Some art is literally crap but it is worth a fortune.
Take a look at this!
For the past 25 years I have kept my eye on trends in the art world/market, and over those years I have seen art and collected stories of some real bullshit art, made and sold for extortionate prices
All in the name of "fine art".
Being involved in the art world myself this is somewhat concerning, but hey, if the super rich wish to invest in shit then that´s up to them.
All have the right to throw their money down the toilet if they wish.
Sometimes however, artists deliberately take the piss out of the art world just to see how far the super rich art collectors will go, and when this happens it can be quite hysterical .
Take the above "work of art" created by artist Paul McCarthy. This giant inflatable dog poo called `Complex Shit´ was displayed in Switzerland in 2008 and sold for $100,000 dollars.
"You could buy a lot of Steem for that!" I can hear you say.
Much shit art was being sold around that time and was a sign of the enormous amount of extra cash that was around in the economy just a few months before the financial crash.
One of my own personal favorites is this "work of art " created by artist Susanna Hesselberg of Sweden.
In 2006 she created this "clinging man" out of fiber glass.
She placed her "artwork" in a park in the center of the town of Malmo.
During the three months that it was on display, local emergency services were inundated with calls telling of man who wished to commit suicide.
Every so often a small crowd of people would gather and shout up to the "man" in order to try and coax him down.
One person was reported to have shouted: "I am sure it cant be as bad as it seems. Come down and you can stay at my place until you are sorted out".
Other people phoned police thinking the man was trying to break into someones apartment.
The work sold for $50,000.
But if we added the cost to tax payers for the waste of time of emergency and police services the price would no doubt be much higher.
Perhaps the Swedish people have a good sense of humor for again we go over to Sweden for this next great work.
Actually I have nothing against this one for it is rather interesting historically speaking.
In the 1970s, Swedish Artist Lars Vilks began collecting large amounts of driftwood on the beaches of Skåne.
Lars began building gigantic sculptures with the driftwood that were so large people could walk around inside them.
Local authorities deemed the project illegal as Lars had not applied for planning permission.
In a counter attack Lars declared the structures a work of art which meant the authorities could then do nothing. If they tried to remove the work they were then liable for destroying a work of art.
Lars Vilks had effectively defeated the system.
To crown his victory, 3o years later in 1996 Lars Vilks declared the area as an independent state calling it Ladonia. Due to the area being outside of the law for so long this was actually made legal by his lawyers. Over 200,00 people applied for citizenship.
Finally, Queensland born artist, Tim Patch, really decided to take the piss when on New Years Eve 2006 he decided he would give up his brushes and try painting with his penis instead.
Not being a particular fan of politicians Patch decided to paint a portrait of the Australian Prime Minister John Howard. No doubt he had been drinking quite a bit that evening, but when he awoke the next day he was amazed how well the painting had turned out.
"Jeez, I can paint better with my nob than I can with a brush!" He exclaimed.
From then on Patch continued to paint with his extended tool and called his new art form: "Penile art".
When his father, a sheep farmer, walked in on his son painting he responded:
"Oh dear oh dear oh dear". And walked out in disgust.
However, Tim had a much more positive response from women who are quite eager to watch him work.
Tim Patch went on to paint a series of portraits of politicians and today his work is highly collectable and fetch enormous prices. However, apparently when his work is sold at auction, art handlers are said to wear rubber gloves.
Sources: Fortean Times/ Art Now / Norges Kunstforening 1975 / 1990 / 2008