Non-fungible tokens: tracing shifts in the art market

Abstract: Given the advent and market boom of NFTs, this thesis concerns itself with observing how NFTs are shifting the art market, and how those shifts can be explained, as the two seemingly disparate markets have different actors, processes and characteristics. In order to answer these questions the thesis takes an abductive case study design and employs an actor-network theory (ANT) approach to observe shifts in the markets by both human and non-human actors. These observations are then supplemented with tracing how capital is being converted by different actors through employing Bourdieu's use of the three forms of capital, which are conceptualised in economic, cultural, and social dimensions. Following ANT methodology, the thesis makes use of Venturini's cartography of controversies, to observe actors and experts and trace shifts, by conducting a method assemblage of semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and recording observations. The analysis found that indeed market shifts are taking place: NFT technologies provide solutions for issues the art market has struggled to find solutions for, such as secondary resale conditions and royalties, and certificates of authenticity. Furthermore, some art market actors, like galleries, have already begun to work with NFTs, marking a clear shift from how galleries conduct their business before and moving to reconcile the two markets in pursuit of facilitating easier sales processes and more financial gain. However, other art market actors are seeing their belief systems conflicted when it comes to diversity and sustainability, where the NFT market presents a reverse shift to the art market. Throughout the analysis NFTs displayed non-human agency as a quasi-object, an inscription device that passes through the collective and acts as a condition for society to exist, and as a vessel that contains moral and political values of the collective. When it came to the conversion of capital there was a clear divide: NFT market actors converted their economic capital to social and cultural capital, while art market actors converted their social and cultural capital into economic capital. The discussion outlines how the NFT market attempts to facilitate wide-spread adoption of blockchain technology through cultural diffusion.