Why?

SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
All these things do beggar belief. I don’t understand it.

I’ll pay hundreds of pounds for a collectors single on vinyl, maybe these guys would see that as crazy. I guess it’s what floats your boat.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
SpyderTracks said:
All these things do beggar belief. I don’t understand it.

I’ll pay hundreds of pounds for a collectors single on vinyl, maybe these guys would see that as crazy. I guess it’s what floats your boat.
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At least you get something useful for your money.

They claim this laptop is art, but actually it's just very expensive junk.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
ubuysa said:
At least you get something useful for your money.

They claim this laptop is art, but actually it's just very expensive junk.
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That’s where I wonder where the term ‘art’ gets confused. This doesn’t seem like any form of art, but then people seem to like Damien Hirsts ‘artwork’ which to me is just insane.
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
A good pointer to the sort of people who spend millions on works of art is to go to any gallery and look at the frames, which are nearly always added after the work has been completed with the artist having no input. In general you will see some wonderful stuff by the likes of Monet, van Gough etc surrounded by completely garish and bordering on the obscene frames. Artists are well aware of the gullibility of those who by art to impress their friends and cash in on it.

Rare recordings, on any medium, are a different matter. Often it is not only a design thing, picture sleeve, coloured vinyl etc but a different version and many music lovers like to get all version of a song, symphony etc.

I have just picked up a limited edition CD and for less than a tenner which surprised me. While I would prefer Blu Ray audio quality or this is still wonderful as it features four pieces played on the piano by my favourite composer Gustav Mahler playing his own work. The CD is taken from an original recording made in 1905 for the Welte Mignon Vorsetzer. The pianist would play onto its recording device from which a paper piano roll was made.

An example of a Vorsetzer:
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Now I'd not call that valuable (the recording of Mahler) because of its artistic value. For me it's a piece of history, because it's Mahler himself, and that's always worth preserving. Art is clearly a personal thing but history belongs to all of us.

This infected laptop can't in my view be classed as art because there is nothing creative or unique about it. It could become historically valuable but only when XP laptops and the half dozen viruses on it are in danger of being lost to humanity. I don't see that happening anytime soon....
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
The Welte Mignon is an amazing device, I have a very good short video about it with the guy who restored the one the Mahler was recorded from, unfortunately I cannot find it online and it is part of a Blu Ray from the Gewandhaus so I cannot post it. I knew the player-pianos worked using air but had always assumed it was compressed but it is not, the "fingers" that play the piano are controlled by suction. Perhaps the more technically minded here could explain why, my guess is that suction may be a more precise than a blast of compressed air.

Should you come across a Welte Mignon for a decent price it would be a good investment, of the approx 4000 made only about 200 are accounted for now.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Stephen M said:
Should you come across a Welte Mignon for a decent price it would be a good investment, of the approx 4000 made only about 200 are accounted for now.
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Yes, but are any of them infected with viruses? They'll clearly be much more valuable when they are....
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Stephen M said:
The Welte Mignon is an amazing device, I have a very good short video about it with the guy who restored the one the Mahler was recorded from, unfortunately I cannot find it online and it is part of a Blu Ray from the Gewandhaus so I cannot post it. I knew the player-pianos worked using air but had always assumed it was compressed but it is not, the "fingers" that play the piano are controlled by suction. Perhaps the more technically minded here could explain why, my guess is that suction may be a more precise than a blast of compressed air.

Should you come across a Welte Mignon for a decent price it would be a good investment, of the approx 4000 made only about 200 are accounted for now.
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My best friends parents have one in their reception room. I think it was left to them by his Mums Grandmother and it's still fully working. They have a crate of "Scrolls"? that still play effectively. Quite something. Must be worth an absolute fortune I'd imagine.
 
M

Mustafo95

Silver Level Poster
debiruman665 said:
Are we honestly assuming that modern art is, in fact, ART and not money laundering?
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Yaaaasssssss. Someone has looked into it. Are we supposed to assume that all these stingiest rich people who do their best to avoid paying taxes and hoard their wealth in off-shore inaccessible places, would pay millions of dollars to absolute nerd painters who seemingly just puke on their canvases, lately? I don't think so.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
Mustafo95 said:
Yaaaasssssss. Someone has looked into it. Are we supposed to assume that all these stingiest rich people who do their best to avoid paying taxes and hoard their wealth in off-shore inaccessible places, would pay millions of dollars to absolute nerd painters who seemingly just puke on their canvases, lately? I don't think so.
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Generalisations are often misleading I think. There are many reports of rich people giving millions (billions in the case of Ms Bezos) to charity, or of sponsoring or supporting other good causes.

However, whilst I find the idea of paying a million for a virus infected XP laptop quite ridiculous, its entirely up to the individual or company to choose what to spend their own money on.

I also object to the idea that all art is money laundering, because that assumes that anyone who buys art is a criminal or has obtained their wealth fraudulently and that's just not true in all cases.

Be careful what you wish for....
 
debiruman665

debiruman665

Enthusiast
ubuysa said:
Generalisations are often misleading I think. There are many reports of rich people giving millions (billions in the case of Ms Bezos) to charity, or of sponsoring or supporting other good causes.

However, whilst I find the idea of paying a million for a virus infected XP laptop quite ridiculous, its entirely up to the individual or company to choose what to spend their own money on.

I also object to the idea that all art is money laundering, because that assumes that anyone who buys art is a criminal or has obtained their wealth fraudulently and that's just not true in all cases.

Be careful what you wish for....
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Modern Art

I took a poop in a can of baked beans and sealed it up with police tape.

Buy my art off me and [deleted by ubuysa]
 
Stephen M

Stephen M

Author Level
Modern art is a much misused term with many people, not helped by poor media reporting, not really knowing what modern art is, it is just a generic name for art over a time period of roughly 1860 to 1970.
Some of the early modern artists were van Gough, Cezanne and Gaugin, all of whom produced some stunningly beautiful paintings but their work can hardly be compared with the abstract expressionists line Willem de Kooning or Jackson Pollock yet those still part of modern art. Also during that time there was the Wiener Secession whose work was different again, these included artists like Gustav Klimt, Kolo Moser and Egon Schiele, along with the composer Gustav Mahler.
Ultimately art is a eye of the beholder thing but it is dishonest to suggest all of a certain sort of art is bad and while it will always be something used my some people with more money than sense to try to show they are cultured there are some genuinely good patrons, in a similar way to Ubuysa's point that not all rich people are stingy.
 
ubuysa

ubuysa

The BSOD Doctor
debiruman665 said:
UBUYSA

You've now made my post seem a lot more ominous than intended.

Now I'm wondering about the circumstances surrounding [redacted]
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It's sometimes a difficult call moderating posts. I personally wasn't upset or offended by your intended (I think) humorous post but this is a family friendly forum with no minimum age limit. We have to accept that things we might say freely to each other are not always acceptable on a forum like this. [emoji3]
 
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