8.26.2004
Property is Theft
The New York Times > Arts > Art & Design > Stolen Art Can Reappear in Unexpected Ways
Huh. The nature of the object/property is self-enforcing - it dictates how it can be owned. Its difficult to create value out of a recognizable famous art piece outside of a legal, public framework.
"Why are people stealing art that cannot be sold to anyone? What are these people searching for? Are they searching for money? Are they searching for honor within their own criminal world?"
OK, so whats the alternate source of value? Paintings are not liquid. As soon as the Scream was removed from the wall of the museum, it entered an alternate value framework where it was revalued in terms of prestige, money, honor...
"The pieces often become millstones for the criminals, said Tony Russell, a former investigator in Scotland Yard's art and antiques squad. They try to do deals within the criminal fraternity, to swap them for drugs or forged goods or whatever, and the new people who take them on realize that they can't do anything with them either," said Mr. Russell, who now works for Art Recovery Limited, a company that helps track down stolen works. Unseasoned criminals who steal fabulous art to gain prestige in the underworld often prove to be the architects of their own undoing when they are unable to keep quiet about their triumph, Mr. Russell said. "
Those trying to regain famous art create a competing value system that undermines the 'criminal underworld' and destroys the value of the painting created there. They assume that within the criminal underworld, there is no demand for art, and the pieces are illiquid. So criminals create value for the painting based on prestige and status, which has its own security risks. Cops establish rewards, making the paintings liquid again for anyone who is willing to break ranks.
I guess its just classic capitalism. You can steal a painting, but you can't steal what its worth. Eventually, what it is worth will drive it back to the position/location/ownership/control in which it is a placeholder for the most value.
Reminds me of Tyburn gallows, England, 1700s, in which relations of the deceased and surgeons would literally get in fist fights over the condemned mans dead body. The mans family wanted the body for its cultural and political significance - it could be used to carry out 'hauntings' and 'rough music' - rituals in which the poor would exact their own justice, complementing the state justice system. The surgeons wanted the body to advance science. I guess we can see who won.
Also reminds me of stories about anesthesiologists and surgeons duking it out in the OR over whether the patient could be operated on.
The value of a body. I don't watch TV too often, but when I do I am struck by the monetary value placed on excercise tapes which are like little transparent windows onto, or tunnels to, 'after' photos. Or ads that add up the cost of waxing, microdermabrasion, botox treatment, liposuction, mystic tan, so you can see that you can buy the body of the woman in the photo for only $3,450. Or you can just buy her legs for $1,720.
And the criminal who steals a beautiful body? Well, I will have to think about that. There are stories about the black market liposuctions which end in death, and of course some people manage to have an expensive body because nature gave it to them. But are they able to steal the value that an expensive body stores?
How do bodies store value?
Alright, back to work. No more meandering.
Huh. The nature of the object/property is self-enforcing - it dictates how it can be owned. Its difficult to create value out of a recognizable famous art piece outside of a legal, public framework.
"Why are people stealing art that cannot be sold to anyone? What are these people searching for? Are they searching for money? Are they searching for honor within their own criminal world?"
OK, so whats the alternate source of value? Paintings are not liquid. As soon as the Scream was removed from the wall of the museum, it entered an alternate value framework where it was revalued in terms of prestige, money, honor...
"The pieces often become millstones for the criminals, said Tony Russell, a former investigator in Scotland Yard's art and antiques squad. They try to do deals within the criminal fraternity, to swap them for drugs or forged goods or whatever, and the new people who take them on realize that they can't do anything with them either," said Mr. Russell, who now works for Art Recovery Limited, a company that helps track down stolen works. Unseasoned criminals who steal fabulous art to gain prestige in the underworld often prove to be the architects of their own undoing when they are unable to keep quiet about their triumph, Mr. Russell said. "
Those trying to regain famous art create a competing value system that undermines the 'criminal underworld' and destroys the value of the painting created there. They assume that within the criminal underworld, there is no demand for art, and the pieces are illiquid. So criminals create value for the painting based on prestige and status, which has its own security risks. Cops establish rewards, making the paintings liquid again for anyone who is willing to break ranks.
I guess its just classic capitalism. You can steal a painting, but you can't steal what its worth. Eventually, what it is worth will drive it back to the position/location/ownership/control in which it is a placeholder for the most value.
Reminds me of Tyburn gallows, England, 1700s, in which relations of the deceased and surgeons would literally get in fist fights over the condemned mans dead body. The mans family wanted the body for its cultural and political significance - it could be used to carry out 'hauntings' and 'rough music' - rituals in which the poor would exact their own justice, complementing the state justice system. The surgeons wanted the body to advance science. I guess we can see who won.
Also reminds me of stories about anesthesiologists and surgeons duking it out in the OR over whether the patient could be operated on.
The value of a body. I don't watch TV too often, but when I do I am struck by the monetary value placed on excercise tapes which are like little transparent windows onto, or tunnels to, 'after' photos. Or ads that add up the cost of waxing, microdermabrasion, botox treatment, liposuction, mystic tan, so you can see that you can buy the body of the woman in the photo for only $3,450. Or you can just buy her legs for $1,720.
And the criminal who steals a beautiful body? Well, I will have to think about that. There are stories about the black market liposuctions which end in death, and of course some people manage to have an expensive body because nature gave it to them. But are they able to steal the value that an expensive body stores?
How do bodies store value?
Alright, back to work. No more meandering.
