Shred priceless art with these ingenious Banksy postcards

BY MARK WILSON1 MINUTE READ

The world’s collective jaw dropped when a Banksy artwork shredded itself at a recent Sotheby’s auction–just moments after it sold for over $1 million. And now, the cognitively dissonant joy of watching art destroy itself can come to your home for a mere $10.

[Image: courtesy Shuba Gift Factory]

“Hello from Banksy!” is a postcard that you need to shred to read. Created for the Rijksmuseum in the Netherlands, and designed by the Belarusian graphic designer Lesha Limonov, it looks like a miniature, framed piece of art. But pull at a tab on the bottom, and the precut postcard comes out in shreds.

Beyond the delight of watching a priceless oil painting slice itself to pieces (sorry Rembrandt!), your efforts are rewarded when the painting slides to reveal a small, secret message, filled out by the postcard’s sender. Maybe that note will be, “What is wrong with you? Why would you shred a Rembrandt?” And then you can take a long, hard look in the mirror, and be very glad that this stupid prank didn’t cost you a million dollars.