Sunday, September 21, 2008

While "Rome" Burns, Art is Fiddling Around.



Has Art Gone To Hell?

By Wingman


No matter how you look at it, last week was a Bad one for Wall Street and the World's Economy.

Damien Hirst, the Artist, on the other hand was cashing in on the whimsy of an Art Auction at Sotheby's.

After two days, the auction soared to a record breaking $200.7 million (£111 million) for the sale of 218 items.

That he made a great deal of money doesn't bother me as much as how the "value" of a piece of Art has descended from the sublime to the ridiculous.

You don't need a mob of Art Seekers with deep pockets, 30 to 40 will do very nicely thank you. But if you sprinkle a few members from an Art Museum that owns a goodly number of Hirst's early work, you come away with the idea that their bidding may be predicated on investment protection.

If Damien's Art value goes down, the value of the pieces they own goes down as well.

And as if that were not enough to question the prices paid, a glimpse of the "Art" pieces should cause most Art Critics to utter: "Oh, My!".

A british publication had their "spin" on these proceedings. Link is here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2008/09/21/do2110.xml

You, of course have heard mine.

This link shows some of the Art pieces:

http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/damien-hirst-art-auction-sets-200-million-record


Wingman.

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