Note added May 7: I suspected this might happen; eBay removed the auction. Ironically, the Universe is real, and they pull the auction, but when someone sells the frying pan that made the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich, that they let pass. It’s a crazy cosmos. Anyway, the seller relisted it, this time making things somewhat clearer.
I get email.
This one, though, was different, even for me.
I recently visited your site and figured you might get a kick out of this. I am an artist
from NJ, USA, and on May 5th I launched a 9-day interactive art project where I’m
auctioning off the entire universe on ebay. To view or participate in this satirical
project you can visit this link: eBay Auction: The Entire Universe.The more people participate the more fun it will be.
Yes, you read that right. He’s auctioning off the entire Universe, the whole shebang, the cosmos, the whole nine yards, Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Mind you, since the Universe is expanding, and that expansion is accelerating, every second you wait the better the deal gets (amortized over a per cubic light year basis).
It makes a great gift, I would think, for the man who has everything.
Anyway, I can’t decide if this is ridiculous or genius. Probably it’s both. But I do wish I had thought of it first.
May 6th, 2005 at 12:24 pm
ahahahahahahahahaha! This is great! If I had a few spare $ to rub together I would definately bid:). This would make a great slightly late Mother’s Day present for my mom:)
May 6th, 2005 at 1:22 pm
This is even worse than the empty brass rifle cartridges, or the box of rocks collected by someone’s poodle. Why in the world do people actually throw money at these ridiculous auctions? Is it for the same reason that anyone purchases gag gifts and/or completely useless novelty items? This auction isn’t even as funny as the piece of bologna with George W. Bush’s face on it; and the philosophy that reality exists simply because humans perceive it to exist is among the dumbest, most irritating and conceited ideas that I can think of.
Ok. I think I’m done ranting about this now. I do enjoy a good rant.
May 6th, 2005 at 1:58 pm
Hmm, he makes the statement:
“The winning bidder will receive billions of stars and planets, a number of black holes, a bunch of elusive dark matter, and the collective unconscience of our unique yet infantile species. ”
I have to wonder how he’s going to box that up. In what way, exactly, is that being delivered?
Then he says, “I have created a Certificate of Authenticity that I have personally signed which will be provided to the winning bidder.” and “Shipping is to be paid for by the wining bidder…UPS charges a bundle for packaging planetary systems.”
Hmm, so we can prove that it is, indeed, the real universe and not some alternate hack-job of a copy. But I think we still need a deed or a bill of sale or some such transfer of ownership.
May 6th, 2005 at 2:28 pm
I don’t think this is a gift for the man who has everything, as he must already have one.
May 6th, 2005 at 2:35 pm
A perfect opportunity for my dreams of universal conquest.
May 6th, 2005 at 2:52 pm
I’d like to see how he proves he has the title to sell.
May 6th, 2005 at 3:25 pm
I don’t like this idea!
when if the one who buy’s it start claming stuff seitist(sp?) find there?
May 6th, 2005 at 4:44 pm
After a day and a half it’s already above $200. I think, from a business standpoint, its anything but ridiculous.
May 6th, 2005 at 8:07 pm
I just want to know what the sales tax will be. I mean, who has jurisdiction?
May 6th, 2005 at 11:00 pm
Too bad, it seems to be gone already anyway. =P I would have liked to see that.
May 7th, 2005 at 9:18 am
I am an artist from NJ, and this auction was part of a 9-day interactive art project. Obviously, I violated come of ebay’s regulations because they claimed I did not actually have anything tangible to sell. I guess that would make sense since the gist of of my arguement was that the universe was nothing more than a cascade of ideas generated by the human mind.
However, I relisted the item so that what you actually receive is a certificate of ownership! Therefore, I now have something tangible to sell!
So, in case you want to check it out… item# 6530828170, or just go on Ebay and perform a search for “the entire universe”
until it gets canned again..
gracias
png
May 7th, 2005 at 1:12 pm
mmm… the whole universe? mmm not interested… a galaxy or two perhaps… and one ringed planet, yes I like those. Quantity discounts? for a dozen of red giants, a dozen of moons? ten or more comets? hehehehe….
mmm you know what? I’ll take one of those sampler plates… yes the one with moons, planets served with the spiral galaxy, ok, yes… to take… cash? no, charge please…
May 7th, 2005 at 8:05 pm
Ha-ha-haaaaah! This is a gas!
Hmmm… I wonder if anyone’s ever tried to auction off God or some other deity?
May 9th, 2005 at 4:11 pm
The auction was taken down by ebay because it violated thier regulations.
he has re-listed it as a “Certificate of Ownership for the Entire Universe”.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=4174&item=6530828170&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW
May 10th, 2005 at 12:30 pm
Why is the Bad Astronomy Blog supporting such subjectivist nonsense ? I hope the author does not really agree with this flummoxery artist that the universe is all in our minds. If so, he would be out of a job !
May 10th, 2005 at 1:43 pm
This is clearly not intended as a serious sale, as opposed to the ilk at the International Star Registry. I also made this post more humorous in tone, to reflect that. Do I think someone can sell the Universe? Of course not! But this is a light-hearted event, so I treated it as such.
May 10th, 2005 at 5:08 pm
If I were to be the owner of the Certificate, I’d follow closely whatever legal argument the “Lunar Embassy” is going to make about their absurd claim of ownership of our natural satellite
Who knows, they may win a lawsuit or two thereby becoming the legitimate target of some hefty bill by the highest bidder in png’s auction…
May 15th, 2005 at 4:24 am
Not everyone can recognise satire or comedic exaggeration when they see it. In Britain, there is a soft drink called Irn Bru (pronounced “iron brew”). They used to have a fantastic (i.e. very funny) series of TV adverts that ended with the tagline “Brewed in Scotland … from girders” in a very broad Glaswegian accent.
Although it does contain iron (in the form of ammonium ferric citrate, that gives it a lurid orange colour), it is not actually made form girders. But no-one ever believed it was. Anyhow, certain EU regulations, when they became law in the UK, forced the company to cease that campaign. Killjoys.
Many of us still remember those ads fondly.
May 17th, 2005 at 5:11 pm
Given the “many worlds hypothesis� how do we know which universe he is selling? Were would you put the serial number on a universe. What kind of a warranty does it come with? And the owner’s manual – I really want to see the manual. Not to mention the tech support number – toll free I hope – all in all a really fun idea
May 23rd, 2005 at 9:43 pm
I wonder, though… if I were to make the winning bid, how would he ship it, what would the shipping cost be, and where would I keep it when I’m not using it?