This paper explores the determinants of the number of bidders and final price of 1900s oil paintings auctioned by resellers or dealers on eBay art auctions. We find that starting price has negative effect on bidder’s decision whether to enter the auctions or not while seller reputation variables such as seller´s feedback, being top rate seller has a positive effect. Furthermore, auction theory is introduced to study the bidder´s behavior through auction characteristics and final price. We find that, interestingly, the seller´s reputation variables have no significant effect to the final price and the number of bidders has positive effect toward final price of art work. This evidence means that art auctions on eBay has a private value auctions characteristic. However, some specific characteristics of online auctions, which are the last minute bidding and the presence of experienced bidders, significantly affect the final price. Being an experienced winner or using last minute bidding as a strategy substantially pay more than inexperienced winners or winners who do not use last minute bidding in auctioned painting. This could result from different preference of bidders toward auctioned painting or information on which each bidder is holding.

Recently, artists have begun using digital technology to create new cultural forms in the fields of art, literature, and music, and a new cultural form known as interactive digital multimedia has emerged, which combines elements from the new artistic, literary, and musical forms. Many of these artists have produced works that explore the interactive capabilities of digital technology. These interactive digital cultural forms have encouraged collaborative efforts that would have otherwise been difficult or even impossible to achieve before the advent of digital technology. In addition, this element of interactivity has redefined the traditional relationship between artist and audience. As the line between creator and consumer becomes increasingly blurred in interactive digital cultural forms, it becomes necessary to use terms such as "source artist" and "mix artist" to better define this new artist/audience relationship. Postmodern theorists such as Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault anticipate this new artist/audience relationship in their writings. More recent theorists, such as Margot Lovejoy, George Landow, and Paul Théberge, writing after the advent of digital technology, have suggested that interactive digital cultural forms and the changing nature of the artist/audience relationship present opportunities for cultural creation and participation that extend the opportunities afforded by traditional artistic production and consumption. Works such as the As Worlds Collide website, Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden, the music of the Chemical Brothers, and Peter Gabriel's multimedia CD-ROM EVE are examples of these new interactive digital cultural forms. These works present navigable constructs (often incorporating elements culled from other source artists) that can be experienced and "re-mixed" by subsequent mix artists who choose to interact with these works. The increased agency provided by these interactive works brings with it new responsibilities for both the source artist and the mix artist. By encouraging collaboration and experimentation, redefining the artist/audience relationship, and expanding the responsibilities of the source artist and the mix artist, interactive digital media extend the possibilities for cultural creation and participation. As digital technology develops, so do the opportunities for cultural development among society as a whole.

Title from PDF of title page. / Document formatted into pages; contains 65 pages / Thesis (M.L.A.)--University of South Florida, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. / Text (Electronic thesis) in PDF format. / ABSTRACT: Recently, artists have begun using digital technology to create new cultural forms in the fields of art, literature, and music, and a new cultural form known as interactive digital multimedia has emerged, which combines elements from the new artistic, literary, and musical forms. Many of these artists have produced works that explore the interactive capabilities of digital technology. These interactive digital cultural forms have encouraged collaborative efforts that would have otherwise been difficult or even impossible to achieve before the advent of digital technology. In addition, this element of interactivity has redefined the traditional relationship between artist and audience. As the line between creator and consumer becomes increasingly blurred in interactive digital cultural forms, it becomes necessary to use terms such as "source artist" and "mix artist" to better define this new artist/audience relationship. / ABSTRACT: Postmodern theorists such as Roland Barthes and Michel Foucault anticipate this new artist/audience relationship in their writings. More recent theorists, such as Margot Lovejoy, George Landow, and Paul Théberge, writing after the advent of digital technology, have suggested that interactive digital cultural forms and the changing nature of the artist/audience relationship present opportunities for cultural creation and participation that extend the opportunities afforded by traditional artistic production and consumption. Works such as the As Worlds Collide website, Stuart Moulthrop's Victory Garden, the music of the Chemical Brothers, and Peter Gabriel's multimedia CD-ROM EVE are examples of these new interactive digital cultural forms. These works present navigable constructs (often incorporating elements culled from other source artists) that can be experienced and "re-mixed" by subsequent mix artists who choose to interact with these works. / ABSTRACT: The increased agency provided by these interactive works brings with it new responsibilities for both the source artist and the mix artist. By encouraging collaboration and experimentation, redefining the artist/audience relationship, and expanding the responsibilities of the source artist and the mix artist, interactive digital media extend the possibilities for cultural creation and participation. As digital technology develops, so do the opportunities for cultural development among society as a whole. / System requirements: World Wide Web browser and PDF reader. / Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The aim of this thesis is to explore the different types of user motivation to participate in online art communities and confront them with the possibilities these communities offer. The first chapter is devoted to the issue of motivation in terms of psychology, basic concepts and their relation to the researched topic. The second chapter focuses on the basic concepts of virtual communities. These topics serve as the theoretical basis for the third chapter that focuses on online art community itself: definition of this term, recognition of the basic types of these communities, types of users and their motivation to enter and participate. The chapter concludes with the following types of motivation being confronted with the possibilities online art communities offer to their users. The last chapter deals with empirical research aimed at finding dominant forms of motivation, comparing different types of users, exploring their relationship with other users as well as habits in sharing their own creations. Based on results the partial recommendations to the creators of the community websites on which these communities grow are formulated.