Untitled (ANDR Test Auction – DO NOT BID OR BUY – Ship DSCT 2),
2015, 5×7 in. digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2AP, of which
10 are available, $3+6 s/h
3/16 UPDATE: New images are listed at the bottom of the post, check them out.
Yesterday @yunginstitution turned me on to the Test Auction section of eBay, which is amazing. Test listings are for eBay developers to debug different features and settings, or for Power Users to preview and QA their regular listings. These auction listings have esoteric acronyms and abbreviations for titles, and images that range from stock to baffling to perfect. And they are full of warnings like TEST ITEM DO NOT BUY OR BID, and NO ITEM EXISTS NO FEEDBACK GIVEN
Well, these items exist now. And you can bid, and you can buy, and feedback will be given.
I have taken a selection of eBay test listings and recreated them to sell digital inkjet prints. The availability and pricing is determined entirely by the original listing. These 5 x 7 inch prints will be signed, stamped and numbered, and would obviously look best in groups.
Because they have “test” in the lot title, eBay won’t allow the prints to be listed in the regular, searchable categories. But the customer service person I spoke with said they’ll function just fine in the Testing category. They only look unbuyable.
Untitled (Andr test auction do not bid do not buy carrier 2)
2015, 5×7 in digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which
one is available in this listing, $1 + 5.32 s/h, $15.32 intl [note: updated link to current relisted item
After I created the first several print listings, which are all quite cheap for what they aspire to be, I realized I could sort the thousands of test listings by price. And oh hey, it turns out some were quite expensive for what they are. So I added a few of those to the mix, too. To hit all the price points.
Untitled (ANDR TEST – JERBEAR – DO NOT BID OR BUY – MBIN COMMIT),
2015, 5×7 in. digital inkjet print, ed. 50+6 aps,
34 of which are available in this listing, $3+5s/h, $15 intl
Right now there are 18 19 images in the series, including a monochrome, one suite of eight prints, one pair, and two that could really work as a pair. Plus a picture of an actual pear.
Shop the entire series on my eBay seller page, or after the jump.
Untitled (ANDR GU test DO NOT BID OR BUY MultiBIN MultiSku diff pix),
2015, three images from a suite of eight 5×7 in. digital inkjet prints,
ed. 15+2ap, of which 10 are available, $24+5 s/h, $15 intl
The third one above, which reminded me of Felix Gonzalez-Torres’ “Untitled” (Alice B Toklas’ and Gertrude Stein’s Grave, Paris), was what pushed me over the edge on this little project. See the eBay listing for the other images in the suite.
Untitled (ANDR TEST BEX DO NOT BID OR BUY MBIN BO)
2015, 5×7 in. digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which
10 are available, $3+5s/h, $15 intl
Untitled (ANDR Test Auction – DO NOT BID OR BUY – BOffer Expire)
2015, 5×7 in digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which
10 are available, $3+5s/h, $15 intl
Untitled (ANDR Test Auction DO NOT BID OR buy – 1bin gtc)
2015, a pair of 5×7 in. digital inkjet prints, ed. 15+2ap, of which
10 are available, $6+5s/h, $15 intl [note: updated link to current relisting]
Untitled (E2E ANDR TEST – DO NOT BID OR BUY – TEST AUC 1)
2015, 5×7 in. digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which
one is available, est. CHF9.99+$US5 s/h, $15 int’l [note: updated link to current relisting]
Untitled (ANDR TEST RU DO NOT BID OR BUY – TEST ONLY BH)
2015, 5×7 in. digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which
9 are available, $20+free US s/h, $15 int’l [note: updated link to current relisting]
Untitled (TEST LISTING FOR EVER)
2015, 5×7 in. digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which
10 are available, $250+13.20 s/h, US only. [note: updated link to current relisting]
I think this was from an eBay seller, not an eBay worker, but with that image and title, how could I not? Right?
Untitled (ANDR TEST DO NOT BUY MULTIBIN FLAT SH WW GBH YES CLM)
2015, 5×7 in. digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which
10 are available,$500+$0.05-0.20 s/h [note: link updated to current relisting]
Maybe I’ll add some more, though I really have no idea why, or if anyone would want the ones that are available now. But it’s just too amusing to imagine an auction room erupting a couple of decades from now over a work emblazoned with DO NOT BID OR BUY.
Update: I had some trouble with the image at first, but it’s fixed now, and I added this monochrome, because obviously. I thought of painting them, but decided to stick with the original-sized print. Maybe I’ll paint a certificate to go with them.
Untitled (Test Item Do Not Buy free postage)
2015, ready for framing
signed, stamped and numbered
5×7 inch digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap
of which 6 are available.
$AU1,500 ($US1159.80)+free shipping to Australia
$AU50 ($US 36.88) s/h anywhere else [note: updated link to current relisting]
Next Day Update: Hmm, if the shipping charges are really a big deal for you, try this one, which ships for free, but to the US only. It’s so pretty, I wish more than one of you could buy it on eBay:
Untitled (Basic White template test)
2015, ready for framing
signed, stamped and numbered
5×7 inch digital inkjet print, ed. 15+2ap, of which one is available.
$1+free shipping, US only
A FEW DAYS IN UPDATE: So context. I first thought to list these on eBay as art > direct from artist > photographs, where the test auction image, text, and even title/description would stand out. Basic recontextualization. But that turned out not to be possible, and so I put them in the testing category, the market equivalent of, not even a back room, but a basement workroom, past the mop sink. The only people who would find or see these images now would be the people who came to them through me and my links. Which is fine.
Making and selling these images in this way feels like literally the next-least thing I could do besides blogging about them. They don’t-push every button about treating art as a good, much less a luxury one. Or as an aspirational investment. Which is also fine, and frankly the point: they were just one more mint after the feeding orgy of Armory Week.
I purposely did not put the print listings in the eBay Use Only subcategory where most of the original test listings came from because, well, obviously. But that has not stopped actual eBay QA testers from ordering prints. In eBay developers’ contexts, the changes I’ve made don’t read as art, don’t get noticed. And why should they? But it’s nice that even after being transformed into art objects, they retain their aura as incidental images for mundane software testing.
No one from eBay has actually paid, or responded to invoices with notes, for that matter, but I’m going ahead and sending them prints, and I figure it’ll work out. Or I will leave them negative feedback.
3/16 Update: NEW IMAGES
Untitled (US ANDR TEST – DO NOT BID – TEST BIN CALC SH DOM – DO NOT BUY), 2015
5 x 7 digital inkjet print
signed, numbered from an
ed. 15 plus 2 aps
$1.00+0.90 s/h, US delivery only
Untitled (test auction do not bid), 2015
a pair of 5 x 7 prints
signed, numbered from an
ed. 15 plus 2 aps
$5+8.15 or 12.89 shipping
The listing text is pretty aware on this one. Good stuff. Plus, puppy.
Untitled (Us andr test do not bid do not buy carrier rr 1), 2015
5 x 7 in digital inkjet print
signed, numbered from an
ed. 15 plus 2 aps
$1.50 + $2.32 s/h, US only
This is the Kosuthian ideal, if not the Platonic.
Untitled (padebay tw test item 341 Do Not Bid Or Buy)
a suite of four 5 x 7 in. digital inkjet prints
signed, numbered from an
ed. 15 plus 2 aps
only one suite available in this listing
$3.96 + $2.32 s/h, US only
[note: link updated to current listing]
There are three more, each good-to-almost-as-great, but just about perfect together. Suffice it to say, I am pleased with the visual rewards of continuing my investigation of this genre. Stay tuned. More is coming.