solated in its purity as an absolute, thus becoming incapable of being exchanged. This is similar to Baudrillard's modern art object and/or image, which, he argues, like the fetish object, has no significance in solitude, but is tagged with absolute value: returning us to the ecstasy of value.
             This tallies with Baudrillard's early writings on consumption. In his acclaimed text, The System of Objects, Baudrillard devotes his conclusion to the modern definition of consumption, which, he believes is an essential characteristic of our modern society. To Baudrillard, "consumption means an activity consisting of the systematic manipulation of signs" (Baudrillard, 1968, pp. 200) therefore implying that in order to be consumed, an object must first become a sign, somewhat externalizing itself to a relationship that it presently merely signifies, a relationship which can also be referred to as its human value, because "all desires, projects and demands, all passions and all relationships, are now abstracted as signs" (Baudrillard, 1968, pp.201). An object can
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