We all come to a crucial moment when we are confronted with questions that change our outlook on life. For a street shopper like me at some point in my expedition I always end up asking myself “Do I sacrifice craftsmanship for price?”
Now a fundamentalist on the subject would say that you can’t put a price tag on true artistry. The blood, sweat and tears that a designer puts into a piece are priceless, and you are getting it for a steal at any price. I listened to designer Eric Manigian explain why his product was better because the wood was imported, and as treated by hand. He went on to distance himself from his cheaper competitors’ products because they were clearly poorly made. Now that might be. If you put the two together you could tell why one costs $1,000 and the other cost $10,000. But an uneducated consumer-- looking at both items separately-- might not care as long as the price is right.
But shouldn’t there also be something said for the less expensive version? Okay maybe the wood is flown in from Indonesia and it is treated in an assembly line rather than by hand, but some might construe their ability to pump out a cheaper version as being smarter. This argument says little for the artisans who do lovely work by hand, but why should one be better than the other? Some customers don’t have the budget for a hand carved table, and it is a service to these customers to be able to buy a similar product cheaper. Honestly, it doesn’t take away from the artisan. A customer looking to spend $1,000 on a piece is not going to spend ten times as much for the quality. Inversely chances are a customer that invests $500,000 to renovate a luxurious showroom, is not going to buy the cheaper model.
So where does that leave Eric Manigian? I am always on the side of the artisan, so I say if you can afford quality; his works really are priceless pieces of art. Others might ask how this argument effects globalization, but that is another story.
For more information on the handcrafted furnishings of Eric Manigian, visit http://www.ericmanigian.com/.
*Originally Posted on Word on the Street 5/10/06
Labels: Decor
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