Then there is the story about the banana and the duct tape.
Those comp attorneys who do not follow the art world may have
missed the recent BBC story, “Duct-taped banana artwork sells for $6.2m in NYC.”
Cattelan’s artwork of banana duct-taped to a wall reached 6.2 million at Sotheby’s. The “art” was introduced to the public in 2019. The banana on the wall has gone on a world tour with instructions on how to replace the banana when it rots. A Chinese crypto guy bought it fighting off five other bidders.
The story raises important points to the comp practitioner.
First, there are those cases in comp world that are not like
all the other cases in comp world. Fact
patterns may be so bizarre to sound apocryphal, even in the metaverse. This
makes it harder to predict outcomes, increases risk of mis-valuation, and triggers
a lot of soul searching and buyer’s regret whether the apple duct taped to the
wall is not worth as much as the jalapeno duct taped to the wall.
Second, some people see value in things where others do not. There are those people who believe cases are worth zillions if a rotting banana is worth millions. This explains the thousands of things in people’s basements that have been held for years because they might be worth something one day. Somtimes a banana is just a banana, and like a bad case, has a diminishing value over time.
Third, there are apparently some people in the art world who
can impulsively spend six million on a banana and sleep at night thinking they
have had a good day. There may be five
other bidders for the banana who sleep even better. In the claims world, the spending
profile of the average adjustor is a lot different than a Chinese crypo king, dollars
are more closely watched, and burden of proof usually requires more than throwing
something against the wall to see what sticks.
There is always a market if someone can find a willing buyer. Injured workers waiting to settle their cases might start taping fruit to the wall and start the bidding on e-bay. It might even sell better than the old collections of pet rocks and mood rings and no one has to wait on medicare set asides.
