What’s the worth of art anyway?
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Let’s start with an analogy:
You use toothbrushes daily, and they don’t cost much, but what is your smile worth to you? The price of toothbrushes is insignificant compared to the value of the outcome. But the outcome is also subjective. Smiles are worth more or less to different people. So how does this apply to wall-art?
Looking at art influences you in the same way that the food you eat affects your body and mind. This is because sight is a sensation. The wall-art hanging in your living spaces are also engaged daily, like oral hygiene. They shape the environments that shape you.
Affirmations, diploma’s on the wall, family photo’s, and wall-art all work the same way. They’re thoughts and memories that you have projected out into your physical world. Their meaning lives inside of you, but the physical object is what triggers it.
So, the question then becomes, what’s the value of the thought or memory to you?
That’s a sentiment, and one way to evaluate the worth of art. Personal taste is indeed subjective, but you can use it to decide how much to pay for a piece of art. Or rather, how much you are willing to pay is an intangible factor that influences the worth of art based purely on how much you like it.
This again, is the question of what is your smile, thoughts and memories, worth to you?
There are also tangible factors to evaluate the worth of art. Rarity, an artist’s popularity or reputation, and their unique skills are used by art collectors lend accuracy to art evaluations. Since they’re tangible, they influence investment value.
But art also has practical value. The very personal feeling of home is partly constructed using art to pretty your living spaces and make them comfortable. Purpose contextualizes the way that art is used, and is also a tangible factor with some of your personal choices peppered in.
So, the intent that you have for art largely determines it’s worth. No matter what that intent is, tangible or intangible factors to consider, the fact is that the visual stimuli you surround yourself with in personal spaces has an influence on you. Better yet, you have control over what you expose yourself to and, by extension, can raise the quality of your life, or create changes, with wall-art. That’s one of its functions.
The worth of art is the same as choosing to brush your teeth, for hygiene reasons or a great smile. Now, what is that worth to you?