When Art Becomes Commodified, Does It Help or Hinder Originality?

Broadening the legacies of Andy Warhol and Keith Haring, prolific contemporary artists such as Brian Donnelly (KAWS), Ron English and Shepard Fairey have not only triumphed in appropriating and subverting pop culture figures, icons and cartoons in their artwork, but have utilized these mediated images to produce consumer goods such as toys, clothing, sneakers, etc. The act of turning art as well as social and cultural objects into economic products have fared these contemporary doyens quite well...