Today comes the news in the Financial Times that Intrade is opening a predictions market in contemporary art. No doubt, investors have been clamoring, Where is a safe place to invest in the midst of this global financial calamity? Well let me introduce you to contemporary art futures, my friend! For too long has the commoditization of art been slowed and strangled by obsolete notions of objecthood. Your entrée into the contemporary art world has been for too long governed by those gatekeepers of the élite: museums, galleries, critics, even art itself. No longer!
Late capitalism sure is cooky.
The picture above is from a different (and altogether more encouraging) story in Der Spiegel about the financial crisis. The U.S. Treasury is considering a move to buy ownership stakes in banks in order to bolster capital markets, something that smart observers like Matthew Yglesias have advocated since the introduction of the first bailout plan. Bank ownership is the basis of the British rescue plan, and if that's something that the U.S. adopts, that's good news.
But that picture—rather appropriate for a new art market, don't you think?
UPDATE: Bonus markets-related art!
Wang Guangyi, Great Criticism Series: NASDAQ, 2005.
Hmmmm, interesting that it was painted three years ago!
Posted by: Beverly Kaye at October 21, 2008 5:01 PMVarious people all over the world get the loans from different creditors, because that is easy and fast.
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