Going going gone elephants
Sep. 24th, 2008 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethThe Norwich 'go elephants' project finished up yesterday, with a grand elephant parade and an auction. I went to see the elephants on the way home. They were very cool. And while it was cool seeing them all together, I'm glad they were scattered about Norwich before. It's much more interesting to have to go look for the elephants.
The auction raised a whole lot of money. The estimates in the brochure were, er, a little on the low side, on the whole. There's a full price list in the Norwich Evening News website. The brochure before the auction had as a high end estimate for the most expensive elephants about £3,000. Which sounds like quite a lot, for an elephant, but apparently is not much for an elephant shaped bit of art.
The most expensive elephant was £25,000.
Twenty five thousand pounds.
*blinks*
Woah.
That was a black and gold elephant by an artist with a Name. I liked the black and gold elephant, but not to the tune of £25,000.
The one I liked best was the mirrored one that so perfectly matched the architecture in the arcade. That one went for £16,000. Which is quite considerable a lot. It said in the paper the guy that bought it doesn't know what he'll do with it, he just doesn't want it to leave Norwich. Which is fair enough, but, well, also kind of amusing. £16,000 worth of silver-white elephant.
I hope it goes back in the arcade. It could look good elsewhere but it looked great there. Only trouble is, now it's worth £16,000. Parking that in a public place? Tricky.
The other one I liked best - yes I can too have two bests - was Teleportation, or tELEportation. It had a TARDIS on the back. It was awesome. It was in the bus station, which just makes you think about how the bus isn't bigger on the inside at all at all. I think it should go outside the Forum outside the shop that does the Doctor Who signings. I don't know where it's going to go. But it cost £6,000. The guide price reckoned £2250. They underestimated the power of the TARDIS there.
Some of the prices on those elephants make me wonder if they were serving bubbly at the auction. Even the one that looked like a giant elephant sized bee sold for as much as the cool complicated TARDIS one did. They all cost a bundle.
I think though this is what happens when you put stuff in front of people for months, so it's accessible and they pass by some of it often yet it needs to be actively sought out for full benefit. That gets them involved and invested. And it's pretty and interesting and unique, so they do seek it out. And then they can go buy it. There's only one of it, and one chance to get it, and they've had all summer to think about it and for it to work its way into their lives somehow. So when they finally do get sold... spectacular response.
It's a bit like convention auctions, where people are, yes, usually a bit drunk, but mostly are going oooooh because these are one of a kind things and they wants them and they're from things they've been watching every week and putting work into seeking out and all that good stuff.
If you just sell stuff in shops it doesn't hold the same place in a life at all. In a shop or an art museum I don't reckon big elephants would have the same response at all. What people are buying here isn't just the pretty but also the place in the narrative.
Every elephants has a story.
Pretty cool.
The auction raised a whole lot of money. The estimates in the brochure were, er, a little on the low side, on the whole. There's a full price list in the Norwich Evening News website. The brochure before the auction had as a high end estimate for the most expensive elephants about £3,000. Which sounds like quite a lot, for an elephant, but apparently is not much for an elephant shaped bit of art.
The most expensive elephant was £25,000.
Twenty five thousand pounds.
*blinks*
Woah.
That was a black and gold elephant by an artist with a Name. I liked the black and gold elephant, but not to the tune of £25,000.
The one I liked best was the mirrored one that so perfectly matched the architecture in the arcade. That one went for £16,000. Which is quite considerable a lot. It said in the paper the guy that bought it doesn't know what he'll do with it, he just doesn't want it to leave Norwich. Which is fair enough, but, well, also kind of amusing. £16,000 worth of silver-white elephant.
I hope it goes back in the arcade. It could look good elsewhere but it looked great there. Only trouble is, now it's worth £16,000. Parking that in a public place? Tricky.
The other one I liked best - yes I can too have two bests - was Teleportation, or tELEportation. It had a TARDIS on the back. It was awesome. It was in the bus station, which just makes you think about how the bus isn't bigger on the inside at all at all. I think it should go outside the Forum outside the shop that does the Doctor Who signings. I don't know where it's going to go. But it cost £6,000. The guide price reckoned £2250. They underestimated the power of the TARDIS there.
Some of the prices on those elephants make me wonder if they were serving bubbly at the auction. Even the one that looked like a giant elephant sized bee sold for as much as the cool complicated TARDIS one did. They all cost a bundle.
I think though this is what happens when you put stuff in front of people for months, so it's accessible and they pass by some of it often yet it needs to be actively sought out for full benefit. That gets them involved and invested. And it's pretty and interesting and unique, so they do seek it out. And then they can go buy it. There's only one of it, and one chance to get it, and they've had all summer to think about it and for it to work its way into their lives somehow. So when they finally do get sold... spectacular response.
It's a bit like convention auctions, where people are, yes, usually a bit drunk, but mostly are going oooooh because these are one of a kind things and they wants them and they're from things they've been watching every week and putting work into seeking out and all that good stuff.
If you just sell stuff in shops it doesn't hold the same place in a life at all. In a shop or an art museum I don't reckon big elephants would have the same response at all. What people are buying here isn't just the pretty but also the place in the narrative.
Every elephants has a story.
Pretty cool.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-24 04:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-24 05:30 pm (UTC)You could send pigs on a world tour, but somehow it lacks the romance.
Cows is practical though.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-24 05:22 pm (UTC)Actually I suspect the answer is more mundane. Because banks aren't very safe at the moment, the property market is a nightmare, and shares are dangerously volatile, people are looking for safe investments of a different nature. At times like this solid things like art, antiques, jewellery and fine wine always sell well and go up in price. Probably most of the people who paid over the estimate were looking at the pieces as an investment as well as a piece of art. And as investments go it is more decorative to have an elephant than to pin some share certificates on the wall.
I must seek out a picture of the one with the TARDIS, that sounds so cool!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-24 05:29 pm (UTC)http://www.flickr.com/photos/gillmc/2823277032/
has a couple of the TARDIS elephant