‘Who Owns What?’ is a contemplation of the commodification, privatising and censoring of artworks. When a work of art is said to have been ‘lost’, often the truth is that it was bought anonymously at auction and removed from public view. There are innumerable examples of important cultural and artistic artefacts disappearing or being restricted at the whim of one wealthy individual. Surely, if a work of art has cultural significance, then it is ‘owned’ by everyone and should not be allowed to be disappeared.
The title comes from a piece by Barbara Kruger which I was trying to view on the Tate website. I wasn’t able to as it had instead been replaced by the image used for this piece.