TAPE ARTIST SAM BASSETT LANDS IN JAIL AFTER SOTHEBY'S PROTEST

ARTIST SAM BASSETT, WHO HAS CREATED ART BY ADORNING BUILDINGS SUCH AS THE CHELSEA HOTEL WITH STREAMS OF MASKING TAPE, RECENTLY SPENT 20 HOURS IN JAIL AFTER ATTEMPTING TO ENGINEER A SIMILAR FEAT ON FAMED AUCTION HOUSE SOTHEBY'S ON THE MORNING OF 1.NOVEMBER, THE DAY AFTER ITS SALE OF POSTWAR AND CONTEMPORARY ART. BASSETT EXPLAINED THAT THE GESTURE WAS MEANT AS A PROTEST AGAINST THE ART MARKET'S FOCUS ON OLDER ARTISTS. "ASS THE ARTISTS REPRESENTED IN THE AUCTION ARE DEAD, SO THIS WAS A GUERRILLA ACTION TO BRIDGE THE GAP, A FLAG-WAVING IN THE NAME OF THE NEW CREATIVE GENERATION", HE SAID. HE WAS SPOTTED ON THE LEDGE OF SOTHEBY'S ROOF BY A SECURITY GUARD, WHO ALERTED AUTHORITIES. IN FACT, THE AUCTION DID INCLUDE WORKS FROM LIVING ARTISTS, INCLUDING ALEX KATZ, JASPER JOHNS, RICHARD PRINCE, AND JOHN CURRIN, SO IT WAS ENTIRELY CLEAR WHETHER HE WAS SPEAKING METAPHORICALLY OR IF HE WAS JUST CONFUSED. A NEW YORK JUDGE DISMISSED TRESPASSING CHARGES AGAINST THE ARTIST.