X

4chan screenshot sells for $90K on eBay

A screenshot of a 4chan post pondering the nature of art has raked in $90,900 in an eBay auction.

Michelle Starr Science editor
Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.
Michelle Starr

4chanart.jpg
xhacker02

If you ask 10 different people, "What is art?", chances are you'll get 10 different answers. To 17 bidders on eBay, the answer this week would be a screenshot of a 4chan post.

Opening at a minimum bid of $500 and finishing just four days later on 1 August at $90,900, the screenshot -- named "Artwork by Anonymous" -- is an anonymous post on the board pondering the diminished nature of art -- once something "to cherish", now reduced to a post on 4chan.

"Art used to be something to cherish Now literally anything could be art This post is art", it reads. The lament garnered 45 bids, and, although it's possible the entire thing is an elaborate troll, the eBay listing clearly states, "This artwork will be sold with no refunds accepted".

The lucky winner will receive a printout of the screenshot on standard A4 paper in a frame -- although it's not exactly one of a kind. One sad copycat has attempted to replicate the auction's success, although to no avail so far.

Another auction, however -- a screenshot of the eBay listing of Artwork by Anonymous -- has collected over $50,000 in bids, so if you missed the first one, you still have a chance to own a piece of true 4chan philosophy. You'd better get in quick, though -- at time of writing, it has just over a day to go.