The Hype of Art Online The perception of art in the digital era

With a steady rise of social media platforms in our digitalized society, individuals experience significant changes in all areas of life. In particular, the relationship of individuals with art has changed drastically due to the rise of Instagram, as they perceive and consume art increasingly in a digital rather than in a physical space. As social media plays a crucial part in the everyday life of milenials, their exposure to and identification with art on Instagram, characterizes their perception of art’s status in society. Although, Instagram has received increased attention from the art market, there still exists an apparent gap referring to the individuals’ perception of art in the digital era. This thesis therefore examines how millennials that portay themselves as art enthusiasts via Instagram perceive visual art today and how they construct their identity on this platform. As part of this research ten semi-structured interviews were conducted and subsequently analyzed and coded. In a first result theme, this study reveals that digitalization significantly shapes the art experience of the millennial art enthusiast. In this regard, the accessibility of art on Instagram leads to increased popularity and perceived omnipresence of art while digital distractions and fast consumption of art via Instagram limit the art experience. Thereby, the digital transformation of society promotes the diversification of taste as well as the commercialization of art on social media. In a second result theme, this study illustrates that art is perceived as an extension of the digital self. In this regard, findings show that individual linkages of emotions and art determine individuals’ identification with art and that the millennial art enthusiasts’ taste regime is represented online, which facilitates the curation of their digital identities. Further, this study identifies a persistent elite dominance with respect to the status of art and its properties in an online curated taste regime. However, when others portray themselves as inauthentically belonging to the high-culture society on Insatgram, this is perceived as hypocrisy. In conclusion, the findings reveal two opposing but parallel phenomena of individuals' art perception in a digitalized society: The diversification of taste versus the approximation of taste on Instagram.