then why do people willingly pay more for one artwork, and less for
another? The economic value is a mental relationship. I se a work, I think,
beautiful, but I don't want to buy it. For me, a moment of refreshment.
Another person sees the piece and covets it... he asks the dealer how much,
the dealer, sensing the mood, says, "another person is interested in it". A
person who wishes to be important comes in, the astute dealer says to him
"you can't afford it"; be damned says he, and buys it then and there to
prove he can afford it... sensing post purchase remorse, the new collector
is reminded, "you have made a wise choice, people will respect your taste".
The colector then must invest in insurance policies and better locks, the
insurance company insists on the latest technology in alarm systems and
climate control to insure the value stability of the artwork.
The collector becomes bored, suspects he has been had. Put the art in a
bonded warehouse, where the employees steal it and resell it at a fraction
of its value to a "private dealer" who also employs an army of prostitutes.
He makes videotapes of collectors in compromising situations, and
threatens to expose the collector to his wife, who he married for the money
in the first place. An arrangement is made, the collector will keep buying
paintings from the private dealer and the who matter is hushed up.
Soon the painting find their way into a vault on the other side of the
Urals, where they are traded for plutonium disguised in large wheels of
cheese which are sent to Albania to feed people. The people begin to glow
and are hired to serve as landing lights at the Tirania airport. A UFO
tries to orient to this grid, become disoriented, crashes and explodes,
destroying humanity's last chance for salvation. Now a word from our
sponsor.....
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