Art In Tech
Imagine a time when you actually had to go somewhere to discover new artists. If you wanted more information on an upcoming sale or exhibition, you had to call and request an actual catalog to be delivered via snail mail. Thankfully, art spectators today do not have to move even an inch to participate in the art world. Online access brings the art world to them.
For artists, social media offers direct access to collectors that are otherwise impossible to impress. Before the internet of things and throughout art history, an artist’s career was dictated by an elite few. If an artist was rejected by high society, their work was left with few options. The epic tale of Marcel Duchamp displaying his Fountain despite being rejected still shocks art historians for this reason. At present, running into an abandoned toilet in the streets of NYC or even in a Chelsea gallery is anything but remarkable. What is different?
Instagram had the greatest impact on transforming the old world art model. For many millennials, discovering emerging artists means scrolling through the explore page on Instagram. Direct and free exposure to over 600 million active Instagram users gives artists freedom. Many artists run their entire business on the platform, completely denying the traditional gallery model. Scroll through over 244 million posts with the #art to get a sense of the expansive art community. When 87% of art collectors look at Instagram more than twice a day and 55% check it five or more times (according to an artsy survey), having an online presence is important, but not at all easy.
Founded in 1766, Christie’s auction house epitomizes the traditional art market, but is quickly adapting to the changing landscape, where online presence reigns supreme. The auction house recently announced a partnership with Artsy, which is curating the future of art auctions.
Brook Hazelton, President of Christie’s Americas commented, “In 2016 alone, online sales at Christie’s, including participation via Christie’s LIVE and dedicated e-commerce auctions, totaled $217 million. Our upcoming New York Prints & Multiples sale with Artsy will offer an innovative approach and yet another channel for collectors to digitally engage with Christie’s platform.” Sebastian Cwilich, Artsy’s President and COO, notes “We’re excited to be partnering with Christie’s, using Artsy’s industry-leading technology to give our global audience access to Christie’s world-class auctions.”
Old world auction traditions will be updated through this strategic partnership, but with no time to spare. The number of online auctions hosted by Artsy is on pace to quadruple in 2017, motivated by flourishing demand from online art buyers. Online access and rapid expansion mean the art market is more liquid than ever before. For artists and institutions alike, the challenge now lies in captivating the expansive market.
Jordan Wolfson is one of the few artists that can still shock the overexposed public. Creating VR scenes of gut-wrenching violence and sophisticated robotic disturbers, Wolfson depicts his fear for the amassing power of technology.
Still Image from “Suns Explorer”
Harvard Museum’s Director of Digital Infrastructure and Emerging Technology, Jeff Steward, is not afraid of technology at all. In fact, he is using big data to innovate the museum experience. Steward manages Harvard Art Museum’s online database and is a computer-science minded person. “I am just attracted to the bits, the ones and the zeroes.” he told the Boston Globe. One day, Steward decided to turn the museum’s digital collection into a single work of art called “Suns Explorer.” The digital project aims to track, record and visualize data points associated with the works in the collection.
“Suns Explorer” creates circles within circles painted in the exact hues of the 1,500 works on view and the 226,000 works accessible online in the collection. The size of the circles is determined by the percentage of the hue within the work. Steward uses huge amounts of data to transform Harvard’s massive art collection into a single visualization.
This unique application of data comes just a month after Harvard announced the launch of its Data Science Initiative. Harvard alumni and CEO of Arthena, Madelaine D’Angelo, uses data in a similar way as Steward. Using nearly 40,000 data points from previous sales, Arthena analytics continually track performance of the overall art market. Much like “Suns Explorer,” Arthena uses automated processes and relevant data points to create singularity amongst a vast and diverse pool of art.
Instagram, robotics, e-commerce and automation are fast-tracking the art world into the next millennium. E-mail concerige@arthen.com to keep up.
