- May we interest you in a pickled shark, or perhaps Queen Vic’s oversized undies?
Auctions can be a lot of fun and, in a way, they’re a relatively fair way to sell something unique. You just put it up for sale and see who wants it the most.
Not everything that goes under the auctioneer’s gavel is worth selling, though. Yet, for some reason, celebrities’ waste products, mind-boggling artwork, and other strange objects are auction mainstays.
Here’s a collection of seven bizarre things that were put on auction — and sold.
7. Brangelina’s Breath — $523
Remember when Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie were the hottest Hollywood super couple? Although they’re divorced now, there was a time in history when seemingly everyone was crazy about Brangelina — for some reason.
Nothing exemplifies that craze more than the jar that supposedly contained the breath of both Mr. Pitt and Ms. Jolie. It sold on eBay for $523 in 2010.
Our biggest question here is, did the jar actually contain the celebrities’ breath? If so, how did somebody manage to get it in the jar?
Wonder if the thing came with a certificate of authenticity.
6. A Laptop Infected with Computer Viruses — $1.3 Million
Usually, when your computer gets a bunch of viruses on it, you’ll either try to delete them or buy a new computer. In 2019, though, a virus-riddled laptop sold at an auction for $1.3 million.
There weren’t just any viruses, however. Chinese digital artist Guo O Dong intentionally infected the laptop with six of the most dangerous viruses in existence.
Among others, the laptop contained the ILOVEYOU worm, BlackEnergy, and WannaCry. If you don’t know what those are, have fun googling what they do.
To make sure the potential buyer wouldn’t unleash the viruses contained on the laptop, Dong had a cybersecurity company firmly secure the computer. Here’s hoping they did a good job.
5. A Self-Destructing Banksy Painting — $1.4 Million
The mysterious street artist Banksy is known for outlandish works of art. But few of his antics can top the painting of a girl holding a balloon, which sold for $1.4 million.
But as soon as the hammer banged, something weird happened. The painting detached from its frame and fell straight into a shredder.
The kicker is that the auction house Sotheby’s or the buyer had no idea this would happen.
You might imagine they were pretty pissed, but the opposite is true. After all, the painting’s destruction immediately boosted its value by 50%.
Artwork valuation is f***ing weird.
4. Queen Victoria’s Underwear — $1,250
There’s really nothing strange about auctioning the clothes of historically significant figures — especially as significant as Queen Victoria. In that sense, her underwear going for sale at an auction is understandable.
But what underwear it is. The Victorian silk knickers measure a whopping 44 inches at the waist.
They’re also sewn in the “open drawers” fashion, which was the style at the time. The underwear is open in the middle so Queen Victoria could go to the bathroom without removing it.
The second weird thing about the giant vintage undies is the amount they sold for. Only $1,250 — surely they were more valuable than that?
3. A Banana Taped to a Wall — $120,000
It’s not just Banksy selling bizarre art. Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan’s piece Comedian sold for $120,000.
It consists of a banana duct-taped to a wall.
The famously bizarre piece of art was intentionally controversial, as Cattelan wanted to question what art even is. Still, somebody bought the masterpiece, which — we repeat — is just a banana taped to the wall.
How did they even take this thing home? Did they cut out a piece of the wall or what?
2. A Shark Preserved in Formaldehyde — $8 million
As the final piece de resistance in strange works of art, we have British artist Damien Hirst’s The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living from 1991. The piece sold for an officially unknown amount in 2004, but the price is rumored to have been at least $8 million.
The piece of art consists of an entire shark pickled in formaldehyde in a giant glass tank. We’re really not sure what more we can say here.
Yet, even though the shark was supposedly preserved, it began to decay. In 2006, Hirst replaced the rotting shark with a new one.
That actually brings up an interesting philosophical question. If it’s a different shark, is it still the same artwork?
1. Justin Timberlake’s Partially Eaten French Toast — $1,025
Strange as buying something like Brangelina’s breath is, at least you can kind of understand it. After all, it’s something that was once part of or directly produced by the celebrity.
But what about the half-eaten piece of French toast Justin Timberlake didn’t finish after an interview session? He sure didn’t make it — he just took a bite out of it.
Yet, the leftovers sold for $1,025 on eBay back in 2000. Taking inflation into account, that’s almost $2,000 today.
At least we know what happened to the toast. The woman who bought it said she was going to freeze and vacuum bag the toast and keep it in her closet.
Okay then.
Honorable Mention: Air from a Kanye West Concert
Now, technically, this entry doesn’t count, because it didn’t actually sell. But it’s too stupid for us not to mention it.
In 2015, a Zip-Loc bag supposedly containing air from a Kanye West concert went up for sale on eBay. The thing was fairly obviously a joke — how would anyone verify where the air in the bag came from?
Still, the bids on the listing reached $60,000 before eBay shut it down. Now imagine if they’d actually allowed the auction to go through.