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2017 | Buch

Making Value and Career Building in the Creative Economy

Evidence from Contemporary Visual Art

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This work offers a nuanced perspective based on empirical evidence of the role of talent and creativity for economic growth, prosperity, social and spatial inequality, and precarity in creative cities by arguing that creativity and talent need to be valued and eventually rewarded to achieve sufficient conditions for individual economic success. Shedding light on the recent momentum of a growing convergence of cultural and economic spheres in post‐industrial societies by building on a case study of contemporary visual art from interviews with commercial gallerists. Written from an economic geography and historical-institutional perspective while leveraging the analytic strength of the established repertoire of other social science disciplines this book will provide a fascinating read for economic geographers and other social scientists researching the creative and knowledge economy as well as arts professionals aiming to better understand the process of making value of contemporary visual art.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. Prologue
Abstract
The Prologue outlines the main characteristics of the art market boom between the early 1990s and 2008. It highlights an unprecedented growth of the art world and sketches the growing distortion of price levels for living artists at auction and real values supported by career building by commercial gallerists symptomatic for over-speculation on enduring value during boom times.
Melanie Fasche
Chapter 2. Introduction
Abstract
The Introduction develops the central argument of this work and provides insight into the research approach of a case study of making value and career building in contemporary visual art that departs from an economic geography and relational perspective on the organization and geography of the rising creative economy, and conceptualizes relations as forms of institutionalized practices and their strategic properties to take into account competition, selection, and an unequal distribution of rewards.
Melanie Fasche
Chapter 3. Practices of Making Value—Evidence from Gallerists
Abstract
The first out of three main chapters, Practices of Making Value—Evidence from Gallerists, presents results from the conceptualization of day-to-day activities of commercial gallerists. The chapter builds on empirical data derived from interviews with commercial gallerists in three cities, Berlin, New York and Los Angeles, and reveals strategic properties that inform practices of raising the value of artworks and building long stable artists’ careers while mediating between aesthetic vision and sustaining their business.
Melanie Fasche
Chapter 4. A Historical-Institutional View on Making Value
Abstract
The second out of three main chapters, A Historical-Institutional View on Making Value, presents results from the conceptualization of a selection system of institutions and practices of making value and building careers. The chapter builds on the previous chapter, secondary sources, and literature and follows the key components of the selection system back in time to reveal general continuities and changes in the organization and geography of making value and building careers over the course of the past centuries. The chapter identifies Western ideals of art as key driver of making value and building careers, shows how the market with open competition and unequal rewards for individual creativity and commercial gallerists as authority has become the dominant institution in the selection system, and reflects on recent organizational and geographical shifts within the selection system.
Melanie Fasche
Chapter 5. The Organization and Geography of Making Value
Abstract
The third out of the three main chapters, The Organization and Geography of Making Value, presents results of a heuristic conceptualization of the selection system of institutions and practices of making value and building careers. The chapter builds on the previous two chapters and pairs the key components of the selection system with concepts and notions from social science disciplines and conceptualizes the competitive process of making value and career building, driven by Western ideals of art, and informed by strategic properties of everyday practices within this heuristic conceptual framework.
Melanie Fasche
Chapter 6. Conclusion
Abstract
The Conclusion provides a summary of the research approach and the key findings of the case study of making value and career building in contemporary visual art that reveal why rewards are unequally distributed, speculates about a theoretical contribution to an emerging discourse about valuation in economic geography, and sketches potential avenues for future research on making value and career building in the creative economy.
Melanie Fasche
Chapter 7. Epilogue
Abstract
The Epilogue sketches the main characteristics of the art market bust in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent market recovery. The Epilogue briefly reflects on the market contraction and shift in focus from over-valued living artists at auction to critical reflection and dialogue about artworks facilitated by commercial gallerists, refers to mixed fortunes brought by a market recovery, and a recent rise of prices levels for living artists at auction.
Melanie Fasche
Chapter 8. Making Of
Abstract
The Making Of provides insight into the methodology of this work by revisiting the research process of qualitative data analysis and building theory from cases. The Making Of reveals how this work was inspired by observing highly unequal economic rewards among creatives in Berlin, how these initial observations were put into the wider discourse of a rising creative economy in post-industrial societies, how expert interviews with commercial gallerists in three cities revealed strategic properties of everyday practices of making value and building careers, and how a stylized heuristic conceptualization of a selection system of institutions and practices of making value and career building came gradually into being.
Melanie Fasche
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Making Value and Career Building in the Creative Economy
verfasst von
Melanie Fasche
Copyright-Jahr
2017
Electronic ISBN
978-3-319-54030-6
Print ISBN
978-3-319-54029-0
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54030-6