Looking at an object constitutes labor that increases its value

Evidence

This (very effective) reign of appearances leads to a second, more surprising and more interesting, economic consequence, that brings to light a PRINCIPLE OF VALORIZATION THROUGH ATTENTION: the simple fact of looking at an object represents a labour which increases the value of that object. As was carefully analysed by Jonathan Beller in order to understand the productive nature of human attention, ‘the value of our regard contributes to an increase in the value of the image’: As we read [objects] (Coke bottles, sneakers, automobiles, whatever), we produce their signification. — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 145

Categorization

• XREF: Directly bridges to audience commodity theory — the reader’s Frankfurt School thread; viewing-as-labor is the digital audience commodity. — connects to: Objects retain aura when the marks of human labor remain visible on them — Fredric Jameson, Marxism and Form, 208; Capitalization builds the thing being valued at the same time it appraises that thing — Kean Birch, Rethinking Value in the Bio-economy:…, 31; Both creating and receiving art demand skilled labor on attention — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 435 (+3 more)
• DEEPTHINKING: Inverts the passive-consumer assumption: the gaze is productive, turning spectators into an unpaid labor force — a paradigm-shifting redefinition of audience activity.

Broader Connections

• When visual appearance is labor, bodily modification raises the commodity’s exchange value. #expands (0.82) — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 157
• Attention itself constitutes productive labor that generates value #expands (0.80) — Yves Citton, The Ecology of Attention, 148