Why shred a Banksy when you could just light one on fire?
Well, that’s what happened to his 2006 screenprint, Morons. A group of so-called art enthusiasts called Injective Protocol purchased the piece from the Taglialatella Galleries for $95,000 and then lit it on fire. However, before awkwardly lighting the print on fire, they converted the Banksy piece into an NFT (Non Fungible Token). Of course, the screenprint depicts a scene straight from an auction house, where the framed artwork is getting sold says, ”I can’t believe you morons actually buy this shit.”
Now, the only way you can own Morons is to snatch up the NFT, as they consider it the only true version of the piece, even though I just downloaded the image myself.
“If we were to have the NFT and the physical piece, the value would primarily be in the physical piece,” said a masked man before torching the artwork in a video uploaded to YouTube. “By removing the physical piece from existence and only having the NFT, we can ensure that the NFT, due to the smart contract ability of the blockchain, will ensure that no one can alter the piece. And it’s the true piece that exists in the world.”
No word yet on why the masked prankster chose to use a dollar store lighter to destroy the Banksy, but maybe they should have used a flamethrower? If you want to make a statement, then it deserves a noteworthy implement of destruction.
The burnt Banksy has since been auctioned off on OpenSea for 228.69 ether, or, as of this writing, $417,132.85.
Anyway, I can’t keep up with the neverending onslaught of NFT auctions and news, from Grimes selling nearly $6 million of digital works to the thoroughly milquetoast Kings of Leon releasing the first-ever blockchain album. I want to say that maybe this whole NFT thing is going a teensy bit too far, but I guess I just need to deal with it.