Culture, and the material objects that express it, are organized around an economy of exchange between preservation and destruction. The volatility of all material media that humans desire and evolve into culture forms for representing, recording and communicating experiences between one another, work to extend communication beyond the temporal and physical limitations of the life of the human body. The materials used to form objects of culture (like all materials) are volatile and resistant to the forms they are moulded into. The objects we choose to represent our culture degrade easily into the formlessness of material anonymity. This degradation is accelerated by exposure to the variable context of the Earth's light and climate and in particular when viewed by humans (as human viewing requires light, and introduces moisture and bacteria to the climate around the object) and both of these exposures primarily degrade the cultural object through oxidation (the combining of minerals with oxygen). From cave paintings like those of Chauvet and Lascaux, to architecture, paintings and sculptures and photography and film, all forms of material visual culture (with the exception of digital materials) are affected by the light and environment they are kept in, and are thus particularly susceptible to the environments in which humans view them. Therefore, the best preservation of cultural objects is achieved when those objects are kept in an artificially induced state of stable equilibrium with as little light as possible and constant temperature and humidity levels, which requires them to be away from human bodies, whereas experiencing, viewing or participating in a discourse with art objects contributes to and accelerates their destruction.