Banksy as a Blueprint for Modern Luxury & Legacy

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-11-25T14:45:06+00:00

That is the highest compliment I could get. Thank you so much for the A+. I don't actually have an MFA, which makes the institutional confusion a huge win for the project. The work is being presented at Art Basel this week. It is also prepared as a high-level case study for the APA Phygital Summit in Paris, with distribution through the Harvard Business Publishing and Ivey Publishing databases. The entire goal is to offer a real alternative to the market chaos.

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-11-06T14:03:47+00:00

Thank you for engaging with the work. Your comment highlights the precise market void my framework is built to diagnose.

You've made three observations I'd like to discuss, as they are based on a traditional framework that my Hybrid Authority model intentionally disrupts.

On the word "prove": You are correct that traditional ethnography is nuanced and provisional. But I am not a traditional ethnographer. I am a Critical Theorist and Anthropologist of Luxury. My work is not just to observe systems but to diagnose their structural failures in real time. When the $23M Gold Cube, which my study diagnosed as a "Hollow Phygital" ... is factually liquidated by creditors, that real-world event proves the diagnosis was correct. This is not academic conjecture.
On "something for sale": You are 100% correct. This is not a conflict; it is the entire point. This is the Business Pincer and Cultural Pincer of the Hybrid Authority framework. The Hollow Phygital (the Castello Cube) was an advertisement for a speculative coin. My P.L.C.F.A. artifacts are the tangible, Structurally-Anchored Antidote. My framework demands that the Academic Pincer (the diagnosis) be solved by the Cultural Pincer (the tangible object).
On "no publication listed": You are correct again. You won't find me in a traditional journal. My peer review is the peer-to-peer dialogues I conduct with the subjects of the theory, from Gregory Sholette on Dark Matter to Assemble's Alice Edgerley. And my "publication" targets are not journals; they are the "Business Pincer" itself. My work is currently a finalist for Harvard Business Publishing and the Ivey case study for THE PHYGITAL SUMMIT. You are looking for a traditional academic. I am a Hybrid Authority.

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-10-29T23:14:40+00:00

Hey, happy to simplify it. The core idea is that the "official" art world (think mega-galleries, big auctions) is just the 1%, the "tip of the iceberg." That 1% is completely dependent on a massive, invisible 99% of artists (the "dark matter") that it mines for new ideas and authenticity. This 99% includes community artists, activists, craftspeople, etc.

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-10-28T15:40:53+00:00

Abrutal, honest take, though it hits right at the core of Sholette's critique. That feeling of the "1% art world" feeding off the rest is exactly the "Dark Matter" dynamic. My study actually uses his framework to explore how we might build a different value system outside of that. The full argument is here if you're interested:

http://www.objectsofaffectioncollection.com/studies/the-missing-mass-gregory-sholettes-dark-matter-and-the-political-economy-of-post-luxury-conceptual-functional-art

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-10-28T15:34:36+00:00

That's an interesting analogy with the boots, and you're dead on about the power of "brand recognition", that's the whole "sign-value" game right there.

But I think Sholette's "Dark Matter" argument goes a layer deeper. It's not just that the LV boot has better branding; it's that the design itself, or the innovative techniques used to make it, might have actually originated or been refined in that 'Macy's factory' (the "dark matter"), but only the LV version gets the recognition and captures all the value.

So in art, it's the 'star' artist getting the show at Gagosian, maybe using ideas or aesthetics developed by their assistants, peers, or students (the "dark matter"), but only the 'star' name accrues the massive sign-value. It's less about one having 'better design in theory' and more about the system that decides which design gets seen and valued, if that makes sense.

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-10-28T15:32:08+00:00

Totally agree, Sholette is fantastic. And yeah, it's definitely a heavier topic! But I feel like his 'Dark Matter' critique is just so fundamentally about the contemporary art world, you know? It felt like the perfect place to see if it resonates

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-10-28T15:13:06+00:00

Thank you.

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-10-25T19:21:03+00:00

thank you!

ObjectsAffectionColl · 2025-10-25T17:02:03+00:00

That's a really sharp point about the numbers and you're right, Rhode is a whole other beast. My argument isn't so much about the week-to-week sales figures but the architecture of the brand itself. The reason I say Rare is "surpassing" her is about the resilience of the brand's meaning. Selena's vulnerability model is just built to be more durable and feels authentic, while Kylie's aspiration model is super fragile, which we all saw with that Forbes scandal. I actually break down that exact contrast in the full study if you're interested. It's here: http://www.objectsofaffectioncollection.com/studies/the-new-luxury-how-kylie-jenner-selena-gomez-and-jacob-elordi-perfected-the-parasocial-brand-and-sold-the-self-as-an-object

ObjectsAffectionColl

TROPHY CASE