June 26, 2016, at 8:05 p.m.
The YouTubers The SloMo Guys have built a steady and dedicated following by demolishing all kinds of things in their backyard. They film every thing in extreme high definition and at an extraordinary frame rate.
Their most recent video uses 2,500 frames per second to document Daniel Grouchy using various methods to explode spray paint cans. Starting with BB guns, progressing to wood chopping axes, then sledge hammers, and finally back to the axes.
The results are nothing short of specular as the viewer is treated with visual eye candy when the pressurized paint detonates spectacularly at the edge of an axe. Yet, in this video there is more. The duo, completed by Gavin Free, places a white backdrop next to the paint can and captures all of the random splatter from the explosion. A very post-modern Pollock in the making, and all documented in, of course, SloMo.
At the end of their video, the SloMo Guys stand next to their proud work of art and offer to sell it on Ebay with the proceeds going to charity. The results have been amazing. Subscribers on their YouTube Channel top over eight million, so there is no need to do any excess marketing – the audience is built in.
Yet, as of this publication the artwork has topped over an $81K bid price on eBay and shows no sign of …ahem…. Slowing.
While this is a far cry from the record setting decade of art sales, as reported by The New York Times, it is still pretty impressive for two lads in their backyard originally from the UK.
It is doubtful that they would make it into the $170 Million list that The NY Times holds, but just how big could this work grow? By June 26, with eight days left on the auction block, a six-figure bid is almost guaranteed. It could be a slippery slope after that, and the sky is the limit for Dan and Gavin.