The owner of one of Banksy’s pieces from his 'Great British Spraycation' series has revealed the clever tactic the artist used to carry out his work without being spotted.
Last year, the anonymous street artist shared a video on social media confirming he was behind the various pieces that popped up along the east coast of England.
One of those was a miniature thatched stable which appeared at the Merrivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth, featuring tiny graffiti that reads ‘Banksy’ and ‘go big or go home’.
Banksy did such a great job at covertly installing the piece that Frank Newsome, the former owner of the Norfolk attraction, previously told the BBC that he didn’t know it was there until a visitor pointed it out.
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And now, nearly one year later, Frank has once again opened up to the BBC about how the street artist - or perhaps artists - managed to stay under the radar.
"They would have had to have done their homework," he said. "We have CCTV all around the perimeter at night which would have flagged up an intruder. He did it in broad daylight."
Frank went on to tell the outlet that it all started when someone spotted a drone hovering over the model village.
He continued: "We managed to hook this thing out of the sky with a fishing net - but I was more worried about the glass everywhere when it smashed."
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"When Banksy verified it with drone images all over the village, that's when we looked back through the CCTV.
"Two groups came in. Firstly, three lads with cool boxes for the beach. Then a group of girls and boys, wearing masks because of the restrictions at the time.
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"They didn't want their picture taken at the kiosk. But then there was an almighty fracas at the other end of the village. Some of the group was shouting and swearing.
"The others must have done it then, when the staff were distracted."
Smart hey? Frank’s CCTV analysis only contributes to the mounting evidence suggesting Banksy is a collective of artists working together, rather than just one person.
Which makes sense. How else would he have gone undetected all these years?
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As for the model stable itself, Frank added: "We still didn't think it was genuine but knew we couldn't just leave it here in case it was.
"So we all babysat it in rotation and once it was confirmed, we moved it inside to safety, taking it off site every night, returning in the morning by different routes.
"I got an offer on the spot for £150,000 - then the chap came back two hours later and offered double."
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The publication said the piece ended up selling at auction earlier this year for a whopping £800,000.
Frank, who has since retired after suffering a health issue, said the whole thing was like a movie.
"We called Pest Control, who handle Banksy's affairs, just to ask 'why us'?" he said. "She wouldn't give us any answers."
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Topics: Art
