The Dynamics of Auction: Social Interaction and the Sale of Fine Art and Antiques (Learning in Doing: Social, Cognitive and Computational Perspectives) - Softcover

Heath, Christian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521756421 ISBN 13: 9780521756426

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2014

Synopsis

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 goods worth anything from a few dollars through to many millions 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.

About this title

About the Author

Christian Heath is Professor at the Work, Interaction and Technology Research Centre, Department of Management, King's College London.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521756421
• ISBN 13: 9780521756426
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 264