Over the weekend, three tourists purchased pieces of original art from Banksy valued at 5-figures. On the streets of New York.\u00a0For 2-figures.<\/p>\n
As NY Mag\u00a0Reports:<\/p>\n
Three lucky tourists snapped up artwork by elusive British street artist Banksy in Central Park over the weekend, shelling out just $60 for canvases estimated to be worth as much as $31,000.<\/p>\n
The graffiti guru \u2013 who is on a month-long New York \u201cresidency\u201d in which he promises at least one new work per day will show up on city streets \u2013 set up a pop-up boutique of about 25 spray-art canvases on Fifth Avenue near Central Park Saturday.<\/p>\n
Banksy chronicled the surprise sale in a video posted to his website noting, \u201cYesterday I set up a stall in the park selling 100 % authentic original signed Banksy canvases. For $60 each.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It\u2019s worth watching\u00a0the video\u00a0of the experiment if you haven\u2019t seen it. What\u2019s happening here is a form of social blindness. It\u2019s not expected a world-renowned artist, even an eccentric one, would setup shop in a public place and distribute works at a rate anyone can afford. Also, most people think to themselves: \u201coh,\u00a0if these were\u00a0really<\/em>\u00a0Banksy pieces, there would be a swam of people gathered around attempting to acquire one\u201d (social proof that the art is in fact legitimate). So no one believes it to be true. Even those of us curious of our surroundings have been trained to be skeptical and dismiss reality if it doesn\u2019t align with our expectations of what that reality should look like. And, a few people get lucky.<\/p>\n
I read through this story and couldn\u2019t help think to myself: haven\u2019t we been here before? Indeed, we have, in the now world-famous experiment where Violinist Joshua Bell\u00a0performed in a subway as if he were just another street performer. I shared this story years ago\u00a0here\u00a0along with analysis:<\/p>\n
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In April 2007, the\u00a0Washington Post\u00a0convinced\u00a0Joshua Bell, a famous violin virtuoso, to play in the Washington DC subway during the morning rush hour. Bell took his $3.5 million Stradivarius violin and played. Almost no one noticed or stopped to listen. He collected a total of $32 for an hour of playing (excluding a $20 bill that was given by a person who recognized him).<\/p>\n
The subway commuters are using each others\u2019 response to the violinist in order to determine their own response to him. Without the cues that signal the violinist\u2019s quality that accompany him when performing in a concert hall, such as expensive tickets and posters, the violinist is judged by other commuters\u2019 reaction to him: as most commuters are primarily concerned with reaching their place of work, this forms the response the commuters signal to one another about the violinist.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Basically, no one recognized the man himself (or his music). Just like no one accepted \/ recognized Banksy\u2019s works were real. The lesson in both cases is to be aware of your social conditioning and curious enough about your surroundings that you don\u2019t miss something unique or unexpected. Look\u00a0beyond<\/em>\u00a0social proof in addition to looking for it. But realize\u00a0most people require it<\/em>.<\/p>\n
Both stories share important lessons for brands, both known and upcoming, on how to be noticed and trusted (or not).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Over the weekend, three tourists purchased pieces of original art from Banksy valued at 5-figures. On the streets of New … <\/p>\n