Art gone wild
The media has been crying out from the rooftops, alerting us of a huge global economic downturn. The increasing fuel prices, decreasing consumer spending, the scarcity of rice (one of the most important sources of nutrition of third world countries), the fattening trade deficits and the stronger than ever tropical storms. None of them are foreign to us, but when all get together on the stage big question marks about the future of our bank accounts start to appear on top of our heads. It is in the human nature to always come up with a good survival plan whatever the threat is. Yet what makes this long lasting threat so grave is its unpredictability. The current economic downturn has widened the gap between the rich and the middle class by more than anyone could have imagined and it seems the art market is the biggest evidence to this. Asian, Irish and American contemporary artworks have been flying off the charts in auctions in the past couple of months. Christie’s and Sotheby’s have been posting sales that beat expectations, while the newspapers print the gloomy articles on skyrocketing fuel prices, the banks that caught their pants on fire and increasing number of bankruptcy cases. Something does not add up in this current mist we are in. On one side we have people paying millions to decorate their walls and on the other we have people selling their cars and switching to public transportation. I look forward to days of serenity and balance.