Could it be true? It appears the real name of (in)famous street artist Bansky is up for auction on eBay. At the time of publishing this post, the auction has 1 day and 10 hours to go, and the current bid is US $999,999.00.
Is this for real, a con by someone shonky, or even a project by the artist himself? Or, has the street artist’s real identity already been unmasked but unconfirmed earlier by the media? I’m sure a lot of people will we watching to see how this plays out.
On the eBay auction page, the seller states:
“If you win this auction I will mail you a piece of paper revealing the true identity of “Bansky”. I have uncovered his identity by matching up the prices of his sold pieces to corresponding tax records. I will reveal no more details… I can give you 100% assurance that it is most certainly the full name of the street artist known as “Banksy”.
Apparently, the seller earlier terminated the auction because he was selling an intangible good, and then relaunched the auction selling the piece of paper, getting around the rule with a technicality.
By the way, have you seen Banksy’s open sequence for The Simpsons from last year? It’s brilliant.
via Mashable
UPDATE: Said item has now been removed from eBay, before the expiry time of the auction. Was the auction a prank, a project by the artist himself? Could be, or not. We may never know. That’s often the way it works with Banksy. It all adds to the mystique of the artist.
Considering that Exit Through the Gift Shop
What do you think? Prank by the artist himself, or hoax someone else?
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