The first offer: “Wasted Sparetime” by 56 K
Tommi Brem, June 16th, 2009Right after we started our little duel, Independent Collectors member and art collector Christian Pfaff from Hamburg offered the first artwork he would trade for either of the Jonathan Monk works.
This is the work that has been offered to us:
It is a limited edition print by the Hamburg street artist 56 K (Ole Utikal).
Thank you, Mr. Pfaff, for being so swift and for making it difficult right from the start. Proposing the same work to both contestants isn’t something we expected to happen. We took the freedom to discuss the offer during our trip to art basel and both of us decided to not accept it.
I personally like street art a lot but very often the works lose their grip after a few moments. I’m not saying they’re shallow but for me, personally, art has to have a lot of, what musicians would call sustain. I also liked the message of this particular piece, it reminds me of something already in my collection, two works by Alicia Nauta, consisting of the two sentences „I said yes to another thing I wanted to say no to“ and „That’s nice for you“. What makes it more interesting to me in comparison is the fact that the two works are not actually related. They’re not meant to form a combined message. Yet, they do. So the 56 K work is almost too easy or unsubtle for me.
I assume that to fully appreciate street art in general, one would have to engage in the overall culture, which is something I know Christian Pfaff is doing. I’m more of a semi-interested spectator in this field.
To cut it short, neither of us thinks it would enhance or develop our personal collections. But maybe you, Christian (Pfaff), would care to explain a bit more about the artist and the artwork in a comment, or outline briefly why you would have traded this for the Monk piece.
Or, hey, why not give it another shot? If you really want the work by Jonathan Monk, maybe you have something else you’d consider offering?
June 17th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Dear Tommi,
thanks for sharing your thoughts about not accepting the trade offer 56K vs. Monk. I think it is’nt necessary to explain more about the artist or the artwork.
Maybe just this: I was amazed about the duel and really liked the idea to participate. My first impression was, that 56 K’s „Wasted Sparetime“ seemed to be a promising candidate even if i knew that he maybe would not beat the better known Monk. I liked the idea of trading an edition of an artist, so that seemed to fit.
I like Jonathan Monk’s work, because he also puts out edition by edition. Some limited, some not. As well i like his conceptual approach and his humour. So, i think i’ll stick to the duel idea and like to offer another German artist. This time well known:
I’m talking about the sculptor, op artist and installation artist - probably most known for using nails in his artworks: Guenther Uecker.
My offer is one multiple named „Do It Yourself“ - it’s a sculpture or nearly ready made consisting of a wooden board, 2 nails and a hammer. It’s signed in the front.
It’s hard to find out, when it was made. The unlimited series of this multiple dates back until 1968. It was made by the artist and published by the „VICE-Versand“ of Wolfgang Feelisch, who also published the well known „Intuition“-Box by Joseph Beuys.
This multiple is mentioned in the „International Index of Multiples from Duchamp to the Present“, (Publ. Daniel Buchholz/ Gregorio Magnani) 1993, Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther König, Cologne.
More Info about Uecker at Wikipedia (german) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Günther_Uecker
or in english: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Günther_Uecker
The work in my collection: http://independent-collectors.com/profile/christian_pfaff/exhibitions/miscellaneous____/__do_it_yourself__multiple/
So, what you think, Tommi?
Yours digitally
Christian Pfaff
June 19th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Very good offer Christian! I think this might well be the first trade in our duel! (Unless Christian beats me to it, he is in Aachen these days and I hear he is meeting with some collectors …)
Can you tell me a bit about where you got it and what your thoughts are on the originality of the work. Does it come with a certificate, for example? I trust you completely but it’s an interesting topic when trading artworks between collectors. With a gallery, there could also be some weird things happening but a gallery purchase is different from a trade between, let’s say, you and me. How, when you got it, did you check wether it’s original?
June 22nd, 2009 at 8:50 am
Hey Tommi,
yeah - i thought, that the Uecker will interest you. ;-)
Well, you come to an interesting point. As you might saw, i got the artwork (as some of the pieces in my collection) via an auction at eBay some years ago. Actually it has’nt got any form of an certificate of it’s origin.
I remember that i had a mail exchange with the lady who sold it to me. I had the feeling, that she was trustworthy. You may ask why i trust people who i don’t know. At first: I check their activities online. I check what they have sold in the past and i check the comments. And of course i get in touch personally. My lady sold only artworks. While talking on the telephone and by reading her mails i came to the impression that the offer was not „fishy“. So i bought the work.
Later i compared the signature with Uecker’s signature on other works. My impression: it’s original. Sometimes i just trust people. Until now i haven’t been disappointed (*knock, knock*).
That’s all i can say. You decide.
Greetings from sunny Hamburg
Christian
June 22nd, 2009 at 11:00 am
Naturally, I’m very careful with my first trade. I’m very drawn to this piece but just as I prepare my acceptance post, I receive (from two equally trustworthy sources as you are) a warning to accept this offer, because it’s originality is not certified. I have spoken to the two people and asked them to voice their concerns as a comment to this post, so we can all follow what is happening.
My position is: I want this Uecker multiple, if it is in fact an Uecker multiple and not a fake. “Trust is good,” as they say in the trade, “but control is better.”
So if there are any readers out there who have an opinion about the originality of the piece, please post it, as all input is of interest. Especially if your educated opinion or insight can help confirm the originality!
PS: I’m not in a rush and I’ll keep this trade as “accepted, provided the piece is original” until we can confirm the originality. Which means that you can still make me an offer on the Monk (or on the Uecker), but trading will commence only after we have a definite answer.
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Hey Tommy,
so let’s find a way to certify the multiple. It’s in my interest as well. Any recommendations are welcome. So, anyone out there who nows Guenther? I’m trying to get in touch with the seller lady as well.
And i’m not n a rush by myself. Let’s have a good start on this.
Chris
June 23rd, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Hi Tommi,
thanks for referring to me as a trustworthy source ;-)
Actually, I am also not very familiar with administrational matters of collecting art, but can add from my experience that one (not the only) great thing about art from living artists is that you always have the possibility to get in direct contact with them.
Taking the story of the edition being bought at ebay in consideration, I think guessing around about wether it’s an original work or not is not very helpful for your decision. Also, I would think that if you take the duel seriously, you’d want to know the circulation number of the edition, so you will also have an idea about the value.
I assume it’ll be easy to just go and ask the artist himself if the work is an original and if he would certify it for you and also learn about the number of the edition. Probably the best way to get in contact with Günther Uecker would be to find out which gallery is representing his body of work and contact them. Curious myself about how this works out!
By the way, I would be more interested in discussing the trade contentwise: Given it’s an original, why would you trade a Jonathan Monk (very contemporary) for a piece of work from a big name of the 60s/70s?
Greetz,
Melanie