Wednesday, October 13, 2010

"At what point did acquiring performance art switch from owning objects associated with the actions, such as videos and photographs . . ."

" . . . to possessing the 'idea' behind the piece?"

The Financial Times on the market for performance art. Tino Sehgal gets a mention:

"Berlin-based artist Tino Sehgal has evidently turned collecting criteria on their heads. He sells his performance art pieces by means of verbal transactions in the presence of a lawyer with no written contract. Instructions on how to re-enact his works are delivered literally by word-of-mouth, with collectors under strict orders never to photograph or video his 'constructed situations'. Yet they sell in editions of four to six for $85,000 to $145,000 each, according to The Art Newspaper."