Today, some pieces of art sell like high-value stocks or gold bullion. Why are they valued?
For example, on November 18, Sotheby’s will sell a gold toilet called America By Italian artist Maurizio Catlin, with a starting bid of $10 million. The toilet was first created in 2017, displayed at the Marian Goodman Gallery, and sold to billionaire art collector Steven Cohen, owner of the New York Mets, who is now selling it. Earlier, Caitlin made a banana groove on the wall, called Comedianwhich was purchased for 30 cents at a Miami grocery store and sold to cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun for $6.2 million at Sotheby’s.
So my question is, why should a gold toilet, like a banana, cost so much? What makes it so valuable? And should the rich be shamed, embarrassed, and mocked into paying astronomical sums for some art pieces that are like a joke or satirical work?
That seems like an outrageous price for art at a time when the government is shut down and 42 million people are starving because they lack the funds to buy groceries. And not only are millions of Americans struggling, but millions of artists are barely making a living from their art, because their average sales are $50 to a few hundred dollars if they sell anything at all.
Thus, it can be difficult for many people not to feel a sense of outrage when a single banana on the wall sells for $6.2 million or when a gold toilet is about to hit the market with a minimum bid of $10 million.
Some questions are raised by the sale of such art
The very spectacle of these art transactions raises the question: What does it mean when ridiculous, satirical, even deliberately provocative “pieces of art” are sold for fortunes – while countless working artists scrape by for years of effort and can make less than $10,000 a year from their work, and millions of poor people struggle to survive?
Ironically, Caitlin’s banana slice makes no claim to superior craftsmanship. Instead it is designed for a conceptual work that Catlin describes as a “provocation” within the art market itself. And the gold toilet is fully functional, made of solid gold, and on sale much more speculative than a studio painting or sculpture that an artist spends weeks or months creating to express his thoughts or feelings.
Thus, the sale of such works for astronomical sums begs the question. Shouldn’t the wealthy who buy such works feel ashamed or at least forced to ask themselves why they are spending so much for such art? They should consider this question, because buying such art at extremely high prices reflects and supports a deeply unequal art economy: one in which a single name, gallery connection, or avant-garde provocation can generate tens of millions, while the vast majority of artists continue to struggle.
The real life of most artists
In contrast to the fame and fortune of the relatively few artists who have become darlings of the art market, millions of artists earn little or nothing, although the quality of their art may match or even exceed the work of top earners, if graded in a blind art comparison test. The struggles of these artists have been well documented. According to a survey of more than 1,500 working artists in the US and UK, I reported Artnet News, Three-quarters earned $10,000 or less a year from their art alone. About half earned no more than $5,000. Many people who sell their work average a few hundred or a few thousand dollars more. At the same time, notional tasks like bananas or gold toilets change hands for houses, college funds or reserve money for family medical bills. In this art market, some names act as “superstars” like asset managers: their name matters more than their work. The result is a market that prizes brand over speculation, delicacy, accessibility and craft, time, or the daily struggle of a creative life.
What the sale says about the art world
From one angle, Catlin’s work seems to be a critique of the art system itself, as Banana Piece asks us to question how value is assigned, how hype circulates, and how the rich buy their cultural status. But from another angle, spectacle reinforces the worst aspects of the art world: exclusivity, over-investment in studio practice, and over-representation of nominated artists. The fact that a gold toilet or a banana can be traded like a luxury asset invites the suspicion that, in many cases, art is less about aesthetic or cultural value and more about social signaling, money laundering, or tax sheltering, especially when billionaire collectors are involved.
It’s also important to consider the social context of these sales, as this is a time when large numbers of Americans face food insecurity, when the federal government has been shut down for the longest time in American history, and when tens of millions of people globally are at risk of hunger. At such a time, the idea of ​​a banana taped to a wall or a toilet made of gold could sell for multi-millions. It’s like exhibiting art through the rich while thumbing one’s nose at the poor, the poor, and anyone else who can’t afford such luxuries. It’s like saying “let them eat cake”, a phrase attributed to Marie Antoinette to symbolize the elite’s indifference to the poor, symbolizing the disconnect between the rich and the poor.
Thus, these multi-million dollar sales can be said to represent misplaced priorities. When resources, such as attention, capital, gallery space, and museum acquisitions, flood into the most high-end stuff, the middle-class artists lose ground. Materials, time, the human labor of art-making become invisible, replaced by stamps of approval by high prices paid for selected works, regardless of any artistic craftsmanship.
Embarrassment of the rich
For wealthy collectors or anyone who makes headlines for spending eight or nine figures on an item that seems like a bargain, the embarrassment comes when you reflect: What service are you buying? If you bought a banana or a golden toilet the same way you might buy a painting by a mid-career artist struggling to pay the rent, you might consider the artistic merit of what you’re purchasing, without the value dictated by high art market prices. After all, what are you really buying? Is it work? idea? Name? Marketing statement? Or a seat at the highest table of influence and investment?
If one values ​​art as a shared cultural expression, the spectacle of hundreds of millions being spent on a handful of highly honest transactions while thousands of artists struggle is disturbing. This suggests that art has become more detached from everyday creative life and closer to a luxury item, regardless of the actual value of the art, when it is judged based on the principles of what makes good art as art rather than as an investment item.
Where do we go from here?
Instead of simply scoffing at ridiculous price tags, we can use this consideration of art’s value as an opportunity to reflect on what we value, what we stand for. We must recognize that for many artists, making art is uncertain, undervalued and neglected.
We must also question what we reward: spectacle or substance, name recognition or creative output, market speculation or artistic creation?
Perhaps we should provide more support for institutions that invest in mid-career artists, diversify acquisitions, and reduce the halo effect of the ultra-rich.
And for collectors spending multi-millions or billions, choosing a banana or a toilet as a trophy may make headlines, but the richest return one can receive is not in auction records, but in supporting the entire system of art, including the unseen, the untouchable, and the hard-working artist. Maybe spending $10 million on a gold toilet can start to feel a little shameless when compared to contributing to the world of artists or contributing to the poor in other ways.
For more information and to set up interviews, contact ALB Games at the information below.
Karen Andrews
Executive Assistant
Change Makers Publishing and Writing
San Ramon, CA 94583
(925) 804–6333
changemakerspub@att.net
www.changemakersart.com
www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com
Ginny Graham Scott, Ph.D. He is the author of more than 50 books with major publishers and has published over 200 books through his company, Changemakers Publishing and Writing (http://www.changemakerspublishingandwriting.com) she writes books, proposals, and film scripts for clients, and has written and produced 18 feature films and documentaries, including Kond: A True Story And Who are the artists unveiled? Distributed by Gravitas Ventures. For centuries.http://www.changemakersproductionsfilms.com) are among his latest books A story from the past And How to Find and Work with a Good Ghostwriter Published by Waterside Productions. And who is big And I was scammed, Published by American Leadership Press.