4 ms·

>making art >this pen is just so vain, shallow, and meaningless. I hope you can see the contradiction here. These pens are the result of skills honed over tim

>making art >this pen is just so vain, shallow, and meaningless. I hope you can see the contradiction here. These pens are the result of skills honed over time by people who are masters of their craft. These aren't mass produced items, and they will tailor basically every aspect of the pen to the customer. You're paying for the artistry, quality, and customization. These things are more expensive when not mass produced. Would I buy one? Not unless I just had a bunch of money that I had nothing else to do with. But for someone who talks about making art being a fulfilling venture, it doesn't make sense to scorn something that many people consider art.

Retric 9y ago
I find such things horribly wasteful even if I had unlimited disposable income. Run out of reasonable purchases and you can always just donate the rest. Remember, it's not expensive because that's what it costs to make it's expensive because that's what it takes to sell them.
- mcguire 9y ago
  You could say the same thing about most other art and decorative object, if you don't find them attractive. I would tend to value Warhols and Pollocks in terms of their kindling ability, myself.
  - Retric 9y ago
    I mostly agree, stuff is very low on my list of interesting things. But, a painting could be shown to thousands a pen is a rather more personal indulgence.
nabla9 9y ago
>You're paying for the artistry, quality, and customization. That's not how pricing works. The price of the product is what customers pay, not how much it costs to manufacture. If you remove brand name and perception of luxury and rarity from these pens and say it's manufactured by some Vietnamese pop and son shop, the value drops into fraction what it was. It might cost $100 and be expensive pen but not hundreds or thousands like now.
winter_blue 9y ago
I don't think there's anything wrong about buying that pen; and I do think, yes, the artist has put a lot of effort into making a high-quality pen, so it is a beautiful expression of their creativity. The point I actually wanted to drill down was: "building your identity around what you own instead of what you do". I could've omitted my sentence on the pen. Buying a pen or any piece of art isn't vain. But it's sad when someone centers the life and builds their identity around physical possessions.

Retric 9y ago

I find such things horribly wasteful even if I had unlimited disposable income. Run out of reasonable purchases and you can always just donate the rest. Remember, it's not expensive because that's what it costs to make it's expensive because that's what it takes to sell them.

mcguire 9y ago
You could say the same thing about most other art and decorative object, if you don't find them attractive. I would tend to value Warhols and Pollocks in terms of their kindling ability, myself.
- Retric 9y ago
  I mostly agree, stuff is very low on my list of interesting things. But, a painting could be shown to thousands a pen is a rather more personal indulgence.

nabla9 9y ago

>You're paying for the artistry, quality, and customization. That's not how pricing works. The price of the product is what customers pay, not how much it costs to manufacture. If you remove brand name and perception of luxury and rarity from these pens and say it's manufactured by some Vietnamese pop and son shop, the value drops into fraction what it was. It might cost $100 and be expensive pen but not hundreds or thousands like now.

winter_blue 9y ago

I don't think there's anything wrong about buying that pen; and I do think, yes, the artist has put a lot of effort into making a high-quality pen, so it is a beautiful expression of their creativity. The point I actually wanted to drill down was: "building your identity around what you own instead of what you do". I could've omitted my sentence on the pen. Buying a pen or any piece of art isn't vain. But it's sad when someone centers the life and builds their identity around physical possessions.