AucArt Interview – Saatchi Magazine Feb 2018
How easy is it to become an art collector? Not easy enough, says new online auction house
AucArt.
Being a young artist isn’t easy. If you’re not occupied building a DIY mezzanine at your live-in studio down in Deptford, you’re probably busy queuing down 5 back streets just to get into Cass Art’s annual Student Sale. One major fault line in the student-come-artist trajectory of many young creatives is the ability to simply show and sell their works. The art market is a notoriously opaque world, full of hyper-minimal white lobbies, undisclosed sales figures and a whole host of art-historical specialists all sporting their latest Pince-nez. For young artists and nascent collectors both, it’s a hard nut to crack.
Hoping to resolve some of these issues is Natasha Arselan, who this December launched her new online auction house AucArt. The platform will be the first ever auction house to specialise in early career contemporary art – working exclusively with BA/MFA students up to three years after graduation. Directly engaged with both the artists and their clients, AucArt looks to establish itself as beacon of transparency in an otherwise nubilous territory of tradition and mystique; part of a new wave of digital initiatives looking to disrupt the ossification of art and its ownership, the platform aims at “converting art lovers into art collectors.”
AucArt prides itself on its curation of up-and-coming talent. Natasha herself spent the last year nomadic across the UK, visiting degree shows and artist-run projects, hand-selecting her first batch of represented artists. “It was an organic process, there was a lot of experimental work that really stood out to me.” Each month, backed up by her in-house curatorial team and star-studded advisory board, one established artist will join the curatorial process, giving a unique vision to the collection on sale. A range of studio visits, 1-2-1 meetings and E-catalogues will create an intimate relationship between collector and artist, one of AucArt’s flagship policies.
“I try to operate on a personal level, I have known many of these artists for years and they are so supportive of the project, there’s a real sense that we’re in it together.”
A major feature of AucArt is their pricing system. Cutting the overheads of regular commercial settings, AucArt pays its artists 70% of the final sale price. The clever addition of a transparent Reserve Price and ‘Buy Now’ feature plays a novel role in protecting inchoate art careers. “I wasn’t happy with the current system – AucArt aims to go a lot further than other digital platforms.” The goal is to nurture, rather than capitalise on art. For the collector, this is equally beneficial. Clients feel informed and safe whilst they’re bidding, with much of the pretence of auction houses substituted for a chic and affable online interface.
AucArt has simple principles. Dedicated to the democratisation of art ownership and passionate about supporting artists during some of their toughest early years, Natasha has a distinctly ethical approach. “The traditional art market tends to cater for the 1%, our aim is to disrupt and challenge this position.”
https://www.aucart.com/
Being a young artist isn’t easy. If you’re not occupied building a DIY mezzanine at your live-in studio down in Deptford, you’re probably busy queuing down 5 back streets just to get into Cass Art’s annual Student Sale. One major fault line in the student-come-artist trajectory of many young creatives is the ability to simply show and sell their works. The art market is a notoriously opaque world, full of hyper-minimal white lobbies, undisclosed sales figures and a whole host of art-historical specialists all sporting their latest Pince-nez. For young artists and nascent collectors both, it’s a hard nut to crack.
Hoping to resolve some of these issues is Natasha Arselan, who this December launched her new online auction house AucArt. The platform will be the first ever auction house to specialise in early career contemporary art – working exclusively with BA/MFA students up to three years after graduation. Directly engaged with both the artists and their clients, AucArt looks to establish itself as beacon of transparency in an otherwise nubilous territory of tradition and mystique; part of a new wave of digital initiatives looking to disrupt the ossification of art and its ownership, the platform aims at “converting art lovers into art collectors.”
AucArt prides itself on its curation of up-and-coming talent. Natasha herself spent the last year nomadic across the UK, visiting degree shows and artist-run projects, hand-selecting her first batch of represented artists. “It was an organic process, there was a lot of experimental work that really stood out to me.” Each month, backed up by her in-house curatorial team and star-studded advisory board, one established artist will join the curatorial process, giving a unique vision to the collection on sale. A range of studio visits, 1-2-1 meetings and E-catalogues will create an intimate relationship between collector and artist, one of AucArt’s flagship policies.
“I try to operate on a personal level, I have known many of these artists for years and they are so supportive of the project, there’s a real sense that we’re in it together.”
A major feature of AucArt is their pricing system. Cutting the overheads of regular commercial settings, AucArt pays its artists 70% of the final sale price. The clever addition of a transparent Reserve Price and ‘Buy Now’ feature plays a novel role in protecting inchoate art careers. “I wasn’t happy with the current system – AucArt aims to go a lot further than other digital platforms.” The goal is to nurture, rather than capitalise on art. For the collector, this is equally beneficial. Clients feel informed and safe whilst they’re bidding, with much of the pretence of auction houses substituted for a chic and affable online interface.
AucArt has simple principles. Dedicated to the democratisation of art ownership and passionate about supporting artists during some of their toughest early years, Natasha has a distinctly ethical approach. “The traditional art market tends to cater for the 1%, our aim is to disrupt and challenge this position.”
https://www.aucart.com/
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