A Visitor to the Future - 69 - Fine Art and Theft
Staring at the dusty landscape depicted in the painting, I briefly wondered about the idea of painting as a whole. It wasn't typically something I'd associated with the idea of the future. Rockets, drones, projections - those were more what we thought of when we spoke of the future in my time. In contrast, painting was something ancient - something humans had been doing on cave walls, probably even before we learned to speak. And yet here it was, still as important as ever to artists and appreciators of art.
"Antonia," I asked, "Are there still lots of painters, or have people mostly moved on to other forms of expression, like projections?"
"Oh, lots of painters, too many to count, I think!" replied Antonia, taking a seat on the comfortable chair behind her, "I was taught about art growing up, and a few of my classmates picked up drawing and painting from that. For me, that's how I started learning to sing. In terms of other forms of expression, yes there are a lot of them, but I think painting has a sort of simplicity to it that everyone can appreciate - not that actually painting is simple! All I mean to say is that anyone can enjoy a painting."
"Sculpture, modelling, and virtual reality simulations are all quite popular forms of art," added Sarkona, "In addition to dance, music, literature... I'm probably missing a lot of them."
"Architecture? Engineering?" added Antonia, "I suppose almost anything could be an art form if you wanted it to be. Some of the space habitats I've seen I would consider very artistic."
"Bio-dev as an art-form exists too, come to think of it," said Sarkona, "For example, I've been studying ears lately - some might say my pursuit of the perfect ear shape is an artistic pursuit in some way. Others might say that's just good bio-dev. Many of the no-gravity habitats definitely lean on the super artistic side of things when it comes to bio-dev, though."
"Actually, this next piece might help you to understand about art as a whole today," said Antonia, pointing to the piece to the right, "Have a look!"
The next piece immediately stood out, as it was a much larger frame, about a metre tall and twice as wide. I quickly realized that it was not simply a painting on a flat surface - thin transparent layers had been placed over each other, paint delicately placed upon each in a three-dimensional portrait with actual depth. The actual depiction was of a large, floating brass-metallic sphere of a structure which sat among an environment of white, vibrant clouds. I could just about see the flare of a rocket trail in the distance and a small jet-stream of white that extended from it to the sphere. Something about the shading of the piece suggested that the scale of the structure was enormous.
"I know this place!" said Sarkona, "Wandering Spark is one of the larger aerostats floating in the atmosphere of Venus. This must be your new addition."
Antonia smiled, "Yes, completed just last week. I'd like to visit there some day - but I'm quite happy on Earth for the time being - I've practically just gotten back! This piece is just called Leaving, and it is an original, painted by an artist called Octavie who lives about fifty miles from here. It takes her a very long time to make each piece - she was working on this one for about a year and a half."
"This is amazing," I said, "It looks so lifelike - like I'm looking through a window right into the clouds. Did you say this place is floating around Venus?"
"That's right," replied Sarkona, now practically standing with their nose touching the painting's surface, admiring the handiwork, "Venus is far too hot and hostile to colonize like Mars, but there's a really nice point in the atmosphere, far above the surface, where aerostats can float in almost Earth-like pressure and temperature conditions. Of course, the atmosphere is still corrosive, which explains the distinctive colour of the aerostat's special protective coating - which is almost perfectly replicated here! Is this really an original?"
Antonia smiled and nodded happily as a response.
"I'm amazed that you got an original of something as beautiful as this," continued Sarkona, "How long were you waiting?"
"Only a week!" said Antonia, happy with herself, "Octavie's work isn't very well-known yet, though I think that will change very quickly over the next few months. Copies of this one are due to become available soon - I think people are going to love them."
"Can I ask - do people sometimes get possessive of the originals - or even try to steal them from each other?" I asked. It seemed like original art pieces might be one of the few rare commodities left in the Consortium. Even considering they could make almost perfect duplicates of the original works through fabrication, I could see how it might become a point of contention to have the original - just like how the Norannists I'd observed with Silence would not have been happy with a copy of the University grounds.
"With the exception of Fox pieces, no - what would be the point? Originals are considered the property of the artist in perpetuity, just on lease to people like me. At any point they can take it back - maybe they want to display it in a museum, or even destroy it - that's their right as the artist. You can do whatever you want with a copy of an artist's work, though. When Octavie asks for this one back, I'll replace it with a copy. To be honest the whole 'original' thing doesn't really make me enjoy the piece any more, but I get that it might for some people. I guess there's a sort of novelty to having the original."
"What are the Fox pieces you mentioned?" I asked.
"That's a funny story," said Antonia, "Fox is a popular artist today, and his works depict some of the greatest heists ever imagined - whether real or fictional. What's special about his paintings is that they come with a challenge - they're considered no-one's property, not even him or their current owner. Anyone is free to try and take them from someone else."
"You're allowed to try and steal them from other people?" I said in disbelief.
Antonia nodded, "That's apparently the fun of it! Art about heists that causes further heists! Fox will probably never be out of things to paint as a result."
Sarkona spoke up, "I've not heard of that before, but I imagine there are limits to what the participants can do. The Consortium wouldn't allow traps that could cause injury, that sort of thing?"
Antonia cocked her head and raised her eyebrows, "I think that'd be against the spirit of friendly competition!"