Selling Meaning/Art/Distinction on the Street --A Study on the Phenomenon of Creative Markets from the Perspective of Creators

• Main Authors: Huei-Ru Chen, 陳慧如
• Other Authors: 畢恆達
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/10514672685216749031

碩士 === 臺灣大學 === 建築與城鄉研究所 === 95 === Creative Markets, where contemporary youngsters can start businesses, conduct purchases, and demonstrate self-identity, have become a trend in recent years. It is because of the participation of three clusters of ‘agent’, the organizers, creators, and consumers together that Creative Markets are formed and developed. This research investigated such phenomenon from the perspective of the creators, and chose Creative Markets located in Taipei as the research scope. The researcher also played the role as a vendor, a friend of the vendor, and a consumer respectively in different Creative Markets for participant observation, and conducted in-depth interviews with 11 creators. Although such markets are featured with ‘creativeness’, what exactly it implies is not clear. Therefore, according to the experience of creation and selling shared by creators, the researcher interpreted the so-called ‘creativeness’ in three aspects. First, it involves Meaning, which refers to the underlying concept that the creator intends to deliver in her/his work. Second, there is Art, the technique that the creator applies to transform his concept into a piece of physical work. Third, Distinction refers to the capability of making a difference between the work and existing ones. However, Creative Markets are channels and stages in nature at the same time, thus the producers in which face a struggle between two identities--vendors and creators. The former seeks commodity transactions, that is, purchase behaviors from consumers, and insists on a uniform price. Contrarily, the latter seeks recognition in markets instead. They are eager for the oral praise from the audience, and the price is flexible based on the degree of recognition they receive from individual audience. In addition, although Creative Markets have similar operation and facilities to ordinary ones, there are more artistic works and activities on display. They are presenting a blend of aesthetics from fine art museums and art galleries, live music plays from live houses, and selling modes from department stores in the form of vendors.