Con Men. No other way to phrase it.

<edit> I still enjoy my Milli Vanilli Cds. They only cost me $10 USD. I doubt I can re-sale them for much more than a buck.

Never been morals with these guys. Not sure how to take this either, or how I would react if I had invested in a piece by them/bought into the whole story. Can't say I relate or like their work if I am honest. For me the humour is very occasionally spot on, but it in majority falls a little flat.
The main problem I have with these guys is their tactical and underhand manipulation of markets since the word go. I won't even go there with their previous ventures, bidding up auctions and various other shady practices. I'm not saying they are the only people who adopt these methods as we all know it goes on, but what at first might seem like a very clever idea just turns into some sick social experiment for their own amusement and monetary gain. Sod the sob story in the article, everyone goes through tough times but the majority of people have morals. It just goes to show again how underhand and manipulative these guys really are.

CONnor Brothers, the name says it all really. Oh, how they must have laughed & high fives each other when they settled on that moniker.

But this whole episode does raise another question - when is an artist actually an artist?

In the first instance you have the Connor Brother clowns. They created a devious back story about the so called artists, & then came up with the ideas for the pieces for others to paint. So, what is their role - are they art directors, creative directors or artists?

You then have the likes of Mr Brainwash & his ilk. Again, these guys come up with ideas for others to paint. So, apart from the fake back story, how do they differ from the above?

There are then the high profile "street artists" who get people like Colossal Media to paint walls on their behalf. Maybe they don't want to get their hands dirty, maybe they no longer want to paint on illegal spaces. But as these artists are not painting the pieces, then are they not themselves undermining their own work.

& finally turning the whole thing on its head - what about when artists are painting the ideas of others. So, in this instance, they are producing the work, but the idea/ concept for the piece is not theirs. But as the artist, they take the credit.

I think I may just go back to collecting sneakers...

... mental illness is one of last taboos to be spoken about (cliche phrase I know) - it affects the person, the ones they love and who love them, their families and people all around them ...

I have read some bullsh!t in my time but this just takes the p!ss ...



... while I accept that these two people have had their troubles that is NOT an excuse for their actions.

... and now they have set up the 'Peggy Irving Foundation' to help:



I wonder how many poor mugs they are going to get to 'contribute' to their 'Foundation' and cause while they 'administer' it. (Peggy Irving is a fictional character as well as all of the Board Members listed on the PIF website)

Leaving apart any previous misdemeanours, I don't really understand the opprobrium offered up here.

People in creative fields often use pseudonyms or make up back stories.

I'm a big fan of a band called Goat, whose biography is as follows:

"Goat are a collective of musicians who hail from a small and very remote village called Korpolombolo in deepest darkest Sweden.

Legend has it that for centuries, the inhabitants of the village of Korpolombolo were dedicated to the worship and practices of Voodoo. This strange and seemingly unlikely activity was apparently introduced into the area after a travelling witch doctor and a handful of her disciples were led to Korpolombolo by following a cipher hidden within their most sacred of ancient scriptures.

The reason it led them there is unknown, but their Voodoo influence quickly took hold over the whole village and so they made it their home - there, they were able to practice their craft unnoticed and unbothered for several centuries.

This was until their non-Christian ways were discovered by the Church and they were burned out by the crusaders, the survivors cursing the village over their shoulders as they fled.

To this day, the now picturesque village of Korpolombolo is still haunted by this Voodoo curse; the power of the curse can be felt throughout the grooves of this Goat record. "


Obviously this is bollocks, but it makes them more interesting & allows them to act out a persona that differs from reality... which frankly might be rather dull.

Nothing wrong with creating under pseudonyms, Mark Twain is a pseudonym but Goat dont hire other musicians to play their music, you could make the Warhol/ Hirst comparison but they had both served their time and proved themselves and were capable of doing their own work, they also play dumb to understanding how the art market can be manipulated by fabricating a story like they dont know how buying client will be swayed by an artists story when they obviously do, it all feels off to me personally

So you offering market value before the story

Pa I may have to give a map to the point because you've missed it by a good few km's very unlike you... Unless there's some business association ?

Serious question - do people buy art more for the image, or the backstory?

No set answer on that one fed, too many different types of people and reasons for buying art, i find an artists story/history of where they came from/Journey to prominence really interesting in itself, i find people interesting in general everyone has a story to tell, the story for me is part of the art, take mr B , i think his story is as interesting as his art, its a package, the 2 go hand in hand. Take the connor bros, their so called actual life story is far more interesting than the concocted escaped from a cult story, problem with them is there is no trust in them as people, what is the truth, the newspaper interview seems manufactured, sugar coated and the art also feels manufactured off the back of it.

I like them ! Genius ! Ha ha

Of materials

They're more akin to the Hannah Montana of the art world… with Disney levels of fantasy!