Balloons, bananas & fluorescent lights: How to insure art that’s meant to degrade

In 2018, street artist and political activist Banksy’s iconic artwork “Girl with Balloon” was put up for auction — and destroyed. 

The painting was sold to a private buyer at Sotheby’s in London for about US $1.4 million, but moments after the hammer fell, the painting was shredded.  

Turns out, Banksy, whose identity is unknown, built a shredder into the frame and activated it during the auction. The act was deemed a social commentary on the commercialization and commodification of art.  

“Some people think it didn’t actually shred. It did. Some people think the auction house were in on it, they weren’t,” Banksy wrote on Instagram.  

Ironically, the artwork, now titled “Love is in the Bin,” sold again in 2021 for US $25.4 million — 18 times its original price.  

You might not be placing coverage for an original Banksy, but concept or performance art that’s meant to degrade, self-destruct or change over time, is a creative medium that continues to gain popularity. 

So, how do you insure such artworks? And how might destruction or degradation change its value? 

Insuring concept art 

Kelly Juhasz, owner and principal of Fine Art Appraisal and Services says concept art that’s meant to degrade has existed for decades. 

Take, for example, Marizio Cattelan’s viral concept piece “Comedian,” that consists of a single banana duct-taped to a wall. Or American artist Dan Flavin’s fluorescent light fixtures installations — the bulbs he used are longer sold commercially because they contain traces of mercury. In both cases, the artists used materials meant to degrade over time. 

Which means an appraiser must get directly involved in determining how to insure concept or time-based art pieces. 

“There’s a number of criteria that go into classifying this group of art where the artist… controls this change within the art,” she says. 

The first value characteristic an appraiser would consider is whether the artist is well-known in the art market. “So, for example, Banksy. Yes. Maurizio Cattelan. Yes,” she says.  

After that, the key question to determine its value is, ‘has the artwork been authenticated?’

“If somebody shredded a work by Banksy, do we know that it was actually a work by Banksy?” Juhasz asks.  

“We want to know, is it an authentic piece? When you’re dealing with a collector, can you trace the provenance [or history of ownership] back to the artist?” says Juhasz. “And these are very important value characteristics of all art, not just art that changes.” 

The third question is: did the artist intend for the work to change? Or, is it the artist who affected this change? 

“Banksy certainly did at that event,” Juhasz says. “Did he intend when he painted ‘Girl with Balloon?’…[that] one day that he might shred it? Well, maybe not. But the point is, he decided to damage it.” 

With the duct-taped banana example, the artist chose to use a material that would degrade.

And that leads to the fourth question in determining value: Did the artist provide instructions for conservation and exhibition of their work? 

“If the artist has designed something with the intent to change, then in all likelihood they’ve provided some kind of instruction,” Juhasz says.

Two editions of the duct-taped banana have been sold, and one donated to a museum. But with all editions, the collectors are given a certificate of authenticity and detailed diagrams and instructions for its proper display. Both the banana and the duct tape are intended to be replaced as needed. 

That leads to another question: did the performance art or its exhibition receive media attention? For the Banksy or Cattelan examples, the answer is yes. (Ironically, Cattelan’s banana was also eaten twice during exhibition, which added to its notoriety).  

The answer helps appraisers or insurers determine if the artwork now holds notoriety after it’s been changed, and that’s considered a value characteristic, Juhasz says. 

For example, upon its shredding, “Girl with Balloon” became a new piece entitled “Love is in the Bin.” And that means its value would have inherently changed.  

The final question an appraiser would ask to determine a concept art piece’s value: Is change inherent in the artwork’s materials?  

For example, an organic material like a banana will inevitably degrade. Thus, collectors are buying the concept, rather than the tangible materials themselves.  

Or in the case of artist Dan Flavin, a fluorescent lightbulb will eventually burn out. “Once that light burns out, how do you then change it?” Juhasz asks. “[Some art] may not have been designed to last forever.” 

Exclusions may apply 

Once an appraiser carefully reviews those six questions, an insurer may then determine the price of coverage. But where might coverage not be applicable? 

If a collector makes changes to an artwork, either directly or indirectly, this would change the work’s value — and likely not for the better. 

For example, collectors usually get artworks framed for protection. But with the half-shredded Banksy painting, the artist had framed the work prior to sale. 

“If the artist puts it on, then it becomes a part of the work,” Juhasz says. “So, should the new owner decide to take the frame off, which has a shredder in it — which would be a kind of a silly thing to do — it would lose a lot of value, because if the artist designed it that way, it is now a part of the artwork.” 

What’s more, any changes made by a collector to a concept artwork would decrease its value, since the changes were not driven by the original artist. (It would also likely make that art ineligible for an insurance claim).  

Likewise, if a collector purchased a piece of art without realizing it was meant to degrade or self-destruct, “then you really bought something that wasn’t advertised, so I don’t think you’d be held to the sale,” Juhasz says.  

In the unprecedented “Love is in the Bin” example, the buyer had not been aware of the shredder mechanism. But holding onto the painting paid off regardless of this non-disclosure — somewhere in the range of a US $24 million profit. 

Art handlers display an artwork by Banksy called ‘Girl with Balloon-Colour AP (Gold)’ at Christie’s auction rooms in London, Friday, Sept. 17, 2021. The artwork estimated at 800,000-1,200,000 UK Pounds (1,200,000-1,700,000 US Dollars) will be up for auction in the Christie’s Sept. online only sales. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)