existance of aliens may have inadvertently demonstrated that “Banksy” is actually just a figment of our collective imagination.
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I wouldn’t of had the cash to do so 
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