Theory of Art

Theory of Art

by Bill Schaeffer

June 5, 2004

What People Buy (or notions of Quality)?

One day I asked myself, “What are the qualities a piece of art must have for people to feel satisfied spending a lot of money on it?”    After thinking over my trips through expensive art and jewelry stores I arrived upon what I think are a few basic principles:

1) It must be shiny.    This is perhaps the single most important quality.   Everything that is expensive is shiny.   Automobiles, furniture, jewelry, even fine cloth is shiny and reflective.     

I have no idea why this would be, but people seem to be attracted to shiny things.   Perhaps the light reflections that play along the surface are visually intriguing.   Perhaps shiny and reflective materials are rare in nature and our eye is predisposed to look for them.   Perhaps the reflection mimics a watery sheen that stimulates primordial impulses.  

In any event, it seems that shiny and reflective surfaces draw attention and attract dollars.

2) It must be smooth.    People are drawn to smooth and sleek surfaces.    Again both expensive automobiles and fine furniture have long smooth curves that draw your eye along the length of their structure.

Smoothness seems to be rare in nature and the occurrences seem special:  The skin of fresh ripening fruits or the surface of a wilderness pond at daybreak.   Perhaps, smooth surfaces attract us like the flawless and supple skin of a new young lover.  

Think of all the manufactured items that you can.   Most of them have smooth surfaces.  People love smooth surfaces.

3) It must be black, white, red, silver, or gold, clear crystal, or natural wood.   

The most primal colors are black, white and then, red.   All languages have words for these three colors even if they have no words for any others. The next most common word color is blue, or green.

      

Perhaps because both pure black and pure white are so rare in nature, they have value above all other colors.   Many divinely mythic characters, or animals, are black or white.  The white dove, the white bull, the white horse, the black cat, the black raven.   Judges wear black.   Priests wear black or white.   Expensive Chinese furniture is black lacquer.

Red is the color of passion and warning.   Las Vegas is Red.   Fire Engines are Red.   Red is good luck in China.    Many supernatural beings, around the world, are also blue: the Krishna, Egyptian and Navaho traditions come to mind.   

Gold and silver ARE money and their presence assures the association with money.   People buy art to please themselves and impress other people.   Nothing impresses people as much as money does.   Even before metals became a standard of currency, gold and silver were valued throughout the world because of their intrinsically pleasing appearance.

Nothing is more rare than diamonds and nothing is as valuable.   Just three hundred years ago glass was almost as rare.   The explosion of glass and plastic use in our culture, has made us forget this, but clear glass is always pleasing and special.   A good way to make a roughly textured artifact smooth and shiny is to frame it behind a piece of glass.

Wood is not quite as valuable as the other materials, but fine wood has always been a rare and special commodity since the dawn of civilization.   Only the most expensive cars have wooden components. 

4) Colors must be bright and pure.  People and animals are drawn to pure bright colors.   Flowers and fruit are bright colored for this reason.   Bees are most responsive to bright colors.   Mosquitoes prefer blue. Humming Birds are attracted to red.   A bird’s brilliant plumage has evolved for this same reason.  Car manufacturers, in particular, take advantage of this principle.

Perhaps, because true bright color is so rare in the natural world of green, gray, and brown, people are naturally drawn to bright colors.

People's favorite colors are red and blue. 

5) There must detailed work or fine craftsmanship.

The object must contain some level of fractal surface detail that draws the eye closer to the work, so when you examine the surface, you are drawn to the details even further.

This detail can either be through raw human labor like a pencil drawing or mosaic tile work.   Sometimes certain automatic processes may yield a pleasing amount of detail such as the cracking or crazing of pottery glazes.

Conclusion:

There are always exceptions to the rule, as in the case of valuable antique chairs or raku pottery, but generally, it seems,  people spend large amounts of money on items that have these abstract qualities: 1) shiny;  2) smooth;  3) black, white, red, or metallic;  4) bright pure color; and 5) fine surface detail.

Comment:

I created a few paintings incorporating these ideas.  Later, when my friend, Joe, bought some paintings, all the paintings he chose were the newest ones: black, shiny, smooth, and metallic.

Then, I based a series of collage work on this idea and got several pieces accepted in a few shows.   I sold two pieces and have offers to exhibit some more.

Challenge:

Look at the objects in your environment and see if you can abstract principles of attraction and value.    What is Quality workmanship?

Suggested Reading:

The essay on Quality from the book “Zen in the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” by Robert M. Pirsig, Bantam Books, Torronto, New York London, 1974, Chapter 16 - 25, pp. 183 -294

“Heaven and Hell” by Aldous Huxley, Harper and Row, New York, NY, 1955

Addendum (May 7, 2007):

After meeting with the curator at a successful local gallery, she advised me: “Don’t use the color black.    Black is not a good selling color.”

Copyright© 2004, 2014 William Schaeffer