My Collectible Ass

McKenzie Wark argues that the value of collectible digital and artistic objects comes less from rarity of the object than from the information and circulation surrounding it. He cites Christian Marclay's The Clock, which is meant to be shown only in specific installations but has been copied and screened outside those settings, and Tino Seghal's works, which are never documented and exist through oral protocols and verbal contracts. He describes the collected artwork as a derivative of the information about it, and concludes that what collectors really collect is the act of collecting itself.