And, thus, the Boing Boing art scene was formed, with Boing Boing carefully managing… no wait, they told us to go nuts, they didn’t care. “Be weird mutants,” that’s the advice they provided.
9 Likes
I wouldn’t put it past him.
The whole point of his schtick is stunts designed to mess with your head. That all these people are commenting here in handwringing fashion about who owns what where and whether it’s rude to saddle someone with art means he’s succeeding.
I appreciate that Banksy has made a career on light driving trollies. Much like real trollies, the only winning move is not to play. Or tear shit off walls and expect to get money for it.
6 Likes
I didn’t ignore that point at all. It simply has no bearing on my point, so I left it out.
If you own the property in question, and a vandal defaces it, you are free to do as you wish. The vandal’s desires may or may not coincide with yours. You spoke about the vandal’s desires, not the property owner’s.
Edited to reflect that you are “the OP” I originally mentioned.
2 Likes
Whoa, wait, maybe that gut is Bansky…
Now that would be a nice stunt…
1 Like
As an artist, I have to say this…consider the possibility that Banksy has gifted certain property owners with valuable art, which is how most capitalists might spin it.
As for this gentleman, I can only say,
7 Likes
Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/10/22/man-tries-to-get-stolen-banksy-work-appraised-on-antique-roadshow.html
…
2 Likes
I think he could probably use this video clip to help sell it now. And there are people who would buy it (although for much less than if it had a certificate from Banksy), simply because they are fans. So he’s not really “nowhere” without the certificate, whether what he did was honorable or not.
3 Likes
Not being british it’s hard for me to evaluate the appraisers disapproval here. It seems quite high though, am I right?
2 Likes
Have you actually watched this video, cause he does give a price on it.
He gives a price on it if it were an authenticated piece which it is not
6 Likes
I mean, he heavily implies that the pest in Pest Control refers to the thief. 
6 Likes
In this situation, “what would Banksy do?” applies. So do something artfully derivative of it, mount it back up in public somewhere, and bam… even more valuable art. Start a “Banksy+X” movement. Tape it to a bunch of bananas or something. The sky’s the limit here.
Artists, man…
1 Like
Many years ago someone put up these hand drawn Simpson’s-themed comic art pieces as 8x11 stickers on the plexiglass windows of some free newspaper boxes in my neighborhood. I went out with a screwdriver and removed them (the free newsboxes were on the verge of being retired anyway.) Not because I thought they were valuable, not because I thought they were nuisance graffiti, but because I liked them and didn’t want to see them get destroyed.
I could imagine myself removing a Banksy piece before he got well-known, if like this guy says it was already loose (and not like those assholes who jackhammer out a chunk of wall)-- but I also wouldn’t be trying to get it appraised, and once Banksy got big and the point of his public works was publicized I doubt I would mess with them then.
So if this guy was acting out of art appreciation I give him a pass, but if he thought he could make a buck then he can piss off.
1 Like
Yes, they’re explicitly stating it.
You can get into all sorts of esoteric arguments about the “worth” of an artwork, but the basic premise here is that without a certificate of authenticity the item will not find buyers in the art market. This practice is not unique to Banksy. There are plenty of Warhol silkscreens out there that the Warhol Foundation have refused to authenticate. These too are now effectively worthless in monetary terms.
2 Likes
Unlikely.
This type of thing has happened before. People turning up with doors etc with graffiti that are 99% likely to be done by Banksy, but that Christie’s and Sotheby’s refuse to touch after Pest Control have refused to authenticate them.
Source: I may or may not have worked at the auction house in question when this happened.
5 Likes
Some people did attempt to steal a Banksy in my neighborhood a few years back. My neighbors called the cops and they took off in a moving van. The painting is now under plexiglass. People keep spraypainting on it. I don’t really understand what they thought they were going to do with a big-ass stack of cinderblocks… just fence it at Sotheby’s? They weren’t even local-- they traveled all the way across the US to do this.
3 Likes
“Hey how much for my crime crime?”
1 Like
I suspect they ran this segment not because it was an “antique”, but because they wanted to showcase the “don’t steal art” message. Which they might be motivated to do, if more than one person has brought them something like this in recent history.
4 Likes
I would have destroyed it if I found it had been placed there without permission. Besides art is not meant to be a fetish of pop art worship. Stealing some public graffiti for an art appraisal is one of the vapid things I hate about this cultural.
