China and the WTO; China Art Market; Damien Hirst; Open Source Altruism

MWF (Wednesday) Briefing:

China was criticized for getting protectionist with it's agriculture at WTO,but it only makes sense that it should especially if industrialized countries with a higher tech and automated agriculture industry puts Chinese farmers out of business, leaving its population vulnerable.  It's not as if displaced farmers can pick up tools a year down and produce a crop within a month's time.  It's a positive sign that they are attempting to keep sustainability and looking after their population's best interest. The one big export industry for China, still, is its art market. Everyone knows it's a bubble, especially, it seems, Chinese artists, and they will ride it until the end.  This seems to be the case for Damien Hirst as well.  He's poised to make record sales in his upcoming show.

About boundaries, money, and such, open source project seem truly altruistic.  Sometimes, they have trouble spending donated money.

• Trade talks at the WTO  broke down due to China's about face on free trade. Food prices have spiked globally, particularly for rice.  Developing countries with a food surplus have imposed limits on exports to retain supplies for their own populations. China has become focused on making sure that its farmers can continue to produce most of the food needed for the 1.3 billion people in that country, and leery of having to rely on imports. NYT  China was mostly blamed for the collapse of the talks.Guardian

•  Click to enlarge. China's art bubble only growing. Portfolio

• Open source teams, and culture, have been developed such that they’re almost money-agnostic. Open source projects run on time, not money. So, the way to convert that currency is through bounties and funded internships. Unfortunately, setting those up takes time, and since that’s the element that’s in short supply, we’re back to square one. Webmonkey

•  Click to enlarge. Damien Hirst's aesthetic - he describes another painting assistant who was leaving and asked for one of the paintings. Hirst told her to, "'make one of your own.' And she said, 'No, I want one of yours.' But the only difference, between one painted by her and one of mine, is the money.'" By February 1999, two assistants had painted 300 spot paintings.   Hirst sees the real creative act as being the conception, not the execution, and that, as the progenitor of the idea, he is therefore the artist. Wikipedia  His latest art auction is expected to raise about $120 million. FT