Sixth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

The art business can be divided into two forms of consumption: experiential consumption and ownership consumption. The experiential side had long been synonymous with museums, a sector that has relied upon large concentrations of capital for donors of money and collections. The ownership consumption side equally necessitates capital concentrations, especially to drive its high-end, canonical sales. Both experiential and ownership sectors have their low-end forms of consumption, as well. Experiential offers $10-$20 entry fees for the masses, and ownership can also be purchased of the products of local artists and craftspeople by those with only modest disposable income.This study explores changes during the COVID-19 pandemic as the art business had to quickly adapt their strategies, beyond the built space and into the digital realm. Consumption vacillated between between experience and ownership with neither costing anything. Without the virtus of the physical object, curation moved to evermore ephemeral incarnations. The very discussion of art became its primary function. With the closure of art fairs and major auction houses pushed online, the spectacle of conspicuous wealth and its purchasing power was relegated to news stories that tried to project health in a market that had shrunk dramatically.