banksy self destruct costume

Someone in Toronto recreated the shredded Banksy art for Halloween

Today in Halloween costumes that are so good you couldn't replicate them if you tried, we have Toronto-based social media consultant Charissa Tosio with Banksy's 'Self-Destruct.'

The piece is both complicated and clever. Perfectly attuned to the cultural zeitgeist, it is both a scathing critique of consumerism and a beautiful tribute to one of this year's most cathartic moments.

Like the inspiration behind it, Tosio's costume is art — a full-on, wearable version, in fact, of the Banksy painting that destroyed itself just moments after selling for $1.4 million at Sotheby's in London earlier this month.

The famously-faceless British street artist staged his (or her!) latest prank at the high-brow auction house on October 6, stunning the art world (and no doubt the unnamed buyer, who had to watch their pricey new acquisition go to shreds).

Banksy later explained in a video posted to Instagram that he or she had secretly installed a paper shredder in the frame of the iconic work, 'Girl with Balloon,' all the way back in 2006, in case it ever went up for action.

"The urge to destroy is also a creative urge," the artist wrote in the caption of that post.

In the caption of her post, Tosio focused on the practical, as opposed to the political.

"Finished making my Halloween costume," she wrote. "Picture frame, 1 stencil, 2 paintings I painted, 2 curtain rollers I made work together and attached the paintings to, bracketed wood to frame and create a back, a backpack strapped to the painting so I could wear it."

Sounds like a lot of hard work, but the result — at least in this costumer connoisseur's humble opinion — was definitely worth it.

Lead photo by

Charissa Tosio


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