This artwork can be replaced. The lightbulbs burn out. They get swapped. Nothing about the materials is rare. So why do collectors and museums pay millions for it? Dan Flavin used standard fluorescent tubes — the same kind found in offices and hardware stores — and installed them in precise arrangements that transform entire spaces. The radical idea wasn’t the object. It was authorship. Collectors aren’t buying lightbulbs. They’re buying a certificate, an instruction, and the legal right to recreate the work exactly as Flavin intended. Change the angle? It’s wrong. Change the colour temperature? It’s wrong. Major museums acquired these works. Auction prices climbed. Not because of craftsmanship or permanence — but because of concept, control, and cultural authority. If art doesn’t need to be handmade… If it doesn’t need to be rare… If it doesn’t even need to physically exist… Then what is value actually based on? Genius — or proof the art market is broken?
This Artwork Uses Replaceable Lightbulbs — So Why Is It Worth Millions?
Genius — or proof the art market is broken?