art in a time of shrinking expectations

Less -- it’s the new more. Can’t go back is what they say. The pre-2008 economy was hyper-inflated, a period of reckless consumption, and more, more, more, without real assets, nothing but plastic, to back it up. It won’t come again. For one thing, consumers can’t be coaxed into maxing out for all that non-essential stuff again, another generation having learned to be more responsible, to take life more seriously, to buy just what they need.

The art market really went nuts, maybe even more than other financial systems, since its prices were pure speculation, fanned by the delirium of acquisition, the adulation of fame. A new order is taking over, with shifted priorities and new sensibilities. These days we don’t have the same money to spend on pointless stuff, and soon we’ll stop envying those who do. In times of contraction, people learn to travel light, to possess less stuff, to concentrate value. They begin to think of art in a brand new way. Ask yourself – would you rather move to a new city with eight works of art, or two vans of furniture? Would you rather tie up your assets in common possessions constantly wearing out, becoming dated and obsolete, or in a few unique objects which never change, which give constant pleasure, and which may even increase in value in the time you own them? These same questions are finding new answers these days.