The market for the works of Richard Tuttle

I went to the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art yesterday and saw two very different but very interesting exhibits. The first showcased sustainable design and the innovative materials and designs that are being used to create green architecture. This was extremely interesting in a technical and social sense. The second exhibit, which dominated the museum, was the work of an artist named Richard Tuttle.

I had never heard of Tuttle before I saw this exhibit…his work is “interesting” to say the least. In fact, the most interesting thing about his work is it’s intention to make you wonder if it is interesting (or if it is anything) in the first place. Several of his pieces were singular thin metal wires nailed to white walls. Others were just pieces of plywood. We were confused at first, to say the least, but fortunately we saw a video interview with Tuttle in one of the exhibit halls. He was looking at a piece of painted wood and wire attached to the wall of his studio and asked the interviewer if he thought the stuff was junk or art. Tuttle then said he wasn’t sure himself, but that “there was something preventing him from throwing it away, so it must be art.” The video went on to interview an old couple from New York who were Tuttle collectors. They loved the stuff and presumably paid lots of money for it. A little search on the web reveals that there is in fact a significant market for his work.

Although it was interesting to wonder whether Tuttle’s work was art or nothing at all, it is amazing that this man has created a huge market for little pieces of wood and wire that he for “some reason” doesn’t think he should throw away.

What is something worth? What someone else is willing to pay for it!