Image of Darren Bader sculpture courtesy Contemporary Art Daily
It isn’t every day that we hear about heart-warming art market hijinks. Darren Bader, everyone’s favorite conceptual sculptor, just closed an IndieGogo campaign to raise money for charity, which will be sold today as a sculpture titled “Lot 128” at Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Day Sale in London. While Bader’s original goal was the self-described “ridiculously high” amount £310,786, the artist ended up with the much-lower but still-respectable amount of £10,211. The amount will go to one of four charities determined by the donators of his IndieGoGo campaign, and Bader himself will not accept a dime of the campaign fund. It’s possible that the actual amount of money the sculpture sells for is much, much more than £10,211.
Bader is known for works such as “Horny Dip” (2012), a French horn holding a slick of guacamole in its bell. While most of his works share this kind of absurdist, jocular humor, Bader is a rightfully highly regarded artist challenging the definition of both sculpture and the art market, creating works that are often nearly impossible to archive and sell. His show at PS1 in 2012, “Images,” featured a gallery full of cats, which were both up for adoption and categorized as sculptures. The show’s press release states, “This is a show of sculptures. It also hopes to create new homes for animals in shelters. And to raise funds to help protect wild animal species.”
Darren Bader “Horny Dip” 2012. Image courtesy artnet.
Here’s more information about the campaign from Bader’s IndieGoGo page.
About the artwork
The artwork is the amount of money raised here by February 11, 2015.
The artwork will be up for auction on February 12, 2015 at the Christie’s Post-War and Contemporary Day Sale in London.
Will the winning bid be more than, less than, or equal to the amount of money raised here? (Will there be a bid at all?)
The amount of the winning bid will go to charity.
The artwork will be attributed to Darren Bader.
FAQs
Isn’t setting the goal at 310,786 GBP unrealistic?
Yes, of course. But let’s see what happens. Lot 128 will be Lot 128 no matter how much money is raised.
Where will the GBP amount of the winning bid go?
Rest assured, it will not go to me. It will go to one of the following not-for-profit organizations:
Oceana http://oceana.org/
International Rescue Committee (Syria crisis) http://www.rescue.org/
The Fund for Global Human Rights http://globalhumanrights.org/
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Research | Sloan Kettering Institute
When donating, see PERKS to choose your preferred charity (if any). The charity most requested will be the one donated to.
Why your name, Darren Bader?
I’m a known brand and that’s how the presentation of the work has been made possible. (I originally pitched it as an anonymous venture.)
The same/similar process/project can be undertaken by anyone at anytime—the more the merrier.
Will donors be credited somewhere?
There will be a list of all contributors available on my website (yes it’s a labyrinth, I know), and hopefully elsewhere (press). Donor anonymity is an option of course.
What would the winning bidder do with the artwork?
It would be his/her prerogative to do whatever s/he wants with it. S/he would receive a certificate of authenticity explaining the work as follows:
The work is [tbd] GBP.
The work can be kept/taken/destroyed/used/found/forgotten however the owner chooses.
The work will remain [tbd] GBP irrespective of market fluctuations.
What do you hope to achieve by this, Darren Bader?
I want to continue my interest in defining sculpture as any known quantity (however novel) resident to any perceived space (however novel).
A further elucidation of what may (not) define the art market.
TBD as the process moves along (hopefully a positive education).