Builder in Australia drills through Banksy piece

[n2doc]

By Jamie Wetherbe
May 18, 2012, 7:00 a.m.
A bathroom pipe has destroyed a piece by the elusive street artist Banksy valued at $50,000.


An Australian builder working on a cafe drilled through a wall, piercing "The Parachuting Rat,” which was painted in a Melbourne suburb about 15 years ago.

Other street artists had wrapped graffiti around the wall careful to preserve the stencil depicting a rat descending by parachute that had attracted tourists and boosted business in the area.

This is the third Banksy piece destroyed in the Australian city in two years: In 2010, contractors painted over a piece; vandals destroyed another.


more

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-builders-in-australia-drill-through-50000-banksy-piece-20120517,0,6619223.story?track=rss

[TheWraith]

1. I'll never understand art valuation.

A stencil of a rat on a brick wall is worth $50,000, but striking oil paintings by professional artists are barely worth a fraction of that.

[PoliticAverse]

2. Before picture...

[DCKit]

3. That's some quality work, too.

Now the rats can just walk right into the building.