The cognitive and sociopolitical categorization of contemporary art through the becoming of Diva

ABSTRACT

The emergence and dissolution of market categories are explained through segregated processes of cognitive, social and political categorization. We argue that market categories are in constant categorization processes that occur simultaneously day by day, following the ontological philosophy of becoming. With interdisciplinary research and inspired by multi-sited ethnography, we used more than 21 hours of recorded material, media articles, Facebook comments and visual representations to study the dynamics of the contemporary art market category through the becoming of Diva, land art in Pernambuco, Brazil. We highlight five theoretical contributions: (i) the difference between the speed of change at the core and periphery of a category; (ii) the speed of change as the intensity of interactional processes; (iii) cognitive categorization as apparent stability; (iv) the similarity between the socio-material structure of members and their respective category; (v) dynamics of a category as a result of cognitive and sociopolitical categorization.

KEYWORDS:

• Process theories
• market
• social constructionism
• categorization
• market category
• contemporary art

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Open air museum in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais State, considered the largest in the world. It houses one of the most important collections of contemporary art in Brazil.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Tiziana Brenner Beauchamp Weber

Tiziana Brenner Beauchamp Weber has a PhD in Business Administration from PUCPR. She concluded her PhD process in 2022 with honorable distinction. She is interested in symbolic, processual, and interpretive research. She has published in journals such as the Journal of Consumer Culture and Service Industries Journal. She currently concentrates her research in the area of market categories and culture and consumption. She is also a professor of qualitative data analysis at PUCPR.

Cristiano de Oliveira Maciel

Cristiano de Oliveira Maciel was a professor of the postgraduate program in administration at PUCPR. CNPq Productivity Scholarship (2017–2019 and 2020–2022). Productivity Scholarship from the Araucária Foundation to Support Scientific and Technological Development of Paraná (2013–2015). Leader of the topic Interpersonal Relations and Governance of Interorganizational Networks (2020–2021). Leader of the theme Networks and Organizational Relationships of ENANPAD (2013–2018). Leader of the Organizational Studies Research Group. Doctor in Administration from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PPAD/PUCPR). Sadly, he tragically left us in June 2021 due to complications from Covid-19.