A ridiculous discussion in rec.bicycles.racing (eventually, they all are) led to someone mentioning, in the context of personal art collections, this poster:

Which led me to declare that US aircraft carrier groups, collectively, were the greatest art installation ever conceived.

Yes, that sounds like my usual blithering nonsense, but it’s actually extremely profound nonsense! Allow me to demonstrate:

I subscribe to the principle that art consists of useless crafts.

As the French philosopher Baudrillard pointed out, The Gulf War did not take place. So if carrier groups are designed for wars which do not take place, they must be works of art.

And I am not alone in this. Paul Virilio has written entire books on the intertwining of art and war. I am certain he appreciates these highly kinetic sculptures as much as I do.

In terms of most expensive art work of all time, I think its only competition is the International Space Station.