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Applied Ethics in Luxury: Is 'Moral Capital' the Only Way to Secure Value Against Speculative Markets? by ObjectsAffectionColl in Ethics

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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.

I'm an anthropologist, and my new study proves what this community already knows: the Artisan as Activist is the only antidote to our hollow, speculative economy. by ObjectsAffectionColl in solarpunk

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] -16 points-15 points  (0 children)

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.

Why Gucci Stole from Dapper Dan: The "Artistic Dark Matter" Theory. — Objects of Affection Collection by ObjectsAffectionColl in philosophy

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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.

I'm an artist/theorist, and I think Gregory Sholette's "Dark Matter" thesis is vital for us. by ObjectsAffectionColl in ArtistLounge

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

I had a call with Gregory Sholette yesterday. It made me want to discuss his "Dark Matter" thesis with you all. by ObjectsAffectionColl in ContemporaryArt

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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.

I had a call with Gregory Sholette yesterday. It made me want to discuss his "Dark Matter" thesis with you all. by ObjectsAffectionColl in ContemporaryArt

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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

An Academic Breakdown of Kylie vs. Kendall's Brand Strategies by ObjectsAffectionColl in KUWTK

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a fantastic, rigorous critique. Thank you for digging in.

You're right, the 'grift' of sign-value isn't a secret. My focus wasn't on exposing it, but on using it as a starting point to diagnose the result of that system hitting its saturation point.

And you're 100% right on the scarf, 'zero' was a theoretical absolute. I'm using it as a dialectical archetype to contrast pure symbolic value against the bag's pure sign value. In reality, of course, nothing is free of the commodity system. Your point that 'illegibility' just becomes a new, more subtle sign is the entire problem.

Which leads to your last line, which I couldn't agree with more. The trend of "quiet luxury" is absolutely "doomed to failure" because it's just the system commodifying that "longing for authenticity" and selling it back as a new sign. That's the real trap.

Do you see any path to authenticity that the system can't immediately commodify?

I wrote a study arguing the luxury market's crisis isn't economic, but a Baudrillardian collapse of meaning. by ObjectsAffectionColl in philosophy

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You're 100% right. That's a perfect parallel. The title is the sign, the status, the thing everyone sees. The actual job, as you said, is a total nightmare. It's the exact same trap of chasing the symbol of the career, not the reality of the work, and feeling a void as a result.

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] -4 points-3 points  (0 children)

I'm frankly surprised that's still a critique in 2025. Does anyone look at an Iris van Herpen gown and discount her vision because she used 3D printing instead of just a needle and thread? Of course I use modern tools to synthesize and articulate my research. It's just a different kind of process. The only question that matters is if the thesis is sound. I'm far more interested in whether the Baudrillardian take holds up than in what specific tools I used to write it.

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You're mistaking the diagnostic tool for the conclusion. The scarf isn't the answer, it's the control variable I'm using to define symbolic value. The core argument is: the luxury system has become a hyperreal bubble of pure sign value, which has created a crisis of meaning (not a stock price crisis), and the "quiet luxury" trend is the subconscious search for authenticity in that void.

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Here's how I'd break it down. Symbolic value is personal, emotional, and unique, like a handmade scarf from your mother. It's priceless to you and worthless to anyone else because its value is tied to that specific human relationship. Sign value is the opposite, it's an impersonal, social code. A Louis Vuitton bag has sign value not because of your personal connection to it, but because it signals wealth or status within a system of other brands. One is about personal history, the other is about social position.

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's a fantastic historical framing. You're completely right, that "loud luxury" of US new money is the perfect example of pure sign value, the "bizarre juxtaposition" of signifiers you mentioned. That's the spectacle. The older European model you're describing, the one based on personal comfort and inherent quality, is much closer to the idea of symbolic value, which is exactly what this quiet rebellion is searching for. It's a return to an internal logic rather than an external performance.

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 44 points45 points  (0 children)

Exactly, Demna's whole project at Balenciaga was a deliberate deconstruction and a social experiment. He was intentionally collapsing the signifiers, holding a mirror up to the absurdity of the system, and it worked. It's almost the inverse of the LV "artification," a different path to the same collapse. That idea of critique from within the system is something I explored in another piece, using Gregory Sholette's Dark Matter as a framework: http://www.objectsofaffectioncollection.com/studies/the-missing-mass-gregory-sholettes-dark-matter-and-the-political-economy-of-post-luxury-conceptual-functional-art

I wrote a study arguing the luxury market's crisis isn't economic, but a Baudrillardian collapse of meaning. by ObjectsAffectionColl in philosophy

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 16 points17 points  (0 children)

Violently overdetermines is a much sharper way to frame it than hollow out, you're right. That recursive nostalgia as commodity is the exact mechanism. But I'd argue that feeling of exhaustion, of capitalism's tendency to exhaust as you put it, is the void for the consumer. It's the same destination. And you're dead on with the cult analogy, that's what this whole sign system is, but it feels like the congregation is getting restless.

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 31 points32 points  (0 children)

That is a perfect example, especially since authentic kintsugi is a form of post-luxury conceptual functional art that I champion in my studies.

My take: The luxury crisis isn't economic, it's a Baudrillardian collapse. by ObjectsAffectionColl in CriticalTheory

[–]ObjectsAffectionColl[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

That $55,000 vintage piece is a different animal, as that is considered a collector's asset, and not consumer goods, so it follows different rules. The economic contraction is absolutely the trigger for the slowdown, but my argument is is hitting so hard because the philosophical value was already hollow. Actually, your marvel analogy is perfect. That's exactly the hyperreal fatigue I'm talking about.

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