The Value of Luxury

The Value of Luxury written by Storm Brewer outlines the importance of enjoying luxury by supporting craftsmen and artists.

Humans fundamentally have five basic senses. The five basic senses are: touch, sound, taste, sight, and smell. As humans we enjoy indulging these senses with tasty food, great music, soft fabrics, delicious smells etc...

You could have a meal of unseasoned rice and beans with a side salad, every single night, and survive comfortably. However this would most likely be a terrible way to enjoy dinner each evening. It’s our pursuit of sensuality that allows us to heighten the state of the arts. We visit restaurants to eat great tasting food prepared by skilled chefs. 

We visit the theater to delight our senses with the efforts of writers, directors, actors, musicians, technicians and more. We grab a bag of popcorn to indulge our sense of taste as we watch the movie. And after sitting for two hours we appreciate a soft seat in the theater as much as we notice the pain of a hard seat. Indulgence of the senses through a heightened state of the art requires the patronage of artists and craftspeople. The value of luxury lies in our enjoyment of sensual indulgence.

Luxury is not just to spoil a select few, it's is a fundamental part of the human experience. Luxury is truly valuable to humanity and the world. Luxury employs many people at all levels of commerce; from craft to distribution. Luxury provides patronage to highly skilled artists and creators; In earlier times, artists would have wealthy patrons. I am also interested in outlining the rise of "the salon" and the increased appreciation of art and luxury of the Renaissance. I theorize this being due largely to the intellectual and economic decline following the collapse of the Roman Empire. My Art History education left me with a primarily a Eurocentric perspective on the historical aspects of art patronage etc... Fully exploring and understanding a global history of brand and art remains one of the goals of this project.

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