EEVblog #1136 - Banksy Artwork Shredder - Part 2 (Still Trolling!)

[EEVblog]

Banksy posted an update video showing more of the prank build and the shredding mechanism. But he's still trolling us!

[max_torque]

I can think of one possible explanation for the "exacto blades" tyre arrangement originally shown.

Banksy is a street artist, a guy who is self made and who likes to do hands-on art, so perhaps he did start with a completely self made shredder?  He probably wouldn't initially have access to, or the direct resources for the CNC machined parts the eventual system required (knurled rollers etc) so i suggest that he started to experiment with a very DIY shredder, using cutting blades, which he would have in his studio, and an old motor (looks like an wheelchair motor to me). However, as the power and loads to reliably shred a thick canvas are considerable, i'm going to suggest that after some early trials (hence all the different system parts (belts/motors/rollers etc) shown, he eventually had to call in help, from a more professional engineering company (plenty of small ones exist in the uk, doing public art/displays and similar things (hello mikeselectricstuff!) and they refined the design to the eventual system.

For Banksy though, i could see that he'd very much want to make it look like he did it all, and not that he had to call in outside (possibly commercial, ie paid) help, hence all the smoke and mirrors releasing of footage of the earlier DIY systems?

[cgroen]

Soldering is not what he is best at 

[Rerouter]

nah that is clearly his vincent van gogh moment, suffering for his art

[janoc]

Soldering is not what he is best at 

Yeah, I saw that one too. Also someone needs to sponsor his crew a proper iron instead of that 10 euro/GBP Lidl special that fellow is holding (well, it likely isn't from Lidl because that one was green but it is the same crappy iron).

[dr.diesel]

Also someone needs to sponsor his crew a proper iron

I think he can afford to sponsor his own crew!

[janoc]

Banksy though, i could see that he'd very much want to make it look like he did it all, and not that he had to call in outside (possibly commercial, ie paid) help, hence all the smoke and mirrors releasing of footage of the earlier DIY systems?

Right - so he releases footage of a guy "soldering" the motor wires by holding the cold soldering iron (notice the absence of any smoke) by the metal part that would normally be 300+ degrees C. Or a shredder design that can't possibly work.

Come on, you are giving him too much credit. As Dave said - he is trolling everyone who takes this stuff at face value.

[janoc]

Also someone needs to sponsor his crew a proper iron

I think he can afford to sponsor his own crew!

One would think so but I kinda pity that fool with that "soldering iron" in the video if they really had to use that firestick for anything 

[dcac]

Perhaps the half-threading was caused by a cold solder joint.

And have they checked the frame to see if the mechanism is or can be disabled - there might i.e. be tamper switches inside - so the transformation to a genuine Pranksy might still not be complete.

[NiHaoMike]

Could the receiver be one of those key finder gadgets? The beeping sure sounds like one.

[FrankBuss]

Yeah, right, he doesn't like that his artwork is sold, this is what he says. But this is exactly why the crazy rich people want to buy it. And I'm sure he doesn't mind the money. He even has an agent who sells his work, and "Banksy" sounds suspiciously like money. But he did some cool other stunts:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5335400.stm
 

[ebastler]

I can think of one possible explanation for the "exacto blades" tyre arrangement originally shown. [...]

I can think of another explanation: It might be a tip-o-the-hat to fellow street artist "Farewell", who previously came up with the idea of slicing up outdoor advertising posters with a row of (properly oriented) X-acto knives:

http://www.beautifuldecay.com/2014/05/14/street-artist-farewells-destroys-outdoor-advertisements-homemade-paper-shredder/

Seems that Farewell did this in 2014, so it may very well have "inspired" Banksy.

[Silveruser]

BTW, that red stapler is not a stapler as such. It used to put in those diamond shaped points that hold the back in place.

[TrickyNekro]

I bet my bottom dollar that someone who would have gone through all that, to shred a painting in an auction is not just done there.

I really bet that if someone tries to open the thing, or wait long enough the thing will shred itself through and through.

The prank isn´t over people! This last part of his video is just an omen!

[Zbig]

Am I the only one unsure whether "infamous" actually means what Dave seems to think it means?

[f4eru]

We unmasked the face of the real Banksy !
His soldering technique revealed who he really is 

[Fungus]

Am I the only one unsure whether "infamous" actually means what Dave seems to think it means?

Yes.

[wilfred]

Am I the only one unsure whether "infamous" actually means what Dave seems to think it means?

If you think Banksy is a great street artist then he's famous. If you think his art isn't, and he is just a graffiti vandal the he is infamous. If you're unsure you might be a critic.

Infamous is a word whose meaning is morphing with famous in popular usage. Because Banksy operates in a clandestine way making pointed social commentary I think infamous is reasonable.

But I'm not entirely sure Dave was making a value judgement.

[Fungus]

Infamous is a word whose meaning is morphing with famous in popular usage. Because Banksy operates in a clandestine way making pointed social commentary I think infamous is reasonable.

[SiliconWizard]

From what I've understood of all the technical details, I too think he's still trolling. Nothing suprising though. Am I going too far if I say that he's been trolling with his "art" all along?

[james_s]

Art is a very strange world that I have never been able to comprehend. There are very attractive paintings that are worth a few dollars at best, and there is amateurish garbage that is worth thousands or millions of dollars. It's not a matter of rarity, whether $5 or $5 Million there is only one original copy. It's certainly not a matter of skill, some abstract crap that I could paint in 10 minutes is worth a fortune. I have to wonder if the people willing to pay large sums of money for a work of art are as mentally ill as some of the well known artists. Perhaps it's just a case of people having so much money that they can't think of anything else to do with it.

[ebastler]

Art is a very strange world that I have never been able to comprehend. There are very attractive paintings that are worth a few dollars at best, and there is amateurish garbage that is worth thousands or millions of dollars. It's not a matter of rarity, whether $5 or $5 Million there is only one original copy. It's certainly not a matter of skill, some abstract crap that I could paint in 10 minutes is worth a fortune. I have to wonder if the people willing to pay large sums of money for a work of art are as mentally ill as some of the well known artists. Perhaps it's just a case of people having so much money that they can't think of anything else to do with it.

You forgot the "I'm not an art expert, but I know what I like!" bit. 

[james_s]

You forgot the "I'm not an art expert, but I know what I like!" bit. 

I'm as much an art expert as any other art expert, they're all full of shit anyway, the sort of people who can't get enough of looking down their nose at people and smelling their own farts. Art is very subjective, and it's completely bizarre how seriously some people take it.

[FrankBuss]

I'm as much an art expert as any other art expert, they're all full of shit anyway, the sort of people who can't get enough of looking down their nose at people and smelling their own farts. Art is very subjective, and it's completely bizarre how seriously some people take it.

I would say some of the most expensive paintings look good. There is a list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_paintings

But I didn't know that they got that much expensive, like half a billion dollar for the most expensive painting in the world. But only one painting which I could do, too, the Suprematist Composition. I guess for such abstract art then it is just luck that someone likes your painting and wants to pay for it. But besides luck, you still have to start painting first.

[Koen]

80M : https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/barnett-newman-1905-1970-black-fire-i-5792532-details.aspx

40M : http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2013/may-2013-contemporary-evening-n08991/lot.17.esthl.html

20M : http://artist.christies.com/Robert-Ryman--42608.aspx