Buying Class

A piece of particular interest to me was the way we assign value to a work of art. Traditionally, we, as people and as consumers, say we admire things that speak to us on a personal level. Something that can explain our thoughts in a way more pure, more emotional, than words can express. Something that symbolizes perfection and beauty. What we don't realize is our taste is socially constructed. While researching this topic, I came across this interpretation of a Pollock painting: 

"Number 5, 1948 is a piece of poetry; great poetry. Jackson Pollock once raged that his work contained no accidents, a statement that may seem perverse and unbelievable - but look at this painting. It was made by pouring and flicking paint on to a canvas laid on the ground, and yet it is no chaotic action daub.It radiates structure and meaning, like the masks carved by America's north-western Indians, or the jazz Pollock loved to listen to while he painted." (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/114782.html) 

This description seems profound, detailed, almost undeniably accurate. Now take a look at Number 5: 

The description of structure and statement in the painting seem entirely incongruous to the image. So, why is it described this way? It is good taste to like a Pollock, and so people do. Though it lacks any realistic technique, this painting holds the record for the most expensive piece of art ever purchased at $140 million. Images hold no inherent value, but are deemed valuable because of the "who," the "when," the "why". 

The "buy to be" mentality plagues our country. Perhaps this is most easily understood when related to Barthes' model of a sign. The Pollock painting is a signifier, the signified is  wealth and tase. Thus, if you own a Pollock or a Picasso, you must be of a certain class and have an appreciable aesthetic taste. In the same way we can value art by its construction and origin, the purchases and associations we choose to make define us as an individual and demonstrate to others how we wished to be viewed.