"In general, the greater the productiveness of labour, the less is the labour time required for the production of an article, the less is the amount of labour crystallised in that article, and the less is its value; and vice versa, the less the productiveness of labour, the greater is the labour time required for the production of an article, and the greater its value." - Karl Marx, Das Capital
If we think about how this applies to non-essential objects (say, embroidered art work), we could argue that since a medium requiring less labour (for example, through the use of technology) could arguably serve the same purpose, the maker of the work is intentionally being less efficient for the purposes of adding to the item's perceived value.
Maybe an argument against that is the idea that certain techniques cannot yet be successfully replicated by technology, but then again maybe that argument is only used to attempt to back up with logic the idea that hand-made objects are intrinsically superior.
Essentially, I feel like we pour time into things for the sake of pouring time into things.
