Someone has shredded a £40k Banksy to try and make it more valuable

We regret to inform people are now cutting up Banksy artwork with stanley knives

Banksy caused a minor stir in the art world earlier this week after sabotaging his own painting moments after it was sold at auction for $1.1 million. The artist devised a frame containing a shredder that destroyed the print of 'Girl with Balloon' as soon as the winning bid was confirmed, leaving the winner with a print that looked like the remains of an old bank statement. https://www.instagram.com/p/BokJu75D40_/?taken-by=iknowaguy.gallery It doesn't appear to have put off Banksy owners, however, who have contacted MyArtBroker.com after they estimated that the torn-up piece had roughly doubled in value after the stunt. Obviously, they warned people not to shred their artwork. Which is kind of them, in a way. I think it would have been funny for them to actively encourage people to shred their Banksy pieces, consequently increasing the value for the people not gullible enough to cut up their rare artwork with kitchen scissors. https://twitter.com/myartbroker/status/1048593515884806144 However, it appears one art collector didn't heed the warning and got in touch with the website on Tuesday to demand it goes on sale for £80,000. According to experts, the piece was originally one of a numbered edition of 600 unsigned prints, which in mint condition would fetch a minimum of £40,000 at auction. MyArtBroker refused to list the item on the grounds of "stupidity" and "opportunistic vandalism" which is... yeah. Fair enough. Ian Syer, co-founder of the website, said:

“Banksy is unique to the art world. No other artist captures the hearts and minds of the public like he does. However, when Banksy does something crazy like shredding his own artwork, it will naturally have a dramatic affect on values. What this person today seems to have done is needlessly ruin a print worth around £40k and reduce its value to almost nothing. We strongly recommend nobody else takes valuable art and tries to cash in on what history will judge a simply brilliant stunt. There are limited numbers of Girl With Balloon prints in the world, today, we lost one and it’s a crying shame.”

So there you have it. Do as Banksy says, but not as Banksy does... or something. I don't know. Don't cut up art with scissors, basically.