Leaning back into a pedestal to try to get the perfect angle took out a whole row of sculptures at an LA gallery – at least that’s the way it looks

A woman in Los Angeles has apparently demonstrated just how damaging selfies can be by destroying whole row of pieces of art while trying to get that perfect image.

The moment, captured on video at the 14th Factory exhibition space in Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles shows a woman apparently bending down to try to get the perfect angle for a selfie shot down a row of the Hypercaine exhibition by Hong Kong-based artist Simon Birch and a series of international collaborators.

She loses her balance and leans back a bit too far, knocking over the first pedestal and sending the sculpture atop it tumbling, then knocking into the next pedestal in the row and causing a domino effect that takes out the whole row.

The incident happened two weeks ago in a 14,000 sq metre installation, and caused irreparable damage to some of the 12 crown-like sculptures, which were made from a variety of different materials, including precious metals, marble, wood, nylon and scrap metal.

Gloria Yu, one of the artists involved in the exhibition, told art and culture site Hyperallergic: “Three sculptures were permanently damaged and others to varying degrees. The approximate cost of damage is $200,000.”

That’s one expensive selfie.

The 14th Factory, which would not divulge whether the pieces were insured, told technology site Cnet that it was not behind the emergence of the video. But some have thrown doubt on whether the accident, captured perfectly by what appears to be CCTV footage, was in fact a stunt by one or more of the artists involved.

The video capturing the moment was uploaded to YouTube on 13 July by someone claiming to be a friend of Simon Birch, which also attempts to encourage viewers to visit the exhibition. The Hypercaine exhibit is one of 14 rooms of the show that was six-years in the making and was originally planned to take place in Hong Kong, before moving to LA.

It was labelled by the Los Angeles Times as being a “series of wondrous, over-the-top sets for the perfect selfie”. Perhaps that was its downfall.