Swipe right for art! – Swap artworks, services and goods
While in Paris we did a little more than lounge around, look at art and drink Champagne…we met with the fab ladies of ATFU. Short for “À Toutes Fins Utiles” which translates to “For All Purposes” this neat little app has been around since July 2022 and allows artists (about 8000 at this point from all over the world) to swap artwork. Anonymously. And for free.
Yes, you heard that right. The founders Clara Citron, Sirine Ammar & Clémentine Dupont Tissot all hail from art backgrounds and decided it is time artists benefit from the art market as well – and early on in their careers. Enter the artist collector.
While swapping art has definitely been a thing amongst artists before their app, available for both android and apple, they took this game global and added the element of anonymity.
And because it would be a bummer to let just the artists play, this year on November 1st 2024 they will roll out the feature of non-artists being able to add “work”.
Think dating app: you enter a bit of intel and then images. User of the app can swipe. In case of an artwork it’s pretty straight forward: it includes the metadata apart from artists name, age or background. So technique, size, material etc.
If you like a work you swipe right and if it’s a match between your work and the other persons you can trade or make an offer. Only then the identity of the artist will be revealed. Of course you can decline offers and “unmatch” so to speak. Now enter the “non-artists” for example a baker could offer 100 freshly baked baguettes for your next opening, a writer could offer you a press release and so on…
We love the initiative and say: game on my friends. Let’s not forget the art world is also a place to have fun. And these three ladies are offering a potentially game changing fun entry level approach to collecting. Get your art on!
Here is their insta, link to their website, where you also find the download of the app, naturally also found in the app store of your choice! Here’s the link to their crowdfunding campaign as they DO NOT take commissions from the artists the collective needs to chip in to keep this great idea moving to the next level.
