Much like Michael Jackson, who has been living in Las Vegas since late last year, his old stuff caught up to him in Sin City by a twisted route that included courts and plenty of controversy.  At the end of it all, Jackson no longer owned the portraits, clothing that would make Liberace smile, many documents (who knew La Toya got fan mail?), industry memorabilia and toys being auctioned.

 

It wasn't all here though, either. Some items in the catalouge were removed from bidding at Jackson's request in the days and even minutes leading up to the auction. One of the organizers said Jackson would get a chance to negotiate buying those items at a later date.  Also, you didn't have to be at the Hard Rock at all to buy MJ's old stuff;  the sale was in real time on the Internet, too. But being there  was key to the spirit. The entire concert hall was suffused not with music for once but with the whiff that longtime storage gives to items of fast fading glory.

 

Yes, some items were deeply weird. There was a detailed pencil drawing by Jackson that showed an artist who had done a real close study of his posing figure; the subject, a young kid. "Boy" by Michael Jackson, by the way, is dated from 1994 (the year of his famous reported settlement for alleged inappropriate behavior with a boy). There is also a Norman Rockwell that reminds one more of Balthus in its use of adolescents than the usual Saturday Evening Post cover. 

But most of it looked like the rest of the generic memorabilia displayed all around the Hard Rock, only all in this case was dedicated to the Jackson family.

 

That doesn't mean people weren't paying money. While I was at the auction yesterday afternoon, one of the early items sold was Jackson's MTV Moonman for "We Are the World" which someone bid and bought for $16,000.

(photos by Sarah Gerke)