Potentially worth millions if authenticated, some ‘newly found’ notebook full of sketches purports to have come from the hand of Vincent himself, and experts diligently analyze the ink, carbon date the paper. A kid could probably look and tell the difference, and almost anyone else could too, drawing technique so much harder to forge than a signature. Looking, it turns out, is a big problem for the expert however -- they’ve been taught to believe a candy wrapper could be a Rembrandt with the proper lab certifications and duly registered provenance. After years in training sorting art into air tight bins, lined up on a shelf with labels and thumbnails, by now they can name what’s in all of them -- it’s their job, but they’ve paid a terrible price for their profession, no longer able to see with human eyes. Art they come across falls through slots and grates, passes over scales, and when it comes back up there’s a numeric ranking over the image and it goes into one of the bins, never to be seen at all. How else to explain not being able to recognize on sight a famous artist’s hand?
Authentication, a spin-off profession, is a highly complex intrigue involving spectrographs and test tubes, under the table negotiations and fat fees for the ‘right’ answer, you be the judge. The artist on the corner, paint brush in hand, laments, ‘nobody wants to just look anymore,’ or even can, having listened to the experts far too long. Let’s all start over. If a particular piece requires authentication it’s going to be far too expensive for you, anyway, so avoid the litigation and use your own eyes instead. This isn’t hard, more art up everyday so easier all the time, and can even turn out to be fun, entertaining, and an extremely cheap spectator sport. Look at the piece of art enough to see what’s there, and then lean forward, look at the price. Machinery in your head, there when you were born or implanted shortly thereafter, will do the rest, don’t even have to think about it.
The price is important because it’s an indication of how seriously the artist thinks you should be taking their work, but you won’t know this without looking a fair amount before hand, enough to establish a base, to keep stats. When you back up from seeing the price, look a little harder this time, and you can judge for yourself if you think the amount is justified based on what other artists are asking, and in the case you happen to agree, maybe wind up taking home a piece of art. Don’t need no expert for that. In the long run, you and all your neighbors and friends can sort it out, decide for yourselves how much art is worth to you, and together express what you like and what you feel about living around here.
Authentication, a spin-off profession, is a highly complex intrigue involving spectrographs and test tubes, under the table negotiations and fat fees for the ‘right’ answer, you be the judge. The artist on the corner, paint brush in hand, laments, ‘nobody wants to just look anymore,’ or even can, having listened to the experts far too long. Let’s all start over. If a particular piece requires authentication it’s going to be far too expensive for you, anyway, so avoid the litigation and use your own eyes instead. This isn’t hard, more art up everyday so easier all the time, and can even turn out to be fun, entertaining, and an extremely cheap spectator sport. Look at the piece of art enough to see what’s there, and then lean forward, look at the price. Machinery in your head, there when you were born or implanted shortly thereafter, will do the rest, don’t even have to think about it.
The price is important because it’s an indication of how seriously the artist thinks you should be taking their work, but you won’t know this without looking a fair amount before hand, enough to establish a base, to keep stats. When you back up from seeing the price, look a little harder this time, and you can judge for yourself if you think the amount is justified based on what other artists are asking, and in the case you happen to agree, maybe wind up taking home a piece of art. Don’t need no expert for that. In the long run, you and all your neighbors and friends can sort it out, decide for yourselves how much art is worth to you, and together express what you like and what you feel about living around here.
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