Understanding Beauty, part 1, Picture Frames

It's happening right now, in a custom frame shop near you. A customer has brought in something they find beautiful, to be prepared for display in their home. After some time spent picking out the right frame, comes the PRICE. "$500? But the picture only cost me $25!"

Then the framer explains about the cost of the frame having nothing to do with the cost of the object being framed. About how you get what you pay for, and if you want nice wood with a pretty finish, it is going to cost more than gold-colored plastic. Eventually the customer catches on... usually.

The peculiar thing is that this kind of mental disconnect only seems to happen in areas of aesthetics. No one balks at the cost of tires based on the cost of the car, or the cost of a toner cartridge based on the cost of the printer. People correctly assess these things by their usefulness. How many miles one is going to get out of the tires, how much printing one will get from the toner cartridge.

So why do they get confused about the cost of a picture frame?

Perhaps it is because aesthetic enjoyment is not something that can be measured. How many miles of pleasure is this? Assessing the value of a works of art, and of frames for them, are purely subjective. An individual must look into themselves, and say, "How much do I like this?"

Perhaps part of the problem is that it is about pleasure. An awful lot of people in the world are taught that there is something wrong with seeking pleasure. Even if it is just the pleasure of looking at something pretty every day. If seeking pleasure isn't sinful, or selfish, it is at least wasteful of money.

Which is an incredibly wrong-headed idea.

Let me point out some examples of how important beauty is to us.

I'll start with cars. In a world where visual enjoyment really was of no consequence, cars would pretty much all look the same. There would be different types based on uses, such as sedans and trucks, and maybe variations on those based on performance. Body styles would all be the most efficient shape for the type. All would be painted with the most effective color, which is a sort of pale greenish grey. (they have to add pigment to make car paint white) Nothing would be chrome plated. Cars would be pretty ugly.

Even the Model A Ford, which was the most utilitarian automobile ever, had concessions to aesthetics. It was painted black. It had chrome.

We naturally try to make things pretty, rather than efficient. People have to study efficiency to overcome that natural tendency. The Model A just looked right, black. People pay good money to get nice paint jobs on their cars, and are willing to pay extra to get exactly the color they want.

Another example is lights in our homes. Bare light bulbs are rare. You see them in closets, or other out of the way places. Why? Diffused light is "better". We can see a little more efficiently with diffuse light. But there is even more to it than that. Even if you just want a simple "candy tray" frosted glass light cover for your ceiling, you will find many different styles at the hardware store. Even the simplest ones will have decorative touches. And we hardly ever look at our ceilings!

When it gets to lamps, style is even more important. These light fixtures are in our line of vision constantly, so their design gets a lot more attention. We pick a lamp based almost entirely on its looks. Does it look nice? Will it look good with the sofa? (do we still like that sofa?) We may pick up a lamp that appeals to us, look at the price, and say to ourselves, "I like it, but I don't like it that much." Or, pick up a particularly attractive one and say "ooh. That's more than I was thinking of spending. But it's soooo pretty! It looks like it will shed good light, too.... I'll get it!"

Which is the correct way to assess the value of a lamp. A quick evaluation of how it will light an area, but a lot of thought given to how it looks. We will bring home the expensive but very pretty lamp with a sense of pride, and look at it with pleasure every day for a long time.

Which brings us back to the picture frame. A proper assessment of the value of a frame is how much you like looking at it. The framer can assess its practicality, (that is, will it hold the picture, securely, and will it protect the picture from damage) but only the buyer can decide if it is pleasant for them to look at.

In part two, I will examine why some people have so much trouble deciding if they enjoy looking at something.