Since quite some time
already, Internet auctions have become commonplace and art in all its forms is effectively sold in the on-line environment.
However, the virtual market place is clearly second-rate in features that bring
pleasure and thrill to the sales room. Whoever attended a real life auction sale
will agree to that the web substitute is a lacklustre experience. The debate
about reading print on paper versus reading pixels on screens is similar in
argument and touches spontaneous user experience. However, user affection is not
the primary problem.
Virtual auctions on the
Internet have so far seen the most attractive feature of the auction sale mechanism
radically changed. Whereas real live auctions are impulsive and often give
occasion to prolonged bidding during the finale, web auctions are abruptly
decided on by the non-changing and uncompromising ending hour. ‘Impulsive
bidding' is ruled out and on the spot decisions, when the bidder sees his own maximum
surpassed, are not possible. This is aberrant as raising set limits at the
crucial moment is quite natural (seen that the market value for the work in
question is established at that very instant).
Long distance participation
in auction sales has a long history. The galleries of major sales rooms are still
brimming with agents bidding for an absentee clientele. Auxiliary on-line live bidding
participation has now gained ground and has extended the conventional triangular
traffic between the floor, the telephone bidders and the auctioneer handling
absentee bids.
To counter the evident drawback
of non-live on-line auctions, some have tried to recreate the live auction
experience on the Internet, notably eBay Live. The imminent cessation of eBay's
live auction activity has already encouraged other players to enter this difficult
market. The problem with eBay-live was their inability to fit real live auction
atmosphere into their interface. Their drab solution, lacking in dynamism and missing
in everything that calls up the real auction thrill, was simply inadequate.
It's the hammering that makes
all the difference in live situations; and the indecisive moment of hammering
is at the heart of auctions. Until this fundamental feature can be faithfully recreated
on the web, real-life auctions in brick-and-mortar venues will have the favour
with the public.
That the most prestigious
of art portals, artnet, recently mounted their new Internet auction venue on
the static model, lacking in real auction flair, shows that the industry is not
yet capable of materializing a virtual live-auction platform comparable to
traditional venues in excitement and appeal.
The author,
Michael de Bruges is an expert on Modern European Painting. See further European Fine Art, European
Painting and Wise
to Art - a blog on the online art market |
