The Internet will suck all creative content out of the world,” wrote David Byrne in the Guardian. The co-founder of the Talking Heads is not the only one to wonder how the Internet has deconstructed the system of our musical industry. Others have also expressed concerns about how it is affecting the film industry. It is not difficult to understand that an industry con- fronted with various illegal ways of broadcasting its work is ex- posing itself to damages that are more than “collateral” — it is also increasingly clear that downloading and fraudulent streaming are damaging an already fragile economy.

But we say less about how the Internet has ravaged the visual art industry; it is more difficult to pick up on these ravages because with or without the Internet, a work of art (a painting, sculpture, or installation,…