On February 22, 2007, the day after Sotheby's London sold three Banksy works, all of which soared above their auction estimates and into the six figures, the elusive and anonymous British graffiti artist updated his website with an image of an auction house, the people in the room bidding on a picture with the written words "I Can't Believe You Morons Actually Buy This Shit".
In the years since, Banksy has continued to make his feeling on the commercialism of his art exceedingly clear. He calls galleries that sell his work "unauthorized", and is represented instead by The Pest Control Office, which is, in effect, another extension of the artist's darkly humorous manifesto. The simple website informs owners, anxious to authenticate and sell their freshly excavated and exceedingly valuable Banksy treasures, that the authentication process is "lengthy and challenging", as many pieces "are created in an advanced state of intoxication." As for legitimately buying a work from the artist - forget about it. Pest Control states that there is currently "something/nothing available."
Since the beginning of this month, Banksy's self proclaimed residence on the streets of New York, which he has named "Better Out Than In", has produced at least one new spectacle-inducing feat each day. Each work of art is created or installed in the middle of the night, and at some point the next day is posted on Banksy's website. Chaos then ensues, as residents, tourists and journalists alike go out in throngs to find (and snap souvenir photos) of the new piece.
While mostly consisting of the satirical murals in the typical stenciled style for which he is best known, there have been notable surprises throughout the month (and it's not over yet!). His "Sirens of the Lamb" slaughterhouse delivery vehicle filled with stuffed animals touring the meatpacking district, fiberglass sculpture of Ronald McDonald, complete with a barefoot shoeshine boy, and "mobile garden" with rainbow, waterfall and butterflies inside of a graffiti covered truck have all made for creative and biting societal commentary.
Then, there was the one-day Central Park pop-up stall selling "100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases", for $60 each. With no sign letting on who the artist was, no caché of a gallery and no post on the artist's website, the booth was up all day with only three buyers and eight paintings sold. Estimated value per painting: $200,000 plus. But to Banksy, this booth, or this month in New York is not about making money. The message of commercialism, capitalism and the mechanics of the art market was the point here, and he made it strikingly well.
Now granted, Banksy is not in need of money, unlike many of the street artists he identifies with. He is estimated to have a net worth upwards of $20 million, and recently discussed the internal struggle of profiting from his artwork with the Village Voice, stating that "commercial success is a mark of failure for a graffiti artist." Many call him a sell-out, however, if it was not for his early (and very profitable) successes, he would not have the financial freedom to use his artwork and notoriety to get his point of view across.
Take the water tank on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, overlooking the Pacific Coast Highway outside of LA. Thinking the old tank was abandoned, Banksy painted a caption on the side of it "This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant", and instantly turned it into a tourist attraction and a potential money-maker for two owners of a media design firm that bought the tank from the city of LA with plans to remove and sell it. There was just one complication - the homeless man, Tachowa Covington, who had been living inside of it for seven years and suddenly had his home destroyed.
Banksy heard about the situation, and within hours had reached out to Covington, giving him enough money to get an apartment and support himself for an entire year. This was not enough for the artist. He went on to remove the water tank from his website, and refused to authenticate it for the new owners. The result? Instead of a profitable sale at auction, the tank ended up in a scrap metal yard.
So, what do you do if you wake up tomorrow morning, the lucky "owner" of Banksy's latest creation? Congratulations, you are now in the moral dilemma of a lifetime. The mural could sell for well over a million dollars at auction, should you wish to cash in on it. Do you break out the excavator and call Sotheby's? Do you preserve it for public enjoyment with security guards, metal gates or Plexiglas? Or, you could let it go organically the way of most street art - destroyed by a fresh coat of paint, another street artist with his own vision, or a city employee wielding a buffer.
Banksy has said, “Graffiti art has a hard enough life as it is, before you add hedge-fund managers wanting to chop it out and hang it over the fireplace. For the sake of keeping all street art where it belongs, I’d encourage people not to buy anything by anybody, unless it was created for sale in the first place.”
So, we know what Banksy would want you to do. But if you decide to go the other route, before you hire the crane, just remember what Pest Control warned you about: the authentication process is "lengthy and challenging", as many pieces "are created in an advanced state of intoxication."
