The $10 IKEA Piece: An Interesting Social Experiment on the Value of Art
When Peter Lik sold a print to a collector for $6.5 million last year, people balked at the news. Lik is known to be a savvy businessman who has raked in over $440 million by churning out and selling his “collectible” prints to deep-pocketed people who want to invest in his art, so why should his prints be worth so much?
The Internet media channel LifeHunters recently did a social experiment that explores how people perceive and value art. They placed a $10 IKEA print in the Museum of Modern Art in Arnhem, The Netherlands, and asked “art experts” what they thought about it.
“You don’t buy this in a cheap store,” one woman says. Another man says he would pay €2.5 million, or $2.7 million, if he were given the opportunity to buy it. Though, “If it’s more, I’d think it’s too pricey,” he says.
(via LifeHunters via TIME)