The dynamics of auction
Subtitle: social interaction and the sale of fine art and antiques
By: Christian Heath
Series: Learning in doing
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Cambridge
Language: eng
Number of pages: 244
ISBN-13: 9780521767408; 9780521756426
Subjects: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General; Art auctions; Psychological aspects; Social interaction; Antique auctions
Description: "Each year art and antiques worth many billions of pounds are sold at auction. These auctions consist of numerous, intense episodes of social interaction through which the price of goods rapidly escalates until sold on the strike of a hammer. In this book, Christian Heath examines the fine details of interaction that arises at auctions, the talk and visible conduct of the participants and their use of various tools and technologies. He explores how auctioneers, buyers and their representatives are able to transact the sale of diversely priced goods in just seconds. Heath addresses how order, trust and competition are established at auctions and demonstrates how an economic institution of some global importance is founded upon embodied action and interaction. The analysis is based on video recordings of sales of art and antiques gathered within a range of national and international auction houses in Europe and the United States"--
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Preface; 1. Auctions: institutional form and interactional organisation; 2. The orders of bidding; 3. Trust and the integrity of bids; 4. Establishing competition: creating an impression of demand; 5. Bidding and the pursuit of bids; 6. Remote presence and on-line participation; 7. On the strike of the hammer; 8. Embodied interaction and the order of markets; Appendix I. Glossary of terms; Appendix II. Transcription notation; References.