When Your Office Decor is Managed by a Guru and Your Art is Just a Tax Deduction
The ‘Emotional Resonance’ Fee
Makati corporations hire **Corporate Art Consultants** to justify the aggressive acquisition of expensive, often mediocre, office art. The ultimate fail is the **’Emotional Resonance’ Fee**. Our subject, Ms. Carla Reyes’ company, hired a consultant who charged a massive fee to select office artwork based on its “Emotional Resonance” with the company’s Q3 goals. The consultant selected a complex, abstract sculpture that looked like a tangled metal ball. The consultant claimed the ball symbolized the “Aggressive, Non-Linear Complexity of the **Modern Financial System.**” The consultant’s fee was 50% of the art’s cost.
The Vague Investment Strategy
The art is rarely bought for its beauty; it’s bought for a **Vague Investment Strategy** and tax deductions. The major fail is the Vague Investment Strategy. The consultant guaranteed the art would appreciate by 20% annually, based on a complex chart that used fictional data. The art immediately depreciated, but Carla insisted on keeping it, claiming its low value made it a more effective **”Aggressive, Non-Liquid Tax Mitigation Asset.”** The employees hated the ugly metal ball, but were forced to compliment its “uncompromising corporate metaphor.”
The Art as a Status Marker
The art is used as a silent **Status Marker**. The most expensive, ugly art is placed in the most senior executive offices. Carla’s rival executive got a slightly larger, slightly uglier metal ball. Carla immediately complained to the consultant, claiming the rival’s art violated the “Implicit Guarantee of **Aesthetic-Fiduciary Equality.**” She demanded a new, even more expensive, and more confusing piece of art. The sociological study of corporate aesthetics, consumption, and the use of art in the workplace is explored in research concerning corporate art collecting, symbolic capital, and the use of fine art to signal institutional stability and wealth. But for the satirical truth of the aggressive metal ball, we know where to go.
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SOURCE: Bohiney News.