There comes a time when we all resort to an auction of some kind, be that to buy something or sell something.
I am minded of the time when Mrs O’s mother had been incarcerated into a secure dementia care home and it was up to Mrs O and her brother to dispose of her home and contents to pay for the care home fees. Going to the auction house to see the once treasured trinkets and possessions of someone have a cold monetary assessment whilst the sharks and vultures that survived in this environment circled and swooped to see what treasures awaited them depressed me no end. I could not get out of the place quick enough. The purpose however was to raise funds and nothing more than that. That essentially is the purpose of an auction.
What I learned from that exercise was that there is no accounting for taste. One person’s junk, and I’m not saying her stuff was junk, can be another’s treasure and this is where Keith Arnatt comes in with his essay ‘Sausages & Food’ to the Tate. If it had not been for his tenacity, then I do no know when the Tate would have considered photography as art and begun exhibiting examples of it.
Other types of auction that we get involved with are the regular fund raising auctions that students run to garner funds for their degree shows. Mrs O and I have been patrons of a number of these events and whilst I was a student, I got the inaugural UCS Photography (Lux Locus) auction off the ground having patronised the Fine Art auctions for a number of years.
I was astounded by the generosity of strangers and arms length acquaintances who freely donated works of all kinds to our auction. The range of artefacts was diverse to say the least and as in human relationships there was something for everyone. There can be no accounting for taste in both art appreciation and life relationships and to this end auctions are an agnostic if not hostile environment. There can be nothing more saddening than seeing the auctioneer reduce the bidding to £1 or less for a donated item but then that is the truth about auctions of whatever type. They can be incredibly cruel whilst being kind. That £1 would go towards the collective fund for whatever purpose. One person’s donation may indeed not satisfy the aesthetic of very many people. I found myself buying a piece recently as the silence and lack of activity in the auction room pulled at my heart strings for the artist who had donated this piece. At least the fund got £10 rather than nothing for it. These auctions are really just theatre at the end of the day.
I’m looking forward to being able to bid for items in the UCS Photography auction this week. We did rather well with acquisitions from the Fine art auction this year with pride and place being an Adam Riches charcoal on paper now just back from the framer – another talented person (Owen Berry at MF Gallery & Framing)
