i want to sell paintings and i identified the following attributes for each item of this type. i also found out that some of these attributes are yet covered by fixed fields and categorical devision.

category:
- exhibition

fixed fields:
- item name
- painter (manufacturer)
- price
- 1 image (front, 3 sizes)

additionally i need the following attributes. all of them have only one option. i can categorize these attributes by "visible information", "visible tag" and "invisible for internal use only".

visible information:
- technique
- format
- size
- year
- 1 image sidewise
- 1 image details
i want to display these attributes but without any form fields.

visible tag:
- special price
- available to date
- reserved to date
these attributes will probably change the layout of an item.

internal use:
- color scheme (for image processing automation)
- top10 (to build a special category or display on individual page)

in summary: there is no attribute that provides a selection to customers. most of the attributes have single-options. maybe an item can be related to more exhibitions but this can be managed by categories administration.

now my questions: what is the advantage of using attributes for products that have only single-options for attributes? i see one disadvantage that was already mentioned in some threads before: the attributes are not searchable.
my intention is to provide a search and filter page to let customers easily filter - let's say - for a special format or size or year. ok, i could build a very high tree of categories to cover this, but this would be too confusing and uncomfortable for customers. the category tree would be too wide and i don't want to decide which category is parent to what.
so is it possible to create a filter page? then i would use the attributes.
or if a filter page is impossible should i use the informational attributes in items description so they will be included in the search?

thanks in advance for your hints.