Study 162: How Art Is Priced: Speculation Against Material Value

The art market operates through two competing pricing systems: one anchored in material cost and labor density, the other in speculation, reputation, and financial abstraction. This study examines how galleries, auction houses, and pricing guides systematically decouple price from the material covenant of the object, converting unique works into Hollowed Objects optimized for financial arbitrage, and proposes the Custodian's Contract as the only coherent alternative.