Going, going... gone!

I'm not really convinced but as far as pulling it off it wouldn't be that impossible - a heavy wooden frame like that gives all kinds of potential for hiding something away - with the mechanism behind some kind of flap that was connected to the mechanical part fairly easy to conceal it and easy enough to power a simple shredder from a battery and plenty of battery tech that can last for ages.

It would really need to be triggered by some kind of wireless signal though which might limit battery life a bit as it would need some kind of system to periodically wake up and poll for a trigger signal plus some low current for the timer, etc.

EDIT: Having looked at the video it is actually a custom job with some scalpel blades or something by the looks of it so even easier to power the feeding mechanism.
 
The genius is that it doesn't matter whether it's "real" or a set up stunt. The effect on those present is the same.

Banksy has turned destroying art in front of the art loving (or perhaps money loving) community into performance art.

I think it's brilliant.
 
Rroff said:
It would really need to be triggered by some kind of wireless signal though which might limit battery life a bit as it would need some kind of system to periodically wake up and poll for a trigger signal plus some low current for the timer, etc.
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You sound like a terrorist :p
 
The actual mechanism presumably is just a pair of motor driven rollers to pull the painting through the razor blades hidden in the bottom.

I would hazard a guess that the person filming would have had the ability to even perhaps switch it on via discrete power button hidden in the frame somewhere, so it didn’t have to be on continuously.
 
Jokester said:
The actual mechanism presumably is just a pair of motor driven rollers to pull the painting through the razor blades hidden in the bottom.

I would hazard a guess that the person filming would have had the ability to even perhaps switch it on via discrete power button hidden in the frame somewhere, so it didn’t have to be on continuously.
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You sound like Jonathon Creek :D
 
Jokester said:
I would hazard a guess that the person filming would have had the ability to even perhaps switch it on via discrete power button hidden in the frame somewhere, so it didn’t have to be on continuously.
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Good possibility but the timing was rather precise and no one went that near it in the immediate moments before. It would make a much simpler implementation though.
 
Rroff said:
Good possibility but the timing was rather precise and no one went that near it in the immediate moments before. It would make a much simpler implementation though.
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Nah, before the auction they could easily have turned the trigger on/arm it, whilst having a “close” look at it, then once the auction actually finished used a phone or whatever remote trigger to actually start it up.

The only thing i’m interested to know is, who was the seller?
 
Jokester said:
Nah, before the auction they could easily have turned the trigger on/arm it, whilst having a “close” look at it, then once the auction actually finished used a phone or whatever remote trigger to actually start it up.
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Ah I see what you are saying.

The full mechanism seems quite elaborate and appears mains powered - unless they made it internally lit a bit tricky to get it plugged in if the auction place wasn't in on it and even then no guarantee the auction house would plug it in for the auction.

Xr648xO.png


Yadda said:
Knowing Banksy it'll have been activated by the sound of the hammer going down.

Art.
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That would be brilliant but far too easy to be falsely triggered without some kind of machine learning system processing the sound.
 
Rroff said:
Ah I see what you are saying.

The full mechanism seems quite elaborate and appears mains powered - unless they made it internally lit a bit tricky to get it plugged in if the auction place wasn't in on it and even then no guarantee the auction house would plug it in for the auction.

Xr648xO.png
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It didn't appear to be mains powered. Video footage shows no sign of external cables when it was removed and carried away.
 
There's all kinds of lithium cells that go into fire safety gear rated for years of standby. I think it's staged though, the artist was probably the mystery winning bidder
 
d_brennen said:
There's all kinds of lithium cells that go into fire safety gear rated for years of standby.
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Yeah even basic rechargeable 18650 batteries will hold their charge (or most of it) normally for years and years - never mind non-rechargeable stuff that usually has long shelf life.
 
Rroff said:
Yeah that is what I thought - but the construction appears to show some mains duty cabling, etc. maybe just used for charging though.
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Very true.

For all we know, he's still fooling us: maybe the pics of the internals are a part of the act and nothing was actually shredded at all. Maybe the intact work just rolled up inside the frame as a pre-shredded copy emerged out of the bottom.

I wouldn't put it past him. :)

Edit: Sorry, I missed this:

Rroff said:
That would be brilliant but far too easy to be falsely triggered without some kind of machine learning system processing the sound.
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It would be possible if it was "armed" just before it went up. Very little chance of anything resembling a hammer sound triggering it during the auction.
 
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