The economic sources that support Media Art have evolved within several contexts and involve different formats. As a result, alternative strategies for enhancing the economic sustainability of this kind of art have been proposed over time. Moreover, some practices that are contingent to Media Art have attracted the attention of the traditional art market in the last decade, thereby setting a precedent for a development of Media Art and its recognition. Because of this, it has become necessary to investigate the dynamics involved in the relation which binds art practice to the market and its economy.

Many concerns about the market for Media Art may have arisen as a result of the difficulties involved in its production, its presentation and its preservation. Besides, there is a great deal of interest in the formulation of new economic models that are adapted to the specificity of the artistic practice and dissemination of Media Art. Attention is also focussed on the reconsideration and readaptation of the whole ecosystem of economies that sustain Media Art. Besides, it is also necessary to resume and update some of the artistic investigations which reflect on the art environment and re-establish an “institutional critique”. The aim of these endeavours is to integrate the function of art into the global economic context with all of its complexity.

The second edition of the “Media Art and the Art Market” symposium, here introduced, intends to extend these discussions, that have been already formulated during the first edition, which took place in October 2016 at the Lentos Museum in Linz. This previous event brought together a number of prominent artists, theoreticians, curators, and gallerists: Reinhard Kannonier, Stella Rollig, Gerfried Stocker, Christa Sommerer, Steve Fletcher, Christiane Paul, Annette Doms, Pau Waelder and Wolf Lieser. The presentations showed a wide variety of perspectives on the current situation of the art market and art economy of Media Art.

However, there are still many issues that need to be discussed and acknowledged, in order to enhance the number of opportunities that this discussion can bring. For this reason “Media Art and the Art Market II” comes from the necessity of holding the attention on the complex dynamics that surround the economy of art. This new edition will concentrate especially on the modes of conservation of Media Art pieces, it will also expose the experiences of traditional and novel formats of the primary market and art galleries system. In addition, a particular attention will be given to the new methods and platforms that use the Internet for the distribution and promotion of art.

The art market is a topic that accounts manifold perspectives, in addition, it opens to deontological issues. For this reason, it is seen necessary to acknowledge its structure, potentials in order to understand its sustainability. It is even reasonable to question if an art market for Media Art is really needed. However, it is important to recognise the needs of an economy which can sustain the activities that surround Media Art. This might be achieved by the definition of new models, or by enhancing the understanding of the potentials of the classical economic formats. In this sense, the “Media Art and the Art Market II” symposium intend to set the starting point of the conversations that, in this field integrate cultural practice and cultural management.

Schedule

„Conservation and Collecting“

12:00 – Steve Fletcher (UK) – Founder The Artists Development Agency
12:25 – Minoru Hatanaka (JP) – Chief Curator, NTT InterCommunication Center [ICC]
12:50 – Anita Beckers (DE) – Anita Beckers Gallery

„New Methods and Formats“

13:15 – Ashley Lee Wong (CA) – PhD researcher, City University of Hong Kong, Head of Programmes, Sedition
13:40 – Oren Moshe (IL) – Co-Founder of NIIO
14:05 – Elizabeth Markevitch (CH) – Founder Ikono TV

Credits

This event is promoted and organised by Interface Culture of the Kunstuniversität Linz, in collaboration with Ars Electronica and supported by the Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy within the Hochschulraum-Strukturmittel grant under the Higher- Education Structural Fund.