[ExI] THE MIGHTY ORIGINAL

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Mon Nov 1 23:07:19 UTC 2010


On Mon, Nov 1, 2010 at 8:32 PM, PJ Manney  wrote:
<snip>
>
> I don't care how many portraits of Stein you're going to make in your
> nanofabber.  The history of the original in the Met, held in Picasso's
> and Stein's hands and so important in art history, can't be replicated
> and will retain its value -- as long as no one mixes the two up and
> there are people with the ego to stoke and means to own it.  ;-)
>
>

I appreciate the *present* importance of provenance in the art and
antiques world. People pay a million dollars for a painting with
provenance because they expect to be able to sell it on to someone
else for two million dollars. It's an investment. That's really the
only reason to pay extra for provenance.

When nanotech lets everyone have their own Van Gogh, provenance will
become worthless, because there will be no way to tell if the
certificate is attached to the original or a nanocopy identical down
to the atomic level.
(Even today expert forgers forge the provenance as well, of course).

I would distinguish between provenance and 'intrinsic value'.
A Walmart sweater that was once worn by George Bush is still just a
Walmart sweater.


BillK




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