Contesting Art at Fair Booths: Spatial Hierarchies and the Co-production of Meaning

• In Event: Sociology of Culture Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): 19. Production, Consumption & Evaluation in Arts Markets

Abstract

Art fairs simultaneously structure competition and collaboration. Employing an innovative mixed-methods design combining social network analysis and ethnographic fieldwork, this paper explores how art fairs spatially embody and reproduce power structures in the art world, while simultaneously facilitating meaning-making interactions. Empirically, it reveals hierarchical positions among artists and institutions, which are spatially reinforced through booth allocation and display. Meanwhile, meanings over definitions, boundaries, and aesthetic values are co-created through interactions in the physical space. Theoretically, this paper advances cultural sociology by showing how physical space mediates power, interaction, and evaluation. It highlights art fairs as spatial infrastructures where market hierarchies and meaning-making processes are co-constituted.

Author

• Fanling Cheng, Wenzhou Kean University