After last week's stealth Banksy art sale in New York City, you knew this would happen. In fact, I figured entrepreneurs selling fake Banksy prints would be popping up all over the city. But this experimental prank didn't even try to cover the fact that the artworks were fake! Dave Cicirelli, Lance Pilgrim, and George Gross set up a kiosk on the street to sell Banksy art.
Same price. Same images. Same location. Everything was the same--we even got Lance's father Michael to be the salesman. Everything was identical...except for two things:
The public consciousness had changed.
Our work was completely worthless.
We were open about this. Our sign said "Fake Banksy." Mike assured every customer that it was fake. Each canvas even came with a legally notarized "Certificate of Inauthenticity," claiming that what they bought was not an original Banksy.
So, how did they do? They sold out. Yeah, people bought every artwork they had, and someone even bought the price sign. It took less than an hour… which just goes to show that savvy New Yorkers have a sense of humor and love to be part of a meme. See a set of pictures from the stunt at Fakebook. You have to wonder how many vendors were trying the same thing without labeling their wares as fake. -via Digg