The gift shop at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art sells books, posters, and postcards associated with current and past exhibitions, displaying the work and biographies of famous artists. These items offer gallery-goers a piece of high culture, patented and packaged for sale to consumers at large. That they are affordable goes beyond what is often pointed to by art-minded scholars and laymen of all walks: Typically, the sale of high quality art books and postcards is described as a way for those who cannot (and will not) afford authentic works of art, to claim an alternative that offers near the same satisfaction of viewing as does the original painting or sculpture. This phenomenon is either blessed with the description, “the democratization of art,” or scorned as the ultimate sin of capitalism, having tainted the institutions of art. But selling and purchasing trinkets adorned with art images is more than this. It is about drawing near to the body an item sanctioned by the institution, and thus imbued with a special kind of aura. It is not the aura of the work itself, (this we learned from Walter Benjamin). Rather it is an aura that permeates the owner with culture, itself. It is as though holding the notebook illustrated by Simone Legno makes the owner cultured. But even this description does not get to the heart of what is going on at the Museum Store, while falling back to Benjamin and even Clement Greenberg is outdated. Greenberg could define kitsch before mass-produced posters and DVDs were housed under the hallowed dome of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. But the gift shop sells lamps, chairs, and dishes now! Now one can read their art book by the light of a designer lamp, (notably not so different from one found at Ikea) while lounging in a throw-back to 1950's Art Deco. One can lick the Extra Virgin Olive Oil, (drizzled over a bed of organic baby greens) from the shiny surface of their ceramic “artware.” Surely it is time for a new assessment of art commodities and the institutions that promulgate them. But is the Museum really responsible? Is capitalism really to blame? Who are these consumers anyway?

The purchasing of museum gift shop items is not so much about viewing the artwork over and over again. It is not about owning the artwork or the next best thing to it. It is about owning for the sake of owning: It is about possessing an item that asserts itself as a piece of culture, which is more significant than attending to that very culture. In some ways, this is like owning a Hummer. However, one must drive the Hummer in order to access its cultural weight. One does not need to engage with the art book in order for it to perform its function. If the item is always with them, tucked upon some shelf–more often than not, this shelf is conspicuously placed in the home. So long as it is within bodily proximity. The phenomenon, after all, seems not much different from the collecting practices of 17th and 18th century Europe. Perhaps SFMOMA–and the MOCA in Los Angeles–should sell bags of Baci chocolates, so gallery-goers can consume art as well!