A recent article in The Economist analyzes Amazon’s entry into the art marketplace, pointing out the ongoing history of art sales online, and the still paltry percentage of the market’s total sales (less than 2% according to insurer Hiscox).  Noting a desire for face to face interaction in high price sales, the magazine points out that large scale sales often happen as a result of longtime client-dealer relations, instead of broad demand for a more accessible purchasing platform. (more…)

The increasing use of the word “curation” in the economic and creative sphere has lead writer and curator Daniel Blight to question the cultural implications of the word for the world of fine art.  As people often taking a more proactive stance in creating meaning and distributional flows online, curators are challenge to increase emphasis on transparency and accessibility in the art landscape, Blight says. (more…)

Announced this week, the Getty Museum has launched the beginnings of the Open Content Program, a fully catalogued library of over 4,600 hi-resolution images from its personal collection, allowing site visitors to use, modify and publish these images in any capacity.  “Artists, students, teachers, writers, and countless others rely on artwork images to learn, tell stories, exchange ideas, and feed their own creativity. In its discussion of open content, the most recent Horizon Report, Museum Edition stated that ‘it is now the mark—and social responsibility—of world-class institutions to develop and share free cultural and educational resources.’ I agree wholeheartedly.”  Said J. Paul Getty trust President James Cuno on the Museum’s blog. (more…)

The Institute for Contemporary Art in London is preparing to release “Art Rules,” an online platform similar to Twitter, which will allow users to engage in short-form dialogues over contemporary art, using the site’s 100-character limit to voice their opinions on artists, theories and the contemporary art world.  The site, which launches August 21st, has already published a number of “rules,” by artists, writers and curators which users will be welcome to respond to, including Jeremy Deller’s encouragement to “throw away the rulebook.”  (more…)

Multimedia arts publication DIS Magazine has announced a new partnership with 89plus, the young artist program co-founded by Simon Castets and Hans Ulrich Obrist, for the arts grant competition Younger Than Rihanna, aimed at offering money for young artists and their creative proposals.  Hosted on the DIS website, the competition welcomes young artists born in 1989 or later to upload their work and statement, placing them in contention for over $19,000 in grant money, and a gallery exhibition this fall. (more…)

Art F City’s weekly STUFF column took an interesting twist this week, as artist John Baldessari was invited to contribute a list of his ten most prized possessions.  Rather following his cue, the artist submitted a list of 10 incredibly wealthy individuals, including photographs of each billionaire’s personal yacht.  True to form, Baldessari’s witty subversion offers a pointed commentary on the fetishization of material objects. (more…)

When the Whitney Museum set out to restore artist Douglas Davis’s early collaborative, online art piece the World’s First Collaborative Sentence, few could foresee the challenges that digital and internet-based art posed for repair and maintenance.  Based on constantly shifting programming languages and operating systems, digital art often offers complex restoration problems, forcing curators and experts to evaluate the degradation of web sites, coding and software updates against the original authenticity of the piece to properly exhibit it.  “We’re working on constantly shifting grounds,” said Rudolf Frieling, of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. “Whatever hardware, platform or device we’re using is not going to be there tomorrow.” (more…)

Billed as the world’s largest art exhibition, the newly announced Art Everywhere project will turn billboards and poster sites around the United Kingdom into exhibition spaces for works from the national collection.  The project is curated in part by the British public, who will vote on their favorite works from a curated shortlist.  Damien Hirst has offered a work for exhibition, and is a vocal supporter of the project.  “Art is for everyone, and everyone who has access to it will benefit from it. This project is amazing and gives the public a voice and an opportunity to choose what they want to see on their streets.“  He says. (more…)

In an effort to increase public engagement with their collections, a number of museums are now offering free, high-quality images of their works for download and open use. In one such example, Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has begun allowing visitors to reproduce images of its collection anywhere.“We’re a public institution, and so the art and objects we have are, in a way, everyone’s property.” Says collections director Taco Dibbets. (more…)

Online mega-retailer Amazon has outlined plans to launch Amazon Fine Art Gallery this summer, a new branch of its site that will allow users to purchase art directly from partnering galleries.  “We have received overwhelming support from the galleries that have already joined the platform and we would love the opportunity to offer your gallery’s selection in the Amazon Art store.” says an email from Amazon to potential new galleries. (more…)

Online auction site Paddle8 has moved to acquire a 3% share in art sales database and auction site Artnet.  The stake previously belonged to Redline Capital Management, which attempted a takeover of Artnet last year. “We see a lot of strength in Artnet, and feel that the two businesses are complementary,” says Paddle8 co-founder, Aditya Julka.  “Paddle8 will benefit from Artnet’s price database and listings business, contributing to a winning formula in leading the online auction space. This is not a takeover but rather a move towards collaboration in the future.”  (more…)

Out of Memory (Installation View), courtesy of Marianne Boesky Gallery

Marianne Boesky Gallery is currently hosting a group exhibition titled Out of Memory, curated by Eleanor Cayre and including works by artists: AIDS-3D, Cory Arcangel, Nicolas Deshayes, Aleksandra Domanovic, Gardar Eide Einarsson, Louis Eisner, Roe Ethridge, Matias Faldbakken, Guyton/Walker, Yngve Holen, Alex Israel, Rashid Johnson, Josh Kline, Mark Leckey and many more, exploring ideas of production and presentation in a post-digital society.
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Artist Ai Weiwei was on hand last week to film and upload a large fight on Beijng’s Ghost Street between ethnic Tibetan and ethnic Han Chinese street vendors.  The video quickly went viral, gaining the attention of viewers worldwide.  “I had arrived in the middle of the fight,” he said later. “I saw someone lying on the ground with blood.” (more…)

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei has been invited by Creative Time Reports to publish his thoughts on the role of writing as criticism in the face of authoritarian censorship.  The artist, who was detained by the government last year, calls on internet users in China and abroad to use the system to oppose oppression by speaking out.  He writes: “Every day we put the state on trial—a moral trial, conducted with logic and reasoning. Nothing could be better than this. I am preparing a budding civil society to imagine change. First, you need people to recognize they need change. Then you need them to recognize how to make change. Finally, change will come.” (more…)

Calling itself the first online-only art biennale, BiennaleOnline has announced that it will launch its exhibition on April 26th.  Featuring a high-profile curatorial team, including Hans Ulrich Obrist and Daniel Birnbaum, and a strong roster of artists including Ed Atkins, Tony Chakar and Ragnar Kjartansson, the online exhibition will have a total roster of 180 artists, and will charge $10 for admission to the site.  BiennaleOnline will also feature a separate exhibition curated by Jan Hoet. “Great contemporary art is the sum of reflection and imagination,” said Hoet. “The artist adds his or her personal vision to history and the memory of history. I hope this combination of factors will be present in every single work in this biennale. In this way we’ll come to a new world and new art.” (more…)

Christie’s Deputy Chair Amy Cappellazzo appeared on Bloomberg TV this week, discussing the weeklong online auction of works by Andy Warhol to benefit the Warhol Foundation, as well as sharing some of her favorite works from the auction.  “There’s a very beautiful 60’s unique print of Marilyn Monroe’s lips, which I think is just spectacular.”  She says. (more…)