Ars Artis Gratia But Not Really

******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ******** ********
********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *********
((((
********* ********* ********* ********* ********* ********* *********
black block
black block
black block
))))
((((

This afternoon a new collage of Stephanie Haddad's early work went up for auction on eBay. She tore apart her older canvases and pasted them together in what she refers to as a "soul-cleansing" exercise. "Why leave this shit sitting around when nobody wants to look at it? Might as well make something better," she told me yesterday, swiping a stray hair out of her eye and getting her forehead with a bit of black primer. "At least I hope it looks better. It's done now." Later she took all the work she did and painted it black. Afterward scanned them into digital media to actually complete it. Critics expect this latest tryptych to bring in at least one million dollars for the young artist. She plans to pay back her parents with her earnings for all that college they let her take.