The contemporary art market is facing a deep revolution determined by the proliferation of digital production technologies on the one hand and by online platforms of distribution and sales on the other. Since the late 1990s, an increasingly complex scenario has emerged through different actors in the art market from auction houses to entrepreneurs, artists to large galleries. This in turn has led to new ways of buying and selling art online - some more successfully than others.

This course will explore the evolution and current developments of the online art market as it rapidly grows and adapts to new demands from its customers and reaches out to wider audiences–from the importance of archiving and conservation processes of digital artworks to changes related to metaverses and virtual worlds.

We will analyze different trends and examine case studies drawn from media labs, online exhibition spaces and DAOs, to understand how art is produced, distributed and sold, and what has led certain models to fail or succeed.

With knowledge of the histories and potential futures of the digital art market, participants will gain the know-how and confidence to venture into the online art market for themselves.

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