Concept

-2011-

At the 2011 Frieze Art Fair, Jankowski arranged for a professional salesman to try to sell a mega yacht and a speedboat. Each was available for purchase as either a boat or an artwork by Jankowski – with a certificate of authenticity to match. In addition, the boat-as- artwork would come attached with metal letters spelling out »CHRISTIAN« (the speedboat) or »JANKOWSKI« (the mega yacht). This, Jankowski’s Frieze Project, was included in the main part of the fair; the speedboat was on display in one of the booths. Beside it was a model of the mega yacht (it would be produced only after the buyer made the first down payment) and a video in the form of a promotional film.
»Traveling on this super sculpture gives everything a new dimension!« promises Luca Boldrini, sales director from the Ferreti Group. Though not an art dealer, Boldrini was given a crash course in sculpture – from Carl Andre to Franz West, including the readymade. To interested visitors, he would describe the sales conditions: as an artwork, each of the boats would be sold at double the profit rate compared to when it is sold as a simple vessel – €65 million as a mega yacht, €75 million as an artwork; €500,000 as a speedboat, €625,000 as an artwork. In fact, The Finest Art on Water followed the standard agreement between artists and commercial galleries – the sales price and the production costs were to be split equally between the artist and the dealer.
While highlighting the equality between an artwork and any other luxury commodity, The Finest Art on Water also emphasized the collector’s role as a performer: he or she – not the artist – would determine whether the object would be a boat or an artwork.

Boat models

Mega yacht »Jankowski ,« CRNRiva, 68 m tri deck full displacement vessel, unique
Speedboat »Christian ,« Aquariva Cento, 10 m length, unique
Courtesy: CRN Shipyard

Video

(1 x HD Cam, 1 x Blu-ray), 10 min, PAL, 16:9, color, sound, English, edition of 5, II

Installation

Installation view, Frieze Art Fair, London