When inflation raises prices, currency loses value. In an essay from 1985, I suggested that Andy Warhol’s work suffered a loss of aesthetic value as his success increased his prices.
The last few sentences “ The spectacle of Andy Warhol requires us to face the scarcities that define our art, our experience, and us. Becoming conscious of our own impoverishment, we can refuse to accept it. We can begin to remember that we have a natural right to something more.” nailed it for me. It is real as ever now in the spectacle of the art world market as it was in 1985. Only now I sometimes wonder whether a darker cynicism has taken hold. The art world feels so deeply other than what we do
"To trace his (Warhol's) progress is to see into a future in which our culture will contain no sanctuaries for privileged images of the self or of art. To cross the culture’s internal borders will mean nothing. Those borders won’t matter, nor will the differences between our art-world selves and our marketplace selves ."
Indeed, that era, beginning after the theological abstraction of Pollack, Newman, Still and others, named POP, became dedicated to observation and commentary on commercial culture. The era enshrined another form: the vain foppishness of quipes and snotty comments, the disengaged distance of being above it all by being disingenuous- never having anything significant to say but to comment on others-- babbling on tongue-in-cheek. It works well with doppiness too.
And, It continues into current work as a habit, yet without the critical bite of a good dig at commercial culture.
Many creative people, especially artists, loose focus or concern on these matters where monetary matters meet art markets.
It is important to see the alignment of POP with the monetary system of fiat currency: President Nixon took the USA and World off the Gold Standard in 1972-1974, making the creation of inflation so much easier.! Once the product of broad market forces, bank credit money could be made up by the commercial banks to no end on their computers at the consent of the federal system; those banks were chartered to do so. The simply made up digits on their computers. Thus, the forces of art market stimulus and bank inflation were joined. With a big bank making up credit for the bidder, you could pay almost any price with 10% in equity cash. Great for promoters ! Great for bankers, because like all speculations, bankers will get repaid as long as prices keep going up -- for houses, art works, or tulips. The vapid caustic vain comments of POP style works, like Andy's " $ ", or much of Koons glossy endearing kitsch "pets", can easily be propelled into high values by creating bank credit to be re-uped at the next auction by more bank credit money. And, all involved know that it's just a send -up, as vain and empty as the works propelled. As in the traditional simile of Musical Chairs, it's wonderful fun, until the music stops.
The band playing the music is the fiat system. That band is exhausted now, fifty years after 1974. An asset system is coming in across the world replacing the fiat system. This means that when the "$" painting, or any other promo-inflationary vagary sarcasm, comes to market, the bidder cannot up the price, because the credit banker cannot create real assets like Silver Oil or Gold on his computer. The bid price will become that hush, when the music stops in Musical Chairs.
The market prices will revert to actual value -- people pay for the real goods in art if they must give up real assets rather than fantasy bank credit money. This explains why many works of art take several generations to establish their real value against other real values. In short, diffident caustic comments do not have great value. Their insincerity and vapidity is exposed in time, while significant sincere contributions to understanding our human nature are appreciated and valued.
--
"we can refuse to accept it. We can begin to remember that we have a natural right to something more."
YES INDEED.
The Inflationary System and National Debt System are actually a machine that is well made and organized. It has been operational for 2 Centuries, since War Bonds were invented by the English to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo, 1815. Fiat Systems since 1974 inflame it with made up digits.
It is enabled with the purpose to hide and subdue our individuality, promote politicians and tyrants , and finance war between people and their Nation States. War Bonds were financed to support the North and the South in the American Civil war. Wonderful for profits of that bank group! not so for the 660,000 people dead in conflict.
YES, we have the Natural Right to something more. In the case of money, it is a real monetary system based upon measurable real assets. For specialists : look up " THE UNIT" a Crypto Asset Token.
** Our Natural Right is to a Real Value System.**
AND, as artists we have the Natural Right to make real value works, works that offer those difficult meanings about essential human values, rather than snippings about commerce.
** We can hope for an audience that appreciates real sincere contributions, difficult, obscure and rare as they may be.
FOR SPECIALISTS IN THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DEBT / FIAT / INFLATION AND WORLD WAR:
The last few sentences “ The spectacle of Andy Warhol requires us to face the scarcities that define our art, our experience, and us. Becoming conscious of our own impoverishment, we can refuse to accept it. We can begin to remember that we have a natural right to something more.” nailed it for me. It is real as ever now in the spectacle of the art world market as it was in 1985. Only now I sometimes wonder whether a darker cynicism has taken hold. The art world feels so deeply other than what we do
"To trace his (Warhol's) progress is to see into a future in which our culture will contain no sanctuaries for privileged images of the self or of art. To cross the culture’s internal borders will mean nothing. Those borders won’t matter, nor will the differences between our art-world selves and our marketplace selves ."
Indeed, that era, beginning after the theological abstraction of Pollack, Newman, Still and others, named POP, became dedicated to observation and commentary on commercial culture. The era enshrined another form: the vain foppishness of quipes and snotty comments, the disengaged distance of being above it all by being disingenuous- never having anything significant to say but to comment on others-- babbling on tongue-in-cheek. It works well with doppiness too.
And, It continues into current work as a habit, yet without the critical bite of a good dig at commercial culture.
Many creative people, especially artists, loose focus or concern on these matters where monetary matters meet art markets.
It is important to see the alignment of POP with the monetary system of fiat currency: President Nixon took the USA and World off the Gold Standard in 1972-1974, making the creation of inflation so much easier.! Once the product of broad market forces, bank credit money could be made up by the commercial banks to no end on their computers at the consent of the federal system; those banks were chartered to do so. The simply made up digits on their computers. Thus, the forces of art market stimulus and bank inflation were joined. With a big bank making up credit for the bidder, you could pay almost any price with 10% in equity cash. Great for promoters ! Great for bankers, because like all speculations, bankers will get repaid as long as prices keep going up -- for houses, art works, or tulips. The vapid caustic vain comments of POP style works, like Andy's " $ ", or much of Koons glossy endearing kitsch "pets", can easily be propelled into high values by creating bank credit to be re-uped at the next auction by more bank credit money. And, all involved know that it's just a send -up, as vain and empty as the works propelled. As in the traditional simile of Musical Chairs, it's wonderful fun, until the music stops.
The band playing the music is the fiat system. That band is exhausted now, fifty years after 1974. An asset system is coming in across the world replacing the fiat system. This means that when the "$" painting, or any other promo-inflationary vagary sarcasm, comes to market, the bidder cannot up the price, because the credit banker cannot create real assets like Silver Oil or Gold on his computer. The bid price will become that hush, when the music stops in Musical Chairs.
The market prices will revert to actual value -- people pay for the real goods in art if they must give up real assets rather than fantasy bank credit money. This explains why many works of art take several generations to establish their real value against other real values. In short, diffident caustic comments do not have great value. Their insincerity and vapidity is exposed in time, while significant sincere contributions to understanding our human nature are appreciated and valued.
--
"we can refuse to accept it. We can begin to remember that we have a natural right to something more."
YES INDEED.
The Inflationary System and National Debt System are actually a machine that is well made and organized. It has been operational for 2 Centuries, since War Bonds were invented by the English to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo, 1815. Fiat Systems since 1974 inflame it with made up digits.
It is enabled with the purpose to hide and subdue our individuality, promote politicians and tyrants , and finance war between people and their Nation States. War Bonds were financed to support the North and the South in the American Civil war. Wonderful for profits of that bank group! not so for the 660,000 people dead in conflict.
YES, we have the Natural Right to something more. In the case of money, it is a real monetary system based upon measurable real assets. For specialists : look up " THE UNIT" a Crypto Asset Token.
** Our Natural Right is to a Real Value System.**
AND, as artists we have the Natural Right to make real value works, works that offer those difficult meanings about essential human values, rather than snippings about commerce.
** We can hope for an audience that appreciates real sincere contributions, difficult, obscure and rare as they may be.
FOR SPECIALISTS IN THE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN DEBT / FIAT / INFLATION AND WORLD WAR:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuexX1g_a9c
A trail was blazed by the evil genius of Andy Warhol.
He was the first who heralded vainglory, avarice, plagiarism, servility, and sycophancy as new virtues.
.