Its ART Jim, but NOT as we know it!steemCreated with Sketch.

in #art7 years ago (edited)

Some art is literally crap but it is worth a fortune.
Take a look at this!

For the past 25 years I have kept my eye on trends in the art world/market, and over those years I have seen art and collected stories of some real bullshit art, made and sold for extortionate prices
All in the name of  "fine art".

Being involved in the art world myself this is somewhat concerning, but hey, if the super rich wish to invest in shit then that´s up to them.
All have the right to throw their money down the toilet if they wish.
Sometimes however, artists deliberately take the piss out of the art world just to see how far the super rich art collectors will go, and when this happens it can be quite hysterical .

Take the above "work of art" created by artist Paul McCarthy. This  giant inflatable dog poo called `Complex Shit´ was displayed in Switzerland in 2008 and sold for $100,000 dollars.
"You could buy a lot of Steem for that!"   I can hear you say.

Much shit art was being sold around that time and was a sign of the enormous amount of extra cash that was around in the economy just a few months before the financial crash.





One of my own personal favorites is this "work of art " created by artist Susanna Hesselberg of Sweden.
In 2006 she created this "clinging man" out of fiber glass.
She placed her "artwork" in a park in the center of the town of Malmo.
During the three months that it was on display, local emergency services were inundated with calls telling of  man who wished to commit suicide.
Every so often a small crowd of people would gather and shout up to the "man" in order to try and coax him down.
One person was reported to have shouted: "I am sure it cant be as bad as it seems. Come down and you can stay at my place until you are sorted out".
Other people phoned police thinking the man was trying to break into someones apartment.

The work sold for $50,000.
But if we added  the cost to tax payers for the waste of time of emergency and police services the price would no doubt be much higher.





Perhaps the Swedish people have a good sense of humor for again we go over to Sweden for this next great work.

Actually I have nothing against this one for it is rather interesting historically speaking.

In the 1970s, Swedish Artist Lars Vilks began collecting large amounts of driftwood on the beaches of Skåne.
Lars began building gigantic sculptures with the driftwood that were so large people could walk around inside them.
Local authorities deemed the project illegal as Lars had not applied for planning permission. 

In a counter attack Lars declared the structures a work of art which meant the authorities could then do nothing. If  they tried to remove the work they were then liable for destroying a work of art.
Lars Vilks had effectively defeated the system. 

To crown his victory, 3o years later in 1996 Lars Vilks declared the area as an independent state calling it Ladonia. Due to the area being outside of the law for so long this was actually made legal by his lawyers. Over 200,00 people applied for citizenship.


Finally, Queensland born artist, Tim Patch, really decided to take the piss when on New Years Eve 2006 he decided he would give up his brushes and try painting with his penis instead.

Not being a particular fan of politicians Patch decided to paint a portrait of the Australian Prime Minister John Howard. No doubt he had been drinking quite a bit that evening, but when he awoke the next day he was amazed how well the painting had turned out.

"Jeez, I can paint better with my nob than I can with a brush!"  He exclaimed.

From then on Patch continued to paint with his extended tool and called his new art form: "Penile art".
When his father, a sheep farmer, walked in on his son painting he responded:
"Oh dear oh dear oh dear". And walked out in disgust. 

However, Tim had a much more positive response from women who are quite eager to watch him work.
Tim Patch went on to paint a series of portraits of politicians and today his work is highly collectable and fetch enormous prices. However, apparently when his work is sold at auction, art handlers are said to wear rubber gloves.

Sources: Fortean Times/ Art Now / Norges Kunstforening 1975 / 1990 / 2008

Thank you for reading my post and thank you visiting my blog.
I wish you warm welcome back next time @arthuradamson

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I enjoyed reading this very much. I need to read more about Lars Vilks- he sounds a very interesting chap.
I wonder if Patch ever suffered any medical complications with his new painting tool, it's difficult enough getting paint out of your fingernails.

Ha ha yeah he probably never thought of that. What concerned me was, how did he mix his paints?
Cheers!

Oh how the mind boggles!

This is great stuff. Tim Patch - what a maverick! LOL :D
Art can be so subjective...

Right on!
One persons waste is another persons treasure

No offense

No offense

Why should I take offense?

"There is nothing to be offended," - the wise man answered, - "Everyone sees in others what he knows in himself"

Very interesting art

"Art is whatever an artist says it is" Marcel Duchamp 1941

Pretty amazing. Thanks for the post. There are truly some very creative folks all over the world. No end to the range of ideas. Is it too late to become a citizen of Ladonia?

ha ha glad you enjoyed it. I can check on Lodonia to see of they are issuing passports lol!

This was a great read...immensely funny and entertaining!

I've got it added for the @steemittalk podcast agenda to bring up this Saturday.

Excellent. I will be listening in for sure. Look forward to it

Really good post Arthur. Amazes me how some of these nutcases think their work is art. I remember visiting the Tate Modern in London a few years ago and saw a penis tree and one display on the floor showed bricks and clothes lying in a heap. How this is art I,ll never know

Lol! I agree.
I mean I an an artist myself with several years at higher education so I know all the concepts out there. And I know that some art is meant to get us to think about life but honestly some go a bit too far sometimes and I know they are taking the piss.
Damien Hirst even admitted to this on camera one time, saying
"They pay me a fortune for shit"-

"A fool and their money are soon parted" My grandmother used to say lol!

Thanks for the response @ianstrat

Hi! We hope to discuss your post today on our podcast!
Feel free to join us at 3pm CST / 9pm GMT at http://steemittalkpodcast.com!

Great, I will be there for sure.

This is a fabulous read and I missed it during my work days! Thank goodness they highlighted it in the podcast. I'll stick my my markers, paints and brushes. Poo "art" reminds me of the time my son sent me a photo of the longest poo he ever personally recorded. LOL

lol! - great show we had last night thoroughly enjoyed it. Such a great thing for the Steemit community.

I understand you,about missing posts due to other commitments, which is why I think the idea of the one week pay out alteration might not be so silly a change. There are many posts that I see after the payment time and that seems like such a shame.

I don´t think podcast team have realized that there show will suddenly become quite powerful if that time change comes about.

Thanks @merej99 I appreciate you replying, that was nice of you

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