Tag Archives: value

Commodifying Art -Damien Hirst

All of modern life is a spectacle. Much of what contemporary man experiences in Western society is a false social construct mediated by images.

These mediated images create desires that can never be fulfilled; they create false needs that can never be met. “Many of our daily decisions are governed by motivations over which we have no control and of which we are quite unaware” (Berger 41). The constant spector of the mediated image creates an endless cycle of desire, consumption, and disinterest, fueling a banality in life that feeds the commodification of life.

Increasingly life itself becomes a commodity and the image more important than the reality it represents. This commodification infiltrates every aspect of human production, including the arts, and finds its pinnacle expression in the work of Damien Hirst. Hirst has carefully crafted a brand identity that has far surpassed the value of his art work in importance and worth. Working in tandem with former advertising executive turned art dealer Charles Saatchi, the spectacle of the Hirst image becomes the commodity. “Reality unfolds in a new generality as a pseudo-world apart, solely as an object of contemplation. The tendency towards the specialization of images-of-the-world finds its highest expression in the world of the autonomous image, where deceit deceives itself” (Debord
143).

No longer is the work of art itself a commodity, but rather the image of the artist (his/her/cis brand) that becomes the commodity.

It is this spectacle that drives the consumer to identify with a particular artist or brand. “The astronomical growth in the wealth and cultural influence of multi-national corporations over the last fifteen years can arguably be
traced back to a single, seemingly innocuous idea developed by management theorists in the mid-1980s: that successful corporations must primarily produce brands, as opposed to products” (Klein 4). The image has increasingly infiltrated and dominated the culture and the whole of society and has become “an immense accumulation of spectacles” (Debord 142).

Butterfly by Damien Hirst
Butterfly by Damien Hirst

Where once the products of labor were the commodity, now it is the spectacle that has become the commodity.

A prime example of this spectacle is Damien Hirst’s sculpture, “For the Love of God.” The sculpture consists of a platinum skull covered with 8,601 diamonds. The sculpture valued at over $100 million usd/ $129.361,000 cad [exchange rate at time of publication] is clearly out of the reach of almost any collector. The sculpture itself is not the art product, rather it is the spectacle that is the product. “Mr. Hirst is a shining symbol of our times, a man who perhaps more than any artist since Andy Warhol has used marketing to turn his fertile imagination into an extraordinary business” (Riding, nytimes.com). Acknowledging that the sculpture is out of reach for the majority of collectors, Hirst offered screen prints costing $2000 usd/ $2,587 cad to $20,000 usd/ $25,870 cad ; the most expensive prints were sold with a sprinkling of diamond dust.

Karl Marx Capital Is Money Meme

Karl Marx argued that the value of the commodity arose from its relationship with other commodities; its ability to be exchanged for other commodities. Marx used the the production of a table to illustrate his thesis:
“…by his activity, man changes the materials of nature in such a way as to make them useful to him. The form of wood, for instance, is altered if a table is made out of it. Nevertheless the table continues to be wood, an ordinary, sensuous thing. But as soon as it emerges as a commodity, it changes into a thing which transcends sensuousness.” (Marx 122)

Hirst’s diamond encrusted skull remains mere diamonds, valuable yes, but still diamonds. However, when coupled with the spectacle of Damien Hirst’s identity, the skull becomes a fetishized commodity capable of selling screen-prints valued in the thousands. The argument can be made that diamonds on their own carry value, and could be commodities themselves, however that doesn’t account for the fact the Hirst was able to sell prints of the skull for over $2000 usd/ $2,587 cad. Nor do the diamonds alone account for the spectacle surrounding the art work; it is Hirst’s brand, his image that creates the spectacle.

“The mystical character of the commodity does not therefore arise from its use-value. Just as little does it proceed from the nature of the determinants of value” (Marx 123). The value of a commodity arises from its spectacle, its ability to be desired. In Marx’s day that desire was its ability to be traded for other commodities; today that value is derived from its association to a brand, an identity, a spectacle. “Art reflects the illusory way in which society sees itself, it reflects the bourgeoisie’s aesthetic ideas as if they were universal” (Osborne 79).

The spectacle feeds itself through the mediating of the image to create desire for status and recognition, through associations.

“The ends are nothing and development is all – though the only thing into which the spectacle plans to develop is itself” (Debord 144). The spectacle’s main objective is self perpetuation. Its aim is totality. It must be noted that Hirst himself did not even create the work of art, but rather employed a studio full of jewelers to execute the sculpture, and printers to produce the prints.

Hirst exemplifies the bourgeoisie capitalist employer who retains ownership over the fruit of the employees’ labor. He is in many ways more akin to a captain of industry than he is to the romantic notion of an artist. “In the early twenties, the legendary adman Bruce Barton turned General Motors into a metaphor for the American family, something personal, warm and human” (Klein 7). Hirst has also turned himself into a metaphor, however, metaphors aren’t always true. This falsehod is at the heart of the issue. The spectacle isn’t concerned with what is true, rather it is concerned with what can be made to appear true. It is this appearance of truth that makes a commodity valuable. This fetishism of the commodity is why gold and silver have value, it is because people gave them value. It is the reason Damien Hirst, or any other brand, has value, because people gave it value.

Damien Hirst Greatest Currency on Earth Gold Diamonds and Art CNN

Damien Hirst cannot be blamed for commodifying art, he is simply following a long tradition of turning objects and products into commodities. The fact that his commodity is his own image doesn’t seem to matter. “Hirst is just playing the game. It is a game played by collectors and dealers at art fairs throughout the year; it is a game finessed as never before by Sotheby’s and Christie’s; it is a game in which, in the words of Nick Cohen, a rare British journalist to trash Mr. Hirst’s publicity coup, ‘the price tag is the art’ ” (Riding .nytimes.com).

That final statement beautifully summarizes the commodification of art, ‘the price tag is the art.’ The fact that the art is obscenely priced, and out of the reach for the majority of collectors, the fact that it is made of diamonds, a precious stone known as the blood stone because of its association with brutal and oppressive regimes, merely adds to its allure, to its spectacle. Damien Hirst is merely playing the game, like many before him. He is a part of the growing culture
industry that sells image. Images are the new commodity fetish. Images are the new mysterious commodities exchanged for more the more durable and enduring commodities. The bourgiousie sell their images, which have no real value, to the public which consumes them, in exchange for goods of real value.

“The $200 billion usd/ $270 billion cad culture industry – now North America’s biggest export – needs an every-changing, uninterrupted supply of street styles, edgy music videos and rainbows of colors. And the radical critics of the media clamoring to be ‘represented’ in the early nineties virtually handed over their colorful identities to the brand masters to be shrink-wrapped.” (Klein 115)

Nick Cohen said of Hirst, “[he] isn’t criticizing the excess, not even ironically … but rolling in it and loving it. The sooner he goes out of fashion, the better.” What Cohen fails to realize is that the spectacle is a fashion. And when one image goes out of fashion, another takes its place. Hirst may indeed go out of fashion, but another art brand will take his place, perpetuating the commodification of the arts in increasingly bombastic ways.

Equestrian Statue Of Marcus Aurelius

Perhaps art has always been a commodity?

In the past patrons would hire artists to paint them into scenes from the gospels. Patrons could be seen on the outskirts of paintings piously praying, thus creating an image of themselves as good and pious Christians. By association with the sacred art, the patron was creating a mediated image. Rulers did this all the time. The Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius is a perfect example. Its a mediating image that communicates power and authority.

But none of these examples reach the level of spectacle and fetishism that is Damien Hirst. While art may have been a commodity in the past, it was never commodified. In other words, while the art itself may have been exchanged for other goods, the artist himself was not treated as a commodity. The art of the past may have served a purpose, it may have contained a mediated message, but it was still a product, and it was the product that was valued, not its brand identity.

The commodification of art creates a unique problem in history. If it is the spectacle that matters, and the artist’s identity that has value, then what value is left in the art itself?

What then separates art from ordinary objects? Is there any aesthetic emotion that remains in the work of art itself, or does the aesthetic emotion dwell completely within the spectacle? These are questions that cannot easily be answered, and ultimately will require the lens of history to answer completely. But they are a pressing concern, for when art is commodified, it may cease to be art and instead become celebrity, product, or worse, advertising. For the Silo, Vasilios Avramidis

Works Cited
Berger, Arthur Asa. Seeing is Believing: An Introduction to Visual
Communication. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2008. Print.
Debor, Guy. “Showing Seeing: A Critique of Visual Culture.” The Visual Culture
Reader. Ed.Nicholas Mirzoeff. New York, NY: Routelage, 1998. 142-144. Print.
Klein, Naomi. No Logo, No Space, No Choice, No Jobs. New York, NY: Picador, 2000.
Print.
Marx, Karl. “Showing Seeing: A Critique of Visual Culture.” The Visual Culture
Reader. Ed.Nicholas Mirzoeff. New York, NY: Routelage, 1998. 122-123. Print.
Riding, Alan. Alas, Poor Art Market: ‘A Multimillion Dollar Headcase.’ The New York
Times. June 2007, Damien Hirst and the Commodification of Art http://www.visual-studies.com/interviews/moxey.htm

First Affordable True 4K UHD HDR Home Cinema Projector Debuts

CineHome HT2550 Makes Stunning 4K Picture Quality Available to Any Home With Exclusive CinematicColor™ Technology
COSTA MESA, Calif. — November, 2017 — BenQ America Corp., an internationally renowned provider of visual display solutions, today announced the launch of the CineHome HT2550 DLP® projector, offering movie aficionados 4K UHD HDR cinematic quality right at home and at an incredible value. The HT2550 comes fully loaded with true 8.3-megapixel UHD 4K resolution, 96% Rec 709 CinematicColor™ accuracy and projection-optimized HDR for stunning true-to-life image quality.

“Homeowners today want to replicate the magic of the big-screen 4K digital cinema at home,” said Lars Yoder, President, BenQ America Corp. “The HT2550 makes that possible, delivering striking 4K resolution for spectacular movie nights. Engineered with advanced audio and video enhancements and HDR capabilities, it’s an incredible value for the finest home cinema experience.”

Stunning 4K Comes to Life
Producing 8.3 million distinct pixels for true 4K UHD performance, BenQ’s HT2550 projector uses 0.47″ single-DMD-chip DLP technology. This minimizes the projector’s profile for a sleek, compact design that fits modern lifestyles. Its pure, 4K-optimized optical system produces ultimate image precision and color accuracy without artifacts that are known to plague LCD projectors. In addition, it employs exclusive BenQ CinematicColor technology and a RGBRGB color wheel to meet the film industry’s highest standards of color accuracy. With over 96% coverage of Rec. 709 color gamut with precise Delta E<3 performance, it faithfully reproduces exactly what filmmakers intended.

Advanced Technology for Uncompromising Entertainment
The HT2550’s pristine 4K video quality is supercharged by high dynamic range (HDR10) support, offering greater brightness and contrast with auto image optimization to bring out every lifelike detail and breathtaking realism for cinematic enjoyment. Powered by the same durable 2015 Academy Award of Merit Oscar®-winning DLP technology used in 90% of the world’s digital cinemas, HT2550 delivers long-lasting picture quality with precise colors and razor-sharp clarity without maintenance or degradation. Its performance is further enhanced by motion-adaptive edge pixel enhancement, sophisticated color algorithms, accurate flesh tone rendition and proprietary CinemaMaster Video+ and CinemaMaster Audio+ 2 technologies, giving even modest spaces the likeness of world-class cinemas. With full support for the latest HDCP 2.2 copy protection, it allows users to enjoy all the fast-growing choices for 4K content.

Contemporary Design and Easy Setup to Fit Any Space 
Blending beautiful aesthetics with flawless function, HT2550’s lightweight design, sleek profile and compact footprint blend perfectly into any décor. It’s designed to set up fast with auto keystone correction and powerful 1.2X big zoom, overcoming any installation hassles with ease. In addition, the HT2550 quickly becomes a smart projector by simply connecting an HDMI dongle, such as Google Chromecast, Roku, or Amazon Fire TV Stick, to instantly stream TV shows, movies, sports, and even video games to the big screen.

The BenQ HT2550 will be available in North America in Jan. 2018 for under $2,000usd retail. To find out more, please email: contentproducer@thesilo.ca or visit http://www.benq.us/product/projector/HT2550

 

About BenQ America Corp.
The BenQ digital lifestyle brand stands for “Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life,” fusing lifestyle with technology, ease of use with productivity and aesthetic design with purpose-built engineering. It is this mantra that has made BenQ the No. 1-selling projector brand powered by TI DLP® technology in The Americas(1). BenQ offers an extensive line of visual display and presentation solutions that incorporate the latest technologies. The company delivers a broad range of CinematicColor™ projectors, ZOWIE eSports gear and monitors, interactive large-format displays, mobile audio products, cloud consumer products and lifestyle lighting for any application and market — education, home, gaming, enterprise, government, house of worship, digital signage, A/V and IT — with cutting-edge models that lead the industry in performance, reliability, environmental sustainability and aesthetics. Whether it’s interactive projectors or digital whiteboards for conference rooms or classrooms, high brightness projectors for auditoriums or houses of worship, short-throw projectors for schools, 4K UHD projectors for home cinema, interactive flat panel displays for collaboration, or digital signage screens for public spaces, BenQ continues to defy the limits of digital displays. The company’s products are available across North America through leading value-added distributors, resellers and retailers. More information is available at
www.BenQ.us(1) Based upon CY2016 data from the Quarterly Projector Shipment and Forecast Report from PMA Research

About BenQ Corporation
Founded on the corporate vision of “Bringing Enjoyment and Quality to Life,” BenQ Corporation is a world-leading human technology and solutions provider aiming to elevate and enrich every aspect of consumers’ lives. To realize this vision, the company focuses on the aspects that matter most to people today — lifestyle, business, healthcare and education — with the hope of providing people with the means to live better, increase efficiency, feel healthier and enhance learning. Such means include a delightful, broad portfolio of people-driven products and embedded technologies spanning digital projectors, monitors, interactive large-format displays, audio products, cloud consumer products, mobile communications and lifestyle lighting. Because it matters.