by Ruth Rachel Anderson-Avraham
"I was living in Prospect Heights when the 'Sensation' exhibit came to the Brooklyn Museum in 1997, and had the opportunity to see the exhibit personally several times.
While it is true that many of the works were controversial and did play upon some level of 'shock value', as well as the savvy marketing of Charles Saatchi, these works were far from negligible. They were, indeed, inherently noteworthy, and did, in fact, demonstrate artistic merit, whatever one's personal artistic tastes or preferences.
In my humble opinion, the work of Beeple (b. 1981) does have intrinsic value, both artistically and monetarily. The real question is whether or not the price which the market has afforded to this work is too high, whether or not this work is overvalued...
The same question has been posed about the work of Damien Hirst (b. 1965), one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) featured in the Sensation exhibit, who is, today, one of the wealthiest living artists in the world, if not the wealthiest living artist in the world, and whose work also remains extremely controversial (in a manner in which the work of Beeple is not, both in terms of theme and process).
The market price afforded to a work of art is not merely determined by the demonstration of artistic merit by the artist and his or her work. There are many other factors which contribute to the pricing of a work of art beyond artistic merit, such as 'uniqueness' or perceived 'uniqueness'; cultural tempo (a determination of whether or not an artist or a particular genre or work of art is considered to be in high demand or what's 'hot' at any given time); economy (a determination of whether or not potential buyers have an incentive at any given time to invest in art, or to invest, generally, as well as a determination of the potential for any such investment in art to turnover in the market at any given time, etc.); and marketability (whether or not an artist or work of art has access to a small or large market, to experienced intermediaries such as dealers, galleries, and auction houses, to less wealthy or more wealthy buyers, etc.).
While there is no question that digital artwork, including NFTs, has intrinsic value and integrity - even moreso than the Bitcoin, in my humble opinion, I believe that this work has been dangerously overvalued, as is the Bitcoin, generally (also, in my humble opinion).
One day, this bubble will burst, and prices will reset, but a market will most certainly remain..."
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