Oscar Wilde’s admission that “[a]ll art is quite useless” articulates art’s unique position in terms of value. Aesthetics aside, art has no use-value. Exchange-value is king; and in capitalism this means that markets determine the value of art. The artwork is then a PERFECT COMMODITY, in that its relationship with individuals and communities is established not through their direct engagement with it, but by the market.
I propose that art CANNOT BE HOARDED, because it already exists outside of use-value; the (prospective) hoarder cannot dissolve the relationship between use- and exchange-values by collecting it. As it is a consummate commodity, it exists to be “had”, to be possessed. To honour art’s role in society is to collect it. So while the hoarder may collect art, this collecting is not disorderly.
