Indie art!

Now that the semester is winding down, I can’t seem to stop thinking about next semester. I’ll be spending it in London, and I’m so excited. My favorite thing about London is the art scene – it’s gritty, diverse, vibrant and expansive.

I was pleasantly surprised to stumble across this event taking place at The Rag Factory – a fabulous new creative space in the city:

Art Barter, an exhibition created by Lauren Jones and Alix Janta, was created to equalize the fine art scene. The goal is to make art available to a more diverse crowd – not just people with disposable income. At this exhibition, money will be completely useless – buyers will have to barter for their art! They’ll have 3 days to fill out a barter form stating what they’ll offer for a particular piece of art. Then, all the forms will be sent to the artists for them to choose from.

Oh, and the bartering will be done solely on the aesthetic value of each piece… buyers won’t have any idea who created what until after their forms have been sent in and the show is over. Since the show features a mix of really well known artists, (Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk and Mat Collishaw to name a few…) the show will draw a pretty avid group of art collectors… however, the up-and-coming artists will probably benefit the most, and the show could be a wonderful breakthrough for many of them.

It’s not totally relevant to class, but I do consider art as part of the media. This exhibition shows the re-independent-ization of art appreciation, which is refreshing to say the least!