Inquiry: Don Thompson: 12 Million Dollar Stuffed Shark:The Curious Economics of Contemporary Art

Recently, a large shark was caught off Australia, shipped to Britain, where the artist Damien Hirst commissioned people to taxidermy it and place it in a large glass tank of formalin. He labeled this artwork “The physical impossibility of death in the mind of someone living.” It sold for twelve million dollars. Who determines the worth of contemporary works of art like this? What about issues of aesthetics? Will this work be worth even more in the decades to come? Tonight’s guest DON THOMPSON, who teaches marketing and economics in the MBA program at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto has some of the answers. It has nothing to do with the intrinsic worth of the object but has everything to do with product “branding”. Tune in tonight for a revealing look at how the business of contemporary art is transacted. Thompson’s book is titled: THE $12 MILLION STUFFED SHARK: THE CURIOUS ECONOMICS OF CONTEMPORARY ART.