3 ms·

Rarity is like an illusion

by m3kw9 3y ago

kibwen 3y ago
Not even rarity, because every painting is basically unique and non-fungible (modulo replicas). Instead, it's memes that make unique things more valuable than other unique things.
- bruce511 3y ago
  Paintings are unique the way people are unique. Each one is different but there are a LOT of them. Some are objectively in another league, but 99% of it can be swapped out for something that appeals to you more personally. Memes don't make a Rembrandt valuable, but equally the Rembrandt name matters more than the picture. So more "branding" than meme. I subscribe to the notion that if it takes an expert to tell the difference between a fake or real Rembrandt, then (value aside) you have a Rembrandt. Or Rembrandt-quality painting.
  - kibwen 3y ago
    > So more "branding" than meme. Agreed, but it's worth examining how branding is itself memetic. Why is Rembrandt associated with value? Because of a perpetuating idea that Rembrandt was highly skilled, and thus his paintings are higher quality. But why do we say that Rembrandt was highly skilled? Because of a perpetuating idea that tells us what skill at classical painting should look like, and then a perpetuating idea that tells us that Rembrandt was an exemplar of that artificially-defined category.
    - cubefox 3y ago
      It seems more likely that Rembrandt defied some of the standard art style at the time and is remembered for his innovation. For example, his paintings look quite realistic but tend to exhibit unusually dramatic lighting. Perhaps nobody did that before him, or not with the same quality, or only in a small number of artworks.
- bryanrasmussen 3y ago
  I like the concept of Mana - https://medium.com/luminasticity/art-as-a-tool-for-storing-mana-69d90f1a014b https://medium.com/luminasticity/art-as-a-tool-for-storing-m... (the link might not be to your taste as it is sort of criticism but written in a fictional universe) "One of the primary properties of anything with Mana is a feeling of uniqueness. That one has never encountered something like this before, and therefore it is important. The uniqueness of the thing is a property that pulls you in to focus more closely, to attempt to understand more closely why the thing is unique."
- sumtechguy 3y ago
  It is like having a Bob Ross painting. Which is surprisingly actually decently difficult to do as he kept most of them even though he made thousands of them. They are mostly in a Bob Ross museum. But 100 years from now? Without that show and the people who grew up watching it? Will they be worth anything?

Rarity is like an illusion

by m3kw9 3y ago

Rarity is like an illusion

Not even rarity, because every painting is basically unique and non-fungible (modulo replicas). Instead, it's memes that make unique things more valuable than other unique things.

bruce511 3y ago
Paintings are unique the way people are unique. Each one is different but there are a LOT of them. Some are objectively in another league, but 99% of it can be swapped out for something that appeals to you more personally. Memes don't make a Rembrandt valuable, but equally the Rembrandt name matters more than the picture. So more "branding" than meme. I subscribe to the notion that if it takes an expert to tell the difference between a fake or real Rembrandt, then (value aside) you have a Rembrandt. Or Rembrandt-quality painting.
- kibwen 3y ago
  > So more "branding" than meme. Agreed, but it's worth examining how branding is itself memetic. Why is Rembrandt associated with value? Because of a perpetuating idea that Rembrandt was highly skilled, and thus his paintings are higher quality. But why do we say that Rembrandt was highly skilled? Because of a perpetuating idea that tells us what skill at classical painting should look like, and then a perpetuating idea that tells us that Rembrandt was an exemplar of that artificially-defined category.
  - cubefox 3y ago
    It seems more likely that Rembrandt defied some of the standard art style at the time and is remembered for his innovation. For example, his paintings look quite realistic but tend to exhibit unusually dramatic lighting. Perhaps nobody did that before him, or not with the same quality, or only in a small number of artworks.
bryanrasmussen 3y ago
I like the concept of Mana - https://medium.com/luminasticity/art-as-a-tool-for-storing-mana-69d90f1a014b https://medium.com/luminasticity/art-as-a-tool-for-storing-m... (the link might not be to your taste as it is sort of criticism but written in a fictional universe) "One of the primary properties of anything with Mana is a feeling of uniqueness. That one has never encountered something like this before, and therefore it is important. The uniqueness of the thing is a property that pulls you in to focus more closely, to attempt to understand more closely why the thing is unique."
sumtechguy 3y ago
It is like having a Bob Ross painting. Which is surprisingly actually decently difficult to do as he kept most of them even though he made thousands of them. They are mostly in a Bob Ross museum. But 100 years from now? Without that show and the people who grew up watching it? Will they be worth anything?