Just How Did Banksy Pull Off His Stunt? James O'Brien Finds Out
9 October 2018, 15:09
Just how did Banksy pull off his greatest stunt yet? James O'Brien investigated the auto-shredded painting.
The artist's Girl With Balloon was sold for £1.2million at an auction at Sotherby's. But as the item was won, a siren went off and the audience gasped as the painting slid down the frame and through an in-built shredder.
In a quickly-deleted post on social media, Banksy revealed he installed the 'self-destruct mechanism' in place over 10 years ago in case it was ever put up for auction.
But one question remains: how did they manage to keep the batteries charged for that length of time? James looked to the experts for answers.
You can see what they said in the video at the top of the page.
Juan has a pacemaker fitted and he says the batteries in them last for up to 15 years and can sit in stand-by mode for a long time.
Chris from Donegal said Banksy's studio could have asked to see the piece beforehand for conservation reasons, before putting the battery in place. But James believes that never happened.
But James liked Mary's explanation best - a discretely-placed dual-powered solar cell, much like you get on a calculator. That would give it enough power to last as long as is needed.
How do you think it worked? Give us your answer in the comments below.
