SmartBar Darwin International Film Festival Floriade Floriade Night Fest Avida Caravans and Motorhomes
Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
Click here for the Grey Nomads website -> The Grey Nomads Forum -> Just Joking -> Art Collector bids $4,000 on broken vacuum cleaner
Post Info TOPIC: Art Collector bids $4,000 on broken vacuum cleaner
dorian


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 4406
Date:
Art Collector bids $4,000 on broken vacuum cleaner
Permalink  

Art Collector bids $4,000 on broken vacuum cleaner only to discover it was trash:

https://artinc.co/art-collector-bids-4000-on-broken-vacuum-cleaner-only-to-discover-it-was-trash/

A contemporary art exhibition took an unexpected turn this week when an art collector offered $4,000 for what he believed was an experimental sculpture, only to discover that the "artwork" was actually a broken vacuum cleaner used by the venue's cleaning staff.

The battered black vacuum, complete with a tangled power cord, scuffed plastic casing and a cracked dust compartment, was sitting several feet away from a collection of minimalist sculptures.

The incident has since become the unofficial talking point of the exhibition, with visitors joking that the gallery may have accidentally stumbled upon its most valuable conceptual artwork.

It turns out, however, this is far from the first time this kind of misunderstanding has occurred. The art world has been confusing art with rubbish for quite some time.

In 2024, a lift technician at the LAM Museum in the Netherlands took one look at two discarded-looking beer cans and decided they had served their purpose. Unfortunately, they were actually All the Good Times We Spent Together, an artwork by Alexandre Lavet consisting of two painstakingly hand-painted cans. The technician tossed them in the bin, where a curator later managed to rescue them just in time.

A similar case occurred at Tate Britain in 2004, when a cleaner came across a transparent rubbish bag filled with paper and other waste. It was, rather inconveniently, part of an artwork by Gustav Metzger. The bag was thrown away and even made it into a crusher before the museum realized its mistake. 

And then there was Damien Hirst. In 2001, a cleaner at London's Eyestorm gallery arrived in the morning to find empty beer bottles, coffee cups, ashtrays and other debris scattered around the space. Assuming someone had simply forgotten to clean up after a party, he did what any good cleaner would do: he put the entire thing in bin bags and threw it out. The only problem was that Hirst had deliberately arranged the mess as an artwork the night before. 

 

The art world is full of snobs and pretentious people. Good luck to those [con] artists who can convince these fools that trash is treasure.

 



-- Edited by dorian on Wednesday 9th of September 2026 03:31:09 AM

__________________

"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."

Lucius Cornelius Sulla - died 78 BC 

 
dorian


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 4406
Date:
Permalink  

Title: Entropy in Bagless Plastic
Artist: Hoover (or possibly Dyson, the provenance is dusty)
Medium: ABS plastic, coiled wire, pet hair, and crushed domestic ambition

In Entropy in Bagless Plastic, the artist boldly tackles the futility of modern existence through the tragic medium of a mid-tier upright vacuum cleaner, permanently retired mid-stroke near a pile of stray Cheerios.

The work immediately captivates through its striking visual geometry. Notice the dramatic 12-degree tilt of the handle, a tragic angle that evokes the leaning Tower of Pisa or a exhausted commuter on a Friday night train. The power cord, coiled with frantic, chaotic energy around its plastic cleats, serves as a poignant physical manifestation of anxiety--a copper intestine choked by its own unfulfilled purpose.

Key Elements of the Composition

    The Dust Canister as Conceptual Vessel: Rather than clearing the room of debris, the transparent plastic canister holds its own history captive. A stratified sediment of golden retriever fur, micro-dander, and a single, mystery Lego brick creates a mesmerizing, earthy color story--a literal time capsule of suburban decay.


     The Brush Roll of Stagnation: The central motif lies beneath the deck, where a tangled mass of long hair and rug fibers has entirely paralyzed the wooden roller. It is a brutal critique of human vanity. The machine tried to consume our shedding, but was ultimately slain by it.


     The Auditory Absence: Where once this piece offered a roaring, 12-amp sonic landscape of industrial productivity, it now stands in heavy, judgey silence. The burnt-rubber aroma lingering nearby acts as an olfactory reminder that all fires eventually burn out.

    By presenting an appliance that can no longer fulfill its sole reason for being, the work confronts the viewer with a uncomfortable question: If a vacuum no longer sucks, does it finally blow?



It is a masterpiece of passive resistance--a consumer good that simply said, "No."

-- written by Gemini AI



-- Edited by dorian on Wednesday 9th of September 2026 05:22:58 AM

__________________

"No friend ever served me, and no enemy ever wronged me, whom I have not repaid in full."

Lucius Cornelius Sulla - died 78 BC 

 
Whenarewethere


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 7877
Date:
Permalink  

I once saw some modern art. It was a canvas a few square metres called something like black sheep at night. One needed to get at an acute angle to see a few semi-gloss dots on a satin background.

My personal opinion was the same redeeming features of landmines on grass at night!



__________________

Procrastination, mankind's greatest labour saving device!

50L custom fuel rack 6x20W 100/20mppt 4x26Ah gel 28L super insulated fridge TPMS 3 ARB compressors heatsink fan cooled 4L tank aftercooler Air/water OCD cleaning 4 stage car acoustic insulation.
Magnarc


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1597
Date:
Permalink  

Methinks modern art is like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. Personally I reckon it's a load of old cobblers.



__________________

"Nothing so needs reforming as other peoples habits."

Samuel Clemens.
Dick0


Guru

Status: Offline
Posts: 1839
Date:
Permalink  

Yes, I think all art is in the eyes of the beholders, who view the art at different levels of value. It keeps auction houses in business, I suppose.



__________________

Cheers, Richard (Dick0)

"Home is where the Den is parked, Designer Orchid Special 21' towed by Jeep Diesel Grand Cherokee Limited"

"4x250W solar panels, 360w solar blanket, Epever 80A charger and 4x135Ah Voltax Prismatic LiFePO4 Batteries".
Page 1 of 1  sorted by
 
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.
Click here for the Grey Nomads website -> The Grey Nomads Forum -> Just Joking -> Art Collector bids $4,000 on broken vacuum cleaner
Tweet this page Post to Digg Post to Del.icio.us
Purchase Grey Nomad bumper stickers Read our daily column, the Nomad News The Grey Nomad's Guidebook