Art spam

I don't count posters, and no, I don't count porn. Sorry. I'm sure that comes as a big surprise.

I didn't know that there was such a thing as art spam, but lo forth and behold: This guy, Thierry Ehrmann, has either finally sent spam to someone who will read it, or has recently added art to the long, long list of spamable things. The spam tells me that he is behind artprice.com. I've been aware of the site/company for about five years, because I remember trying to find the going price for Japanese woodblock prints when I was an undergrad. Too bad only members can search. Anyway, although the picture makes it look like he is operating out of his basement (and desperately going for the matrix look) they must be successful enough. I mean, they are publicly traded on the Paris sock exchange, so I assume. . . .

Anyway, the art world has gone a-spaming, and they aren't just hanging a shingle out either. Nope. They are capitalizing on the death of Arman. He died less than a week ago and his funeral will be held tomorrow in New York. The spam included a link to information on how Arman has been doing at auction, along with a short list of the works they represent.

Art has edged very slowly into technology. For example, though I can think of few subjects that lend themselves more easily to distance learning that art history, it is still difficult to find on-line or correspondence degrees in that field. So, maybe it is a good thing that there is now fine art spam, especially if it indicates a general trend. Even if it doesn't, I'd rather get spam about this than a home mortgage.