[Wikimedia-l] Forgery and Wikiality

[Newyorkbrad]

(cross-posted from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Newyorkbrad/Newyorkbradblog#Forgery_and_Wikiality
)

FORGERY AND WIKIALITY

We've all read about people manipulating their, or their friends' (or worse
their enemies') biographies on Wikipedia. We also all heard about people
molding Wikipedia to fit the world as they wish it were, rather than the
world as it is—what Stephen
Colbert<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Colbert>,
in exaggerated form, calls "Wikipediality."

Alex Wilkinson <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Wilkinson> reported an
interesting example of this phenomenon in his article "The Giveaway" in
last week's *New Yorker <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Yorker>*. (A
link to the *New Yorker* article is
here<http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/08/26/130826fa_fact_wilkinson>—
full text for
*New Yorker* subscribers, the first two paragraphs for others. I recommend
it.)

The article is about a 58-year-old man named Mark Landis. Mr. Landis lives
in Laurel, Mississippi <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel,_Mississippi>.
For a time during his childhood, he attended St. Mary's Town and Country
School <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_Town_and_Country_School>in
London <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London>.

According to the article, dozens of times over past 25 years, Mr. Landis
has walked into a museum and donated what he described as a valuable but
previously unknown artwork. He describes the pieces as the work of a
reknowned artist, though not one of the very best known artists (Paul
Signac<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Signac>,
Stanislas Lépine <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislas_L%C3%A9pine>, Hans
von Aachen <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_von_Aachen>, Alfred Jacob
Miller <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Jacob_Miller> are examples).
And every time, it turns out that Mr. Landis created the artwork himself,
and used classic art forgers' techniques to make the piece appear older
than it was.

This sort of art forgery raises well-known questions ("is this work of art
the less meaningful or beautiful because it was created by Shlabotnik
rather than Renoir?"). But certainly the museum world sees quite a
difference between the work of a great or near-great artist and even the
most faithful re-creation or simulation of one, and does not appreciate his
contributions. Since Landis never requested or accepted any payment for his
donations, and apparently never even took a tax deduction for them, he
hasn't been charged with any crimes. Wilkinson discusses Landis's
motivations, but he workings of his mind remain unclear. What is clear is
that Landis wants very much to be thought of as an art dealer, and as a
philanthropist.

The relevance to Wikipedia? We have an article about this individual, Mark
A. Landis <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_A._Landis>, which details his
history of art forgeries—but Wilkinson's *New Yorker* article doesn't
mention that article. What it does mention is this:
*One of the things [Landis] likes to do is check the Wikipedia article for
Laurel, where he was described as a notable resident, and the one for St.
Mary's, where he was an art dealer and a philanthropist. Late in 2010, he
saw that the listing under Laurel had been altered, "to something
derogatory," he said....*

And Wilkinson's article concludes:
*After lunch ... Landis was in good spirits. I'd seen him happier only
once, a few days before, when we checked the Wikipedia page for St. Mary's.
He hadn't looked for some time. He almost winced as he scrolled down the
page. Then his face broke into a grin. "Hey, I'm still there," he said.
"Art dealer and philanthrophist."**He turned the computer toward me so that
I could read the entry, then he leaned over to be sure his printer was on
so he could make a copy. "Otherwise, somebody might say something bad about
me and change it," he said. "And then I won't be an art dealer and a
philanthropist any more."*

Food for thought....

Newyorkbrad