Collecting intangibles: Marketing strategies for net art works

Abstract

Since its emergence, internet art has adopted a critical stance towards the traditional art world and has marked a distance from the market and galleries. However, over the last decade, many net artists have sought to sell or obtain some financial return for their work, whether through initiatives of their own or in cooperation with galleries and collectors. In regard to works freely accessible on the Internet - which only exist in the exchange of data between two machines - I examine several sales strategies developed by artists, gallery owners/managers and other groups to overcome the limitations imposed by traditional art market approaches based on scarcity and exclusivity. The examples discussed ultimately lead us to consider possible alternatives to art market dynamics that more closely reflect current artistic practices.