In 2002 artist Sean Hall, placed a bet with William Hill that collector Charles Saatchi would buy the betting slip for £1000 or more. At odds of 1:2 William Hill obviously reckon there is a good chance that he will in fact do so. The bet is for £10 and expires on 31 December 2005.

The betting slip was first exhibited at the Stuckism International Centre (London). It is for sale for £10,000, which we feel represents excellent value for the discerning collector.

Notes on Sean Hall
Sean Hall was born in 1961 in Lambeth. He attended Ravensbourne and Camberwell Colleges of Art and is currently a lecturer at Goldsmiths College. He has a CV as long as your arm, including Whitechapel Gallery and Royal Academy, and will be exhibiting at the Victoria and Albert Museum in February 2003.

Sean Hall is not a member of the Stuckist Art Group.

THE STORY CONTINUES...
So far the fabled betting slip has been featured in The Evening Standard Londoner's Diary, Channel 4 TV 'Sports Talk' (well, why not?), and on Dutch TV.

STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
We now find Stuckism, Goldsmiths College (where all the Brit Artists were trained) and William Hill, the bookies, in a healthy, if unpredicted, alliance. All have sent out a press release on the Saatchi bet.

Goldsmiths are more naturally more restrained and erudite:

Says the artist, Sean Hall: “This piece comments on the role that patrons like Charles Saatchi play in determining what is and is not accorded the status of "art", and the value that is then placed on the objects deemed art. This is an alternative viewpoint to the one which says art is art because the artist says it is, as suggested by the works of people like Tracey Emin.”
Continues Sean: “Art works on a system of subjective values that are not determinately true or false. Because this is a real bet, it will be judged against an impartial outcome: it either wins or loses. This contrasts with the bet as "art", which involves a much more subjective judgment.”

William Hill have no such scruples:

"I don't know much about art, but I know what I like" said William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe, "And if Sean can persuade a mug, sorry, serious collector of art, to pay thousands of pounds for a betting slip which can only be worth a maximum of fifteen pounds I expect a massive increase of business in our betting shops!"

"Sean insisted on very short odds apparently to add artistic merit to his work, and we were happy to go along with that" said Sharpe.

Goldsmiths College issued a Press Release which is no longer online.
Contact: Janet Aikman, External Communications, telephone 020 7919 7909, fax 020 7919 7975, e-mail ext-comms@gold.ac.uk

So did William Hill but that's no longer online either.
Contact: Graham Sharpe...0208 918 3731