By Nicolas Trembley

It began by chance. A few years ago, everyone was talking about eBay as a huge marketplace where you could get a good deal. It had become a common topic of conversaFon, regardless of your social class or personality. Anyone could parFcipate by sharing how they had bought an out-of-print art catalogue, a "vintage" item now in style, a film you couldn't find anywhere, or a piece of designer furniture. It didn't take me long to figure out that the buying process - based on a real-Fme aucFon whose winner was the highest bidder at a designated moment (You Are the Winner!) - was as important as the object itself, the price of which was oPen a modest sum. It was a Fme when contemporary art aucFons were creaFng a frenzy of speculaFon. Unknown buyers flocked to them, becoming collectors thanks only to their financial means. The parallel between eBay and the large aucFon houses seemed logical to me: I didn't have the financial means, but I too wanted to be "in on it.“