I'm 200 pages into a book on the economics of contemporary art and while I've learned scads of things and have had my perspective on "art" revised almost completely, the greatest impact it has had, as far as this discussion goes, is why do we keep asking this fucking question? What do we get out of it? There will never be a time where someone will make a thing, someone else will love it, and still someone else will hate it. No amount of arguing over the objectivity or subjectivity of art will change that. Brilliant technicians will continue to go ignored, opportunistic hacks will continue to get rich and the glitterati will continue to pay millions of dollars for mundane objects of special provenance to annoy their friends. So what do we really get out of this discussion, considering it is truly the pseudointellectual sound of one hand clapping?