Painting that shred itself

[ivan747]

So graffiti artist Bansky secretly built a shredder into a painting in case it was ever auctioned. This was back in 2006, and yesterday the painting went into auction. Watch the video, pretty impressive stuff, considering that the batteries lasted for 12 years. I wish there were more details on the electronics side of it (does anybody know more about this?)

https://www.theverge.com/2018/10/7/17947744/banksy-ballon-girl-artwork-self-destructed-sothbys




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[coppercone2]

this is like a plot for 24

[Red Squirrel]

Wow did not realize it was 12 years later.  I wonder what caused the shredding to be activated?  Like how did it detect when is a good time to do it?  That's pretty interesting concept nonetheless.  Not something you expect to happen when you just paid over a mil for an art piece. Meh, rich people, that's like being screwed over by a vending machine for them.

[coppercone2]

it was probobly watched and RF triggered

the battery bank went low so it stopped half way I figure. They can fix it.

Maybe on purpose so its repairable.

[tsman]

IMO it is all a big stunt that the auctioneers and Banksy are in on. There are far too many things overlooked and odd with the story. Did nobody in all these years wonder why this picture frame is really heavy and unbalanced for no obvious reason? Why there is a mystery slot in the bottom?

The shredded pieces dangling out the bottom look remarkably clean cut for something that is supposedly canvas and cut by pulling it over a row of hidden scalpel blades. It may not even be the actual canvas and may be a precut piece being unrolled out the bottom whilst the real canvas is rolled up inside.

I wonder what caused the shredding to be activated?

Some of his crew were present at the auction so if it was real and not a stunt then any of them could have carried a remote for it.

[ivan747]

Wow did not realize it was 12 years later.  I wonder what caused the shredding to be activated?  Like how did it detect when is a good time to do it?  That's pretty interesting concept nonetheless.  Not something you expect to happen when you just paid over a mil for an art piece. Meh, rich people, that's like being screwed over by a vending machine for them.

Bansky is an anonymous artist, so the rumor has it that he went to the auction with a remote and activated it at the right moment.


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[coppercone2]

if it was tensioned with a bunch strings on a little roller that pulled it into the blades I think you can cut canvas with good quality laser sharpened blades that have never been used.

he could have sanded the back of the painting too to weaken it.

[Tomorokoshi]

Planned obsolescence?

[Bud]

Bansky is an anonymous artist, so the rumor has it that he went to the auction with a remote and activated it at the right moment.

If you go to the auction you are not that anonymous anymore

[Bud]

It is same type of controversial implant story as the Chinese chip one. Some graffiti artist at the same time a mechanical guru and quite familiar with electronics? Where Sotbeys security were? What if narcotics or worse were stuffed in the frame?

[David Hess]

With some good lithium primary cells it is certainly possible to power something like that for 10+ years.  Average power draw while periodically checking for a signal could be only 10s of microamps.  I would be a little worried about false triggering unless some care was used.

I also wondered if the original art is between rollers and a cut up version was just extruded.  I like the idea that the aged batteries were not enough to finish the job.

[CJay]

Great publicity stunt and it's now worth more than it ever was before.

[helius]

It is same type of controversial implant story as the Chinese chip one. Some graffiti artist at the same time a mechanical guru and quite familiar with electronics? Where Sotbeys security were? What if narcotics or worse were stuffed in the frame?

Odd as it seems, "some graffiti artist" these days are extremely ambitious and sophisticated.

The (one or several) known as "Banksy" has produced "art" such as these:
dismaland.co.uk/
walledoffhotel.com/

[Mr. Scram]

It is same type of controversial implant story as the Chinese chip one. Some graffiti artist at the same time a mechanical guru and quite familiar with electronics? Where Sotbeys security were? What if narcotics or worse were stuffed in the frame?

An auction means you buy stuff from other people. Unless the painting is being authenticated by an expert, nobody's going to check it out in great detail. Better yet, there are known instances of police selling impounded cars with narcotics or money still in them. It's an imperfect world, no matter how panicked we get about deviation.

The electronics and being there isn't unlikely, as both are easily solved by recruiting some help.

[Zero999]

I'm surprised he used batteries to power the shredder. I would have gone with clockwork and only use electronics to fire a solenoid to release the spring.

[mrpackethead]

After it was sold, and no longer his property, would deliberately causing it to be damaged be a crime.

[Zero999]

After it was sold, and no longer his property, would deliberately causing it to be damaged be a crime.

Yes, unless the purchaser knew about it beforehand.

[Mr. Scram]

After it was sold, and no longer his property, would deliberately causing it to be damaged be a crime.

It was part of the artwork all along, even if it was unknown to the buyer.

[PointyOintment]

Good discussion in the Hackaday comments, covering mechanism, real vs. fake shredding, power consumption, battery chemistry, legality, auction house having to be involved, etc.: https://hackaday.com/2018/10/07/banksys-barely-believable-batteries/

[wilfred]

In the pictures of the half shredded painting you can see that the shredded portion has what looks like a kink where it may have been around a roller or at least a non straight path. I doubt the paper that is shredded is the same as the one displayed in the frame. I suspect it is rolled up inside the frame and a second one is ejected. Also from the side view it doesn't look to be directly well lined up as it should be if it was ejected straight out past a shredder.

The paper colour looks a bit different too.

[Psi]

You could totally get 12 years using a primary lithium to run a BLE beacon.
Something like a 'Tile',  they run for a year on a CR2032 and can respond within a second or two of you clicking the button in the android app.

The device would then switch on a second primary lithium to power the shredder

[David Hess]

In the pictures of the half shredded painting you can see that the shredded portion has what looks like a kink where it may have been around a roller or at least a non straight path. I doubt the paper that is shredded is the same as the one displayed in the frame. I suspect it is rolled up inside the frame and a second one is ejected. Also from the side view it doesn't look to be directly well lined up as it should be if it was ejected straight out past a shredder.

I agree that is the most likely situation.  The assembly video shows the blades aligned at a right angle to the paper path which would never work.  Maybe that was just part of the planning and the final configuration was different but the video does not show it.

An alternative, assuming that the blades were oriented correctly, is that the lower part of the canvas was preloaded past the shredder blades for reliability and therefor started out wrapped around the lower roller.

The paper colour looks a bit different too.

That part of the canvas would not have been exposed to light for 12 years.

[Cyberdragon]

You could totally get 12 years using a primary lithium to run a BLE beacon.
Something like a 'Tile',  they run for a year on a CR2032 and can respond within a second or two of you clicking the button in the android app.

The device would then switch on a second primary lithium to power the shredder

Couldn't have been BLE, it wasn't released 'till October 2006 and Android was still a prototype back then. You have to remember in the world of digital tech how long ago 12 years was.

[PointyOintment]

BLE, it wasn't released 'till October 2006

I thought it couldn't possibly be that long ago, so I looked it up. Turns out that it was released under the name Wibree in October 2006, and then officially became part of Bluetooth in 2010.

[frozenfrogz]

I am voting for a planned publicity stunt.
If you look at the footage of the auction, take a close look at the auctioneer starting to try keeping a straight face, but having  to smile before seeming to push a button.