EARLIER THIS MONTH, attendees at a Sotheby’s auction were privy to what is likely to become one of the most memorable moments in the broker’s history.

After tense bidding upon Banksy’s Girl With Balloon, the piece went for more than £1 million, and then promptly self-destructed.

Moment after the hammer was lowered, the painting slid from the frame and was shredded until it came to an abrupt stop in front of dozens of stunned onlookers.

Naturally, the moment grabbed headlines all over the world, and Banksy acknowledged it on Instagram with a quote from Picasso:

The urge to destroy is also a creative urge.

But naturally, that wasn’t enough for the vast majority of his followers who wanted to know if the piece had genuinely been shredded, whether Sotheby’s was in on the act, and whether the artist himself was in the room at the time.

Shredding the Girl and Balloon – the Director’s cut. Link in bio. Some people think it didn’t really shred. It did. Some people think the auction house were in on it, they weren’t.

Addressing the first two questions in a video uploaded to YouTube yesterday and shared to Instagram, the artist said the piece was, indeed, shredded, but it didn’t stall in rehearsal as it did on the day. He also assured the public that Sotheby’s were not in on the prank.

If you want a behind-the-scenes peek at the prep Banksy’s put into the prank, take a look at this.

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