[TheOtherHobbes]

That's hilarious.

I suppose the next step is for an artist to "authenticate" works s/he couldn't possibly have created and which aren't even in question.

[sitkack]

I routinely claim authorship of natural objects, like a cool summer breeze, "I made that."

Related, lots of artists make forgeries of their own work.

[B1FF_PSUVM]

I take it you're not up on the 1917 news, about that Duchamp character who bought a hardware store urinal, laid it horizontal and exhibited it as 'Fountain'?

The more I look at it, the more I find the whole modern art ecosystem similar to bitcoin: abstrusely useless work arbitrarily attributed value by consensus, used for portable and state-independent storage of money.

[simonh]

> ...abstrusely useless work arbitrarily attributed value by consensus

I can't recommend 'Modern Art' highly enough. It's a card game by Reiner Knizia in which the players bid up the value of art works by various fictional artists. It's a classic and a firm family favourite of ours.