# Banksy sidewalk sale - This is one of the funniest & most awesome things I've ever seen!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [October 14, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230 "2013-10-14T17:09:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/1 "2013-10-14T17:09:42Z")
I love this so hard!
[http://gawker.com/banksy-tried-to-sell-his-art-anonymously-to-people-in-c-1444770867](http://gawker.com/banksy-tried-to-sell-his-art-anonymously-to-people-in-c-1444770867)
> [@](#):
>
> “Yesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100% authentic original signed Banksy canvases,” the renowned “spray artist” himself writes in a blog post dated October 13th. “For $60 each.”
>
> The Central Park stall made available to the general public over three dozen Banksy paintings valued at well over a $1 million.
>
> But by the end of the experiment, only three people had purchased pieces — including a woman who asked the vendor to knock the price down by half.
>
> The lucky few who did accidentally pick up a few authentic Banksys for their “kids” or their “walls” are now the proud owners of thousands of dollars — if not hundreds of thousands of dollars — worth of art.
>
> Even though Banksy insists this stunt was a “one-off” and the stall will not be there again, his month-long New York City “residency” has yet to reach its halfway point, so who knows what’s next.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/2 "2013-10-14T17:16:31Z")
I like it, too- although not as much as I would have liked it if I’d been in the park and unwittingly bought one of his paintings. This is much better than the meat truck thing.
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### Author:  [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/3 "2013-10-14T17:22:20Z")
I’ve read a few articles about this. I like how depending on who wrote it, the tone of the article changes from “These idiots turned down the chance to buy an authentic Banksy for only $60” to “Banksy can’t even sell his work for $60.”
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### Author:  [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/4 "2013-10-14T17:37:49Z")
Oh man! I am so jealous of those people. I wish I could have bought a couple.
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#):
>
> I’ve read a few articles about this. I like how depending on who wrote it, the tone of the article changes from “These idiots turned down the chance to buy an authentic Banksy for only $60” to “Banksy can’t even sell his work for $60.”
I guess people are not familiar enough with his work to recognize it. Or maybe they never dreamed it was real, just some guy ripping off someone else’s works.
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### Author:  [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/5 "2013-10-14T18:40:19Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#):
>
> Or maybe they never dreamed it was real, just some guy ripping off someone else’s works.
If I would have run across the stall, I would have assumed they were prints or knock-offs. For $60 you wouldn’t think they were real.
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/6 "2013-10-14T18:44:14Z")
That’s kind of the fun. If you came across that stall you probably wouldn’t think it really had anything to do with the guy.
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### Author:  [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/7 "2013-10-14T18:50:10Z")
> [@AlsoNamedBort](#):
>
> I’ve read a few articles about this. I like how depending on who wrote it, the tone of the article changes from “These idiots turned down the chance to buy an authentic Banksy for only $60” to “Banksy can’t even sell his work for $60.”
I’d tend towards the latter. If this was not an authentic Banksy artwork, and merely an authentic artwork by some other artist (lets call him Sybank) does anyone believe these would still be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars?
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/8 "2013-10-14T18:50:36Z")
> [@Minnie\_Luna](#):
>
> If I would have run across the stall, I would have assumed they were prints or knock-offs. For $60 you wouldn’t think they were real.
I agree; his previous work has all been on building walls and such, so I wouldn’t expect to find it on canvas. So if I passed this stall, I’d have assumed it was from a random artist, even if I recognized his style.
And I assume the guy sitting there isn’t Banksy.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/9 "2013-10-14T19:36:44Z")
> [@Minnie\_Luna](#):
>
> If I would have run across the stall, I would have assumed they were prints or knock-offs. For $60 you wouldn’t think they were real.
Plus, from that photo, they all appear to be copies of works I’ve previously seen. Given his previous work was on building sides, assuming they’re prints is pretty logical.
I guess I just don’t see the point. “Haha, I put my old work on a canvas and tried to sell it incognito and you didn’t buy it! How tricky am I?” :dubious:
This would be a good time to get hold of an old guy and a rack of knock-off prints though.
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/10 "2013-10-14T21:01:11Z")
[sneering art critic]“[How derivative.](http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bell.asp)”[/s.a.c.]
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### Author:  [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/11 "2013-10-14T21:16:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#):
>
> And I assume the guy sitting there isn’t Banksy.
I assume it’s not- not that we would know one way or the other.
> [@Jophiel](#):
>
> I guess I just don’t see the point. “Haha, I put my old work on a canvas and tried to sell it incognito and you didn’t buy it! How tricky am I?” :dubious:
I think you’re assuming the joke is on people who didn’t buy the art. Why can’t it be a joke about the way art is valued and publicized - that a famous artist has trouble selling his own work for $60 if people don’t know who he is?
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### Author:  [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/12 "2013-10-14T21:43:45Z")
I heard Banksy entered a Banksy look-alike contest and came in third.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/13 "2013-10-14T21:50:47Z")
> [@Marley23](#):
>
> I think you’re assuming the joke is on people who didn’t buy the art. Why can’t it be a joke about the way art is valued and publicized - that a famous artist has trouble selling his own work for $60 if people don’t know who he is?
That’s exactly how I interpreted it. And yeah…those Banksy’s weren’t worth $60, because, as the economists are so fond of reminding us, things are only worth what people will pay for them.
The “joke” is that those three Banksy pieces that were barely worth $60 yesterday are worth tens of thousands today. And the only thing that changed is the story about them. So which is the “art” - the paint on the canvas, or the story around it? When we’re paying for the story, what’s the use of the canvas?
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/14 "2013-10-14T22:04:08Z")
I had never heard of this person until now. “World-famous” must be a relative term.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/15 "2013-10-14T22:06:56Z")
Wonderful.
Banksy seems like a fun guy it would have been hilarious if I had walked by and realized today I didn’t buy a Banksy piece.
Painful, but hilarious.
I hope the lucky 3 people who bought one come out with their story and show their art.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/16 "2013-10-14T22:08:16Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> I had never heard of this person until now. “World-famous” must be a relative term.
[Have you heard of Exit Through the Gift Shop, the movie he was involved in?](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1587707/reference) It was pretty big.
He is famous, at least as famous as Ai Weiwei, another subversive artist that gets a lot of attention, though in different ways.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/17 "2013-10-14T22:18:02Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> That’s exactly how I interpreted it. And yeah…those Banksy’s weren’t worth $60, because, as the economists are so fond of reminding us, things are only worth what people will pay for them.
But that doesn’t apply here. If you don’t have knowledge of what the item is, you can’t fairly evaluate what you want to pay for it. I can sell stitched burlap sacks labeled “dog shit” for $50 each but they’re really filled with gold. That doesn’t mean a sack full of gold isn’t worth $50 when no one buys one.
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### Author:  [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/18 "2013-10-14T22:22:12Z")
“I have here a fake George Washington autograph. Want to buy it?”
“Uh, probably not, no. That’s actually a pretty weird question.”
“HAH! The autograph was GENUINE! You’re so STUPID!”
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/19 "2013-10-14T22:27:07Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> I had never heard of this person until now. “World-famous” must be a relative term.
Or you just may not be hip on the art scene. I’m guessing this is more likely.
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### Author:  [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)
#### Post date: [October 14, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/banksy-sidewalk-sale-this-is-one-of-the-funniest-most-awesome-things-ive-ever-seen/671230/20 "2013-10-14T22:34:11Z")
I’ve heard the name, I have an idea what he does, but I certainly wouldn’t have recognized his art or bought a print.
I thought the idea that you’re paying for provenance more than you’re paying for the actual object was well known and not controversial. I’ll bet if one individual figured him out and purchased every piece we wouldn’t be reading about the sale and those pieces would still be $60 wall hangers.
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