Urban Art Association

were you thinking of a particular print?

BONGO WASNT THINKING OF A SPECIFIC PRINT OR ARTIST, BUT BONGO IS ALWAYS SURPRISED WHEN WHAT SEEM TO UNINSPIRED WORKS ATTRACT A RABID FOLLOWING FOR SHORT PERIODS AND ARE SUBJECT TO EXTREME PRICE VOLATILITY

BONGO KNOWS THAT IF SUCH A TREND WAS SEEN IN FINANCIAL MARKETS, STOCKS AND TRADING WOULD BE SUSPENED AND ALL TRANSACTIONS INVESTIGATED

BONGO OF COURSE UNDERSTANDS THAT PERSONAL TASTE - BE IT ORGANIC & INDIGENOUS OR INFLUENCED EXPLICITLY OR IMPLICITLY - MUST BE THE OVERRIDING FACTOR HERE

FOR BONGO, THE DEGREE OF SUCH MANIPULATION OF TASTE AND CHOICE IS INTERESTING

Cos people is sheeple big fella!

edit ..

Specifically - people waiting in the 'piss stinking shopping centre in the new side of town' (I'm paraphrasing) for uninspired Micalleff release...

Several of the new ghetto release, sales of recent d*Face stuff at cost etc etc etc

I confess - I have an 'Attack of the 40ft t**t'...

Live and learn

Yeah, I think this sort of thing goes on a lot but I cant really see any way of stopping it coz most of the people that get caught up in that sort of thing are just sheep who are only buying to make a fast buck. As long as you buy what you like, and not what your told to like, you cant go wrong

i think it's very sad to start labelling people as 'sheep' seing as in that case it's a great deal of people who frequent these forums...what I would say is places such as this do act as a 'boilerhouse' any artist of merit or no merit can come here and hoc their wears and if they're 'bigged up' then can make a fast buck and disappear again...of course a lot of good works appear in this manner but to the unsuspecting eye, someone new, they can get caught up in the moment and buy something they later regret...such is life, where would you be if you couldn't make mistakes and learn from them eh?

It is true that as long as you are buying a print because you like the image then you cant go wrong...

BUT if the demand is artificially drummed up and then the price is inflated you end up paying more than the print is worth even though you're not buying it to re-sell or investment..

IMO Aiko at the SG was inflated.. I love it and bought anyhow but thought I had to pay too much for the special

IMO Mr Jago is deflated at the moment and I'm lovin that... but for how long I'm not sure?

i think the problem comes from people wanting 2 find 'the next banksy'

people hear stories of signed banksys being bout for £50 a few years ago and sold for £1000's so when a new artist comes along who has a bit of hype behind him they think y not this guy aswell ? in a few years he/she could be worth £1000's too

so the print gets sold out quickly then people see them on ebay and think, its only 3x its cost price, but in 1 year it will be worth 7x, so its cheep now, which encourages flippers coz they see massive instant profit to be made

and can u blame flippers, if u have no interest in art and some1 says, hey, if u buy this for £500 u can sell it on for £2k the same day, then you would do it too

obvioulsy this is all my opinion but i think this is how it works with a few artists

If your buying for investment things don't happen over night, plain and simple.

Alright if you buy a Banksy print you might make a grand over night but in the REAL world of art investment things take time, the wheat from the chaff and all that. A year from now we'll see who's lasted and made the cut investment wise.

Bongo - great post. Very interesting topic indeed.

I have a couple of thoughts.

First, I believe what we're seeing is intrinsically different from the "boilerhouse" financial schemes that were particularly popular in the 80's and 90's. First, stocks represent an ownership interest in an underlying company. A company that has a fundamental value. That value can be manipulated through financial trickery.

Art has no fundamental, underlying value. Other than, perhaps, the cost of paper and ink. It is 100% driven by impression, hype, etc.

Why did I just purchase that wonderful Eskay101 print for 25 pounds. Meanwhile, I managed to score Trolleys for 20x that amount and I could sell it on eBay for 100x that amount?

The only difference is the hype that surrounds Banksy. It's difficult to apply traditional economic or financial measures to art. Especially the stuff we love i.e. street art. It's totally new. There is no history. And, like it or not, there could come a time when we're all buying signed Banksy's for 50 pounds again. Once the flippers have gone home, the hedge fund managers have lost interest and the ruthless gallery owners have lost their shirts. Then again, in 10 years time, we might be able to sell our collections and retire to the south of France. Who knows? And that's the point. There really aren't too many indicators to watch. Consequently, the only solid reason to be involved in the scene is for love of the work.

Perhaps the only slight exception in the art world is the old masters. They've been around long enough to create a track record. But, even in that world, if there's a worldwide recession, the value plummets. And, if Russian oil tycoons are making billions, the value skyrockets. It's a very slippery slope.

nah I see this place more like a church

DO MONKEYS EAT PEANUTS