Daniel Ambia
Blog Post 7
The Value of Contemporary Art

            I found both of these articles interesting and a little aggravating. Cotter discusses the bitter truths about the art industry vs. the art world and Callahan discusses essentially the .00001% obsession with being cool by consumption. In philosophy we read an essay about the philosopher Adorno's theory concerning the commodification of popular music but I believe his theory can also be transferred to the visual art world. In a capitalist society art has become a commodity. Apparently what decides the monetary value of art has not changed over the centuries except it's no longer Emperors and Kings art collections but collections of the contemporary ruling class, the uber wealthy. It appears the wealthy are still able to decide the monetary value of art based on their personal preferences.
             In my opinion there are some artifacts that should retain a relatively high value, historical pieces perhaps that have been refined and serve as a time capsule for our past as human beings. On the other hand, if a billionaire wishes to spend millions of dollars on a sculpture of a balloon animal or a dead tree then I suppose more power to the artist for convincing the billionaire to write the check. The value of art should ultimately be decided by the artist. If the artist has put in the work and time on a piece, then naturally they should be able to demand what they see a fitting price once the piece goes on the market. If the consumer is touched by the piece and wants to purchase it then hopefully the artist and the consumer can come to some type of agreement. I don't know enough about the art world to say whether or not a piece should be worth $50,000,000. Maybe the artist who uprooted and made the dead tree theirs has every right to demand what they will.
               I like to look at art, I like going to museums and I definitely have a few reproductions hanging in my apartment which I may have paid at the most 25.00 for. But as far as purchasing an original piece I would have to say my favorite artist is my son Romero. He creates original work almost daily and I put most of it up on the refrigerator. To me his artwork is priceless ;).