Arturo Vardelos: The Art of Commodifying the Commodification of Art
A conceptual meta-project about the commodification of art.
Inspired by an
article
about collectors who flaunt their wealth through the acquisition of
expensive art, I created this project under the pseudonym Arturo
On Arturo's now-defunct website, I claimed:
“With this series, I am gripped by the relationship between patron and artist. Initially, I was infuriated by [the article]. With further contemplation, I found a fallacy in my position: because my own definition of "art" is the crafted manifestation of an idea, and since such purchases are in fact a form of premeditated self-expression, then it must follow that the acquisition of art as a statement of wealth is, in fact, an artistic act! And so, enlightened by this realization, I set out to explore how the roles of patron and artist can be blended, blurred and transposed. The Art of Commodifying the Commodification of Art is the materialization of what I discover.“
Despite the outrageous price tags, nothing was actually sold (although with the right marketing I have no doubt they could have commanded the assigned values)!
Money to Burn, the premiere offering from conceptual artist Arturo Vardelos, is the first known work to intentionally make its artistic statement through its buyer, entirely as a result of its purchase. Although the minimalist piece itself has virtually no intrinsic value—constructed hastily of inexpensive materials with no particular skill or talent—the asking price of not less than USD 300,000.00 makes the very deliberate statement that its patron indeed possesses—as the title suggests—money to burn. The project is, then, an attempt to expose the patron as an artist through their very patronage of the art! As a result, the piece itself becomes as worthless after its purchase as a script after the performance of a play.
To fulfill the artist's vision, the buyer is expected to:
- pay as much as they can afford for the piece without consideration for its value or return on investment (but not less than the asking price);
- produce and freely distribute reproductions of the original work, so it becomes a widely-recognized symbol of the frivolity of art ownership;
- exhibit the original work, along with its story, regularly and without compensation in a forum that is easily accessible by the general public; and
- destroy the original work by burning it to ashes at a time and ceremony of the owner's choosing, but not more than 20 years after the date the piece was created (December 12, 2011).
As the first work in Vardelos' sole surviving project, this piece offers its fortunate buyer the rare opportunity to not only own a piece of art history, but in fact participate in it, as both patron and artist in the single act of purchase!
Werewolf continues the conceptual artist's attempt to mix and transposed the roles of artist and patron. Vardelos will use proceeds from the sale of this minimalist piece to commission additional works from an array of unknowing and unrelated artists, then combine those acquisitions into a collage, which will then be offered independently as a derivative work (entitled Fair Use). Through this cycle, the artist is temporarily transformed into the role of patron (while simultaneously exhibiting the artistic behavior of self-expression through the selection process) then back to artist for assembly of the derivative work.
This work offers its fortunate buyer the rare opportunity to not only own a piece of art history, but in fact contribute to it, knowing that the purchase effectively serves as an endowment for future creations not only by Vardelos, but the commissioned artists as well.
The website also offered Fair Use for
“Fair Use, an unusually-derivative work by Arturo Vardelos, results from the conceptual artist's attempt to mix and transpose the roles of artist and patron in the preceding installation, Werewolf. Vardelos will use proceeds from that piece to commission the additional works (from an array of unknowing and unrelated artists) that are mixed into this collage. Through this cycle, the artist is temporarily transformed into the role of patron (while simultaneously exhibiting the artistic behavior of self-expression through the selection process) then back to artist for assembly of the derivative work.
“As only the fourth work in Vardelos' sole surviving project, this piece currently offers its fortunate buyer not just one, but two unusual opportunities: firstly, to own the groundbreaking result of the innovative artist-as-patron cycle initiated by Werewolf, and also to exercise the openly-acknowledged form of creative self-expression offered by Sight Unseen. Note, however, that this work will be revealed upon completion; therefore, a serious buyer should complete the purchase before that time, in order to experience both aspects of this installation!”
Sight Unseen further explores the self-expressive aspect of expensive art collection. This new installation provides its patron the opportunity to express recognition of the value of a work of art without actually knowing anything about the physical characteristics of the piece itself. Although the material component of Sight Unseen has been constructed, the installation as a whole will not be complete until purchased by, and revealed to, the collector (Warning: those who don't "get it" will certainly be disappointed)!
This installation offers its fortunate buyer the rare opportunity to be among the first to participate in a new movement that acknowledges the inherently creative aspect of expensive art collection.
The original production of these pieces were destroyed approximately two years after they were created; these images are all that remain. As a conceptual project, it could be performed again on demand.