Firmly both: "In the event of a sale the Collector agrees to pay a sum equal to fifteen percent (15%) of the Appreciated Value (as hereinafter defined), if any, occasioned by such transfer or distribution or payment of insurance proceeds to the Artist (or Artist's agent for the purpose) within thirty days of the sale."

Coupled to the fact that this device continually tries to sell itself on ebay q7days, it's clearly designed to be a money making scheme for the artist. Surely, he would argue that this, too, is part of his art.

I think the money making bit is part of the witty name, "to deceive and slaughter." :)

Otherwise, it would be "a tool to auction and ship around."

I don't think he's greedy. 15% of appreciated isn't that much: assuming the current auction settles for $2500, and in the next auction it sells for $2600, then that's only $15. I suspect agent's fees are usually a % of total, not a % of the diff. And if in the subsequent auction it sells for $2400, then that's $0 commission.

The contract declares the box to be no longer "A Work Of Art" should the contract terminate. But I don't think that means it's worth nothing. Ex-works-of-art are pretty rare.

Who here knows about an art work titled "Erased de Kooning Drawing" ?