Last night, I saw (of all things) a car commercial that included in its dialogue the line “Why have a copy when you can have the original?” This got me thinking about Provenance and how oddly appropriate this line was to our discussion. Even advertisers are trying to capitalize on this urge people have to own “the real thing,” and people will go to extraordinary lengths to own this “real thing,” whether it’s art, jewelry, designer merchandise, etc. Do you think this is some kind of innate urge we have as humans or is it conditioned in us by society to want only the best? Is it just a desire to achieve greater status in materialistic ways or is it something deeper? Interested to hear what you think.
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I’ve seen this ad too, and I think its totally relevant to what we’re talking about right now! I can’t really say whether or not its an innate quality that humans possess to want to own the best, or the newest, or the “only” thing, however I know that from experience that seems to be a very Western attitude. Why settle for something that isn’t the best when you know something better is out there? And better yet, what if you could get that better thing for FREE! (by free, I mean “to steal” here, by the way)
I think in most cases, people will try to get the best, or most attractive thing at some cost to their own well-being. The billions of dollars in credit card debt in this country prove this point– people will spend what they don’t have, and will push their ethical and monetary limits to acquire what they want, and “have to have”. I think waiting, and saving, and doing the unpleasant (but ethical) thing is harder to do in today’s society, because we have so many for temptations.
In the case of art forgery, however, we read that this has been an age-old crime committed. Does my previous statement still stand then? Is this need for better, or for the “real” thing a product of more modern society at all? I guess this goes back to your original questions. I am once again stumped.
I think the answer to your questions is “it depends.” I think there is some sort of animalistic natural tendency to want to have the best of anything – it is what has pushed and promoted evolution through the years (only the best survive, etc. – by extension, maybe we ‘need’ the best to evolve?). However, I think the urge to want the best, the original, etc. is quote possibly conditioned as well. Many people are completely alright surviving on the bare bones of what they need to get along, and yet certain cultures (such as that in the U.S. and many “Western” cultures) promotes pride in having an impressive status built up around have the best, the original, the penultimate.
This is particularly evident in cases like that in Provenance, where buyers want the originals for the sake of having originals. This makes me think of the Picasso quote (no idea what page) where he says people might as well hang a bundle of money on their wall and forego the painting since they are buying the artworks for status symbols anyway…