Art. What is it? Why do we like it? Where does its value come from?
These are some of the questions that, we think, at least, are raised by a fascinating unofficial extension of an official Banksy experiment. On October 13, a stand on a Central Park sidewalk selling Banksy art that was not identified as Banksy art was met with a collective meh by passersby — only three of the pieces sold in seven hours.
One week of Banksy media coverage later, a pair of artists decided to sell exact replicas of those pieces, in the exact same spot, for the exact same price. The works were all clearly identified as fake Banksys, and even came with a “certificate of inauthenticity.” They all sold out in an hour.
Art.
