title: Salvage Market - Highbrow / Lowbrow Project
date: 2012
size: 9 - 6.5" x 8"
medium: Digital composite prints on archival inkjet paper
This series of mixed media photographs visually maps my participation in the salvage economy. The project was created to compliment and compare the Elliott Wave Theory stock market project. This project addressed the current global economic climate and was created to answer several questions. Is the salvage market profitable? Would the salvage market yield a greater return than the NYSE for someone with limited investment income? Could an artist create a series of works that could benefit the viewer financially?
Over a fourteen-month period, I purchased salvage vintage scooters from Craigslist and Ebay. The vintage scooters were either disassembled or kept intact, cleaned, photographed, inventoried, and resold through online scooter forums, Craigslist, or Ebay. Unlike the stock market project, no set dollar amount was allocated to the project, but happened more organically. The first scooter was purchased locally for three hundred dollars, disassembled, and resold as individual parts that yielded a 300% return on the investment. These funds were then used to buy additional salvage scooters, which were then sold intact or as parts, and additional inventory was purchased. This process was repeated many times.
The salvage market project yielded a 9156% gain on the original investment compared to the 80% gain of the stock market project.
For a more detail explanation of the project, click here.