No matter what feelings author puts in this metal crap and no matter how many times he sprays paint on it. Even no matter is he already dead or not.

The only cause of those multi-million price tags is international art mafia consisting of critics, gallery owners and journalists that used their "authority" for selling crap to arabian princes, russian olygarhs and other folk that has never seen painting before. And that situation suits them all.

2 Chee: Process of creating art meangs nothing. Only the finished work, which speaks for itself. If somebody wasted his whole life preparing for one brush stroke, finished work do not became a masterpiece authomatically. It remains single brushstroke, which, again, can be copied by 9-years old kid.
Have you ever see somebody saying "hey my son could do it" to Rodin, Micheleangelo or at least Monet works? I bet no.

Art object is materialized message from creator, and if message delivery is failed ( i.e. required bla-bla-bla from art critics ), art is gone. Can you tell me please, what kind of message delivered to you by this piece of crap?

This crap relly looks like a monument... to the stupidity of the buyers.

1) often, not just "artists" make art...
if artists are phony, and we get away with selling work for outrageous sums i can only assume this:
-your house is ugly
-your car is hideous
-if you have tattoos, those are unfathomable pieces of crap
-your furniture is hideous
there are so many other examples. hell, if you have a lawn then it is ugly. landscaping, architecture, design, body art, all of these are pieces of crap because artists are phony.

2) yes, buying art can be expensive but you also have to factor in: supplies (which believe me are not cheap) the man hours put into it, the concept of the idea, the cost for electricity/gas (such as in ceramics or glass blowing), the cost of equipment, etc. there have been many times in my life where i've lived off of peanut butter sandwiches and water in order to save money for more supplies. and if no one bought one of those pieces, my pride wasn't hurt... just my checkbook. most people that wish to become artists, never make that money back.

everyone is an artists in their own right... of course, no one can understand all the different nuances of them... for example, arranging flowers or landscaping. i honestly don't understand the difference in the flowers or grass etc... but that doesn't mean i can't appreciate that someone put their time and money into that project. i respect them for wanting to make the world more beautiful.

so please, don't judge artists. i get tired of people assuming that since i'm an artist, i'm some sort of dirty worthless hippie who just can't hold down a job. i go to school full time, i work, i pay my bills, i don't do drugs. this is just how i wish to spend my life.

if you don't like something, we'll listen to your criticism. but make sure its more than just "thats ugly/crap" or "my kid could do it". EXPLAIN why you don't like it. we're living our lives as we dreamed. and please don't repress your child's artistic talents.

I have no opinion on the piece commented on here. Without seeing it in person, its dimensions, the materials its made of - how can you make a valuation of it?

I concur that art is subjective. Absolutely, 100% subjective. But badmouthing something just because you don't understand it makes you sound like a hater.

"What a piece of junk!"

How do you determine the value of the Google Ads sold on the Neatorama site? How do advertisers determine if their ad design is worth paying the designer for? Is that the same scale you use for assessing whether an experience is compelling, or whether an art object generates worthwhile social experiences?

How many "outraged" readers who cry "fraud" ever express an opinion or create something that is not already safely accepted as mainstream or "valid" in their circles? Of those that get that far, how many of them step-up and put themselves out there and take a risk - in a public way - that invites public scrutiny and judgment?

...'subjective' as in P.T.Barnum saying,'theres a sucker born every minute."

[snicker]

Things like this remind me of the emperor's new clothes.

Another documentary that covers this topic is Orson Welles' "F for Fake".

It looks like the "artist" took a can and crumpled it up. Why it's worth so much is beyond me. I suppose it represents beauty to someone, but that someone isn't me. Any idea how big these things are? There's no clue to their scale.

I looked through the linked slideshow, and the painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat, “Untitled (Boxer)” looks like something my 9-year-old doodled on the back of a church bulletin during a sermon.

But a great documentary on this subject is called 'My Kid Could Paint That'. It follows a four year old abstract 'genius' painter and his oddly enough painter father...as well as the rest of the family. The young girl leaps to international attention in the art world very very quickly. There are plenty of twists that I won't give away, but in the end it's a really great examination of what exactly is great art.