#artrank

[fauve10]

All I want for Christmas is this ArtRank jersey.

Using complex algorithms used by investment banking to forecast emerging artists and their estimated market value, ArtRank is making waves amongst the Arterati.

In the ever-so-cliquish world of art and it’s cadre, ArtRank is disrupting the status-quo and democratizing the collecting process for us plebeians. The New York Times mentioned them in an article, Barbarians at the Art Auction Gates: Not to Worry, in which authors Lorne Manly and Robin Pogrebin discuss the “perception that a commodities trading approach has become prevalent. This view has been fueled by the drumbeat of headlines about flipping; the emergence of companies like ArtRank, which give ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ ratings for works; and the high profile of collectors who buy pieces in bulk and sell them for a handsome profit.”

Prior to ArtRank, gaining inside knowledge to emerging artists on the rise was close to impossible. Something as innocuous as the capricious whim of a power-player posting a new purchase on their Instagram account could sway the market. ArtRank arms the lay-man with the arsenal needed to play the game at a level playing field with the ‘One Percent’.

This jersey was not produced by ArtRank, but is rather, a clever, tongue-in-cheek tribute by artist Wyatt Burns for his exhibition at 777gallery. Here is what the artist says about his jersey: 

“Artrank is a service that aims to “quantify the emerging art market” through quarterly charts that rank young artists in six market categories. They sell “early access” to this data for $3,500 to ten people in the world.

This is a parallel to the model of fantasy sports. Participants build a virtual roster of actual players and bet on their success on the field. 

While athletes and artists both have complete agency to perform or create however they like on the court or in the studio, their brands will inevitably be used in tertiary economies of which they have no agency. In the case of athletes, this comes in the form of branded merchandise such as jerseys that bear their name and number. For artists, this takes the form of $3,500 spreadsheets.” - Wyatt Burns

However you choose to look at it, the jersey is baller.

You can even pick your art star; Alex Israel, Artie Vierkant, Lucien Smith, Matt Sheridan Smith, Sebastian Black and Wyatt Kahn HERE. 

[wyattburns]

Artrank Fantasy League All Stars, 2014

Dye-sublimation prints on K-tex

Wyatt Burns

"Artrank is a service that aims to "quantify the emerging art market" through quarterly charts that rank young artists in six market categories. They sell "early access" to this data for $3,500 to ten people in the world.

This is a parallel to the model of fantasy sports. Participants build a virtual roster of actual players and bet on their success on the field. Unfair advantages can be achieved by purchasing "cheat sheets" that attempt to forecast how athletes will perform this season. 

While athletes and artists both have complete agency to perform or create however they like on the court or in the studio, their brands will inevitably be used in tertiary economies of which they have no agency. In the case of athletes, this comes in the form of branded merchandise such as jerseys that bear their name and number. For artists, this takes the form of $3,500 spreadsheets."

Available at http://777gallery.com

[algopop]

ArtRank Algorithm

Carlos A. Rivera created ArtRank in 2012, an algorithmic artist ranking system that has become incredibly influential for collectors. Within ten days of launching it amassed over 900 subscribers including ten billionaires whom all rely on the algorithm's quarterly recommendations. The $3,500 a quarter subscription buys you an early viewing of the rankings. From the ArtRank FAQ:

The algorithm was developed for an emerging art fund in 2012. The algorithm facilitated a 4200% return on investment over a 16-month period.

The algorithm is comprised of six exogenous components: Presence, Auction results, market Saturation, market Support, Representation and Social mapping (PASSRS). Each component is qualitatively weighted in service of defining a vector or 'artist trajectory'. We compare past trajectories to help forecast early emerging artists' future value.

This guardian article provides a lot more insight into collecting art with ArtRank. 

[globalarthobal]

ArtRank™ ranks emerging artists using qualitatively-weighted metrics including web presence (verified social media counts, inbound links), studio capacity and output, market maker contracts and acquisitions, major collector and museum support, gallery representation and auction results.

Ew, what's that smell? That, my fellow students, tumblrs, and WWW, is the smell of straightforward art world commodification. No shame. ArtRank is a freshly born website just this year that with the use of algorithms hopes to predict the general market values, or sellability/purchasibility of current contemporary artists' work on the market. There are six blatantly displaced rows of ranksings: 

Buy Now < $10,000

Buy Now < $30,000

Buy Now < $100,00

Early Blue Chip

Sell Now (peaking)

Liquidate (down)

  dis Magazine emailed a number of curators, artists, and critiques who appeared on the list, with varying responses. Most were critical of the power of influence that such a list could generate within the worlds of art markets, and values of then placed upon potential sales.

  Korakrit Arunanondchai’s reply asked for cultural producers to be responsible for the power that they possess to generate values and change culture. “You help make collectors look at artists like stocks and you take away the potentiality of a valuable discourse that could arise from certain artists.”

  Rob Horning said that “it offers people without money a scoreboard for a sort of fantasy baseball of contemporary artists, and reinforces the idea that contemporary art is essentially about monetary competition rather than “expression.” He goes on to conjecture that ArtRank is actually an overt project to discuss these very concerns about the art market and the game of prestige is put on display and trying to be upheld as an honest venture. His comments become more critical about those who have money, and those who don’t, being the rich are actually the creative force behind the artists that the contemporary art world so admires. Instead this art is just a tax break for the extremely rich.

  ArtRank, whether it is an evaluation of value for aid in the purchasing knowledge of the wealthy, or if it is trying to actually point out everything that could be wrong with that, something about ArtRank stinks and it has to do with attempt to succinctly commodify the personhood of an artist as a brand and their value of production. Ultimately, as we've discussed this term, one should always be skeptical of the art markets and the connection of gross commodification of any and all possible "expressions".