Banksy Launches an Online Store Filled With Dystopian Home Goods
On October 1, Banksy opened a brick-and-mortar shop in South London featuring a new line of home goods marked with familiar brand of dystopian sociopolitical commentary. The store wasn’t actually open to customers—it behaved more as an installation for passersby to glimpse and ogle his latest—but it previewed the coming of his newly launched web store.
As planned, Banksy shuttered the Croydon pop-up over the weekend and transitioned those works to an online marketplace he launched to put art back in the hands of genuine art lovers at a fair price.
Banksy™ Met Ball is a home entertainment lighting system made of approximately 650 tiny mirrors attached to a police riot helmet. Those who appear genuinely interested in art itself—as opposed to its resale value—have the opportunity to purchase one of the 15 items available. Each goes for around $650. Most works on the site come signed by the artist.
The Banksy™ Ultra HD TV features a TV painted with a child surrounded by ash that falls like snowflakes. Although it’s not great for watching TV, Banksy says that it is great from an art point of view. Each TV is made to order.
He calls the home goods line GrossDomesticProduct, and it includes bedazzled police riot helmets, taxidermied plush toy animals, and frankensteined clutch bags made from actual bricks.
Although the goods are surprisingly accessible—one-of-a-kind mugs go for as little as $13—quantities are limited, the seller is weary, and there are no guarantees. After you’ve selected an item to purchase, the checkout page asks, "Why does art matter?" Comedian Adam Bloom will judge replies, and he says each customer should be as "amusing, informative, or enlightening as possible."
Banksy says the Banksy™ Clutch Bag is "probably no less practical than the output of most haute couture fashion houses." Each one is unique as parts are sourced as they become available. These list at around $950.
This is the original Banksy™ Vest worn by Stormzy during his headlining set at Glastonbury Festival. For the only of its kind, $1,100 feels surprisingly affordable.
After you’ve done your best with that, you get this: "Once we have verified you’re a genuine art collector, and we have this item in stock, we will contact you with a private check-out link." Banksy knows separating the wheat from the chaff is a tall task: "We can’t ever weed out all the people who just want to flip for profit, but we can weed out the unfunny ones," he told NME.
The Banksy™ Soft Toys collection features stuffed animals that have "perished" at the hands of man-made waste.
Banksy collaborated with Spanish artist Escif on a series of three flowering axes made of resin. Each is available for just under $1,000.
Linked at the bottom of GrossDomesticProduct is BBay, a mock third-party resale marketplace for Banksy works that may (or may not) one day open. On the page, a man who likely isn’t Banksy stands with blacked-out eyes outside of a van, against which lean select works by the artist.
The Banksy™ Tombstone is a reminder that "you can’t take it with you." Not yet available, the tombstones are made of Portland stone.
The website calls this the "same old, played out image." This time, it’s been custom cut with a knife by Banksy himself. It’s available for just $40, and ships around Christmas, if you’re an approved buyer.
Most will remember last year’s stunt, when Banksy broke the internet when his work Balloon Girl self-destructed at a Sotheby’s auction. As the gavel sealed the $1.4 million deal, the work shredded itself to pieces. The move raised collective eyebrows as it posed the question, "What is the true value of art?" Now, more than ever, Banksy wants to know.
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