tech is misfiring for art. why?
TRANSCRIPT
Tech is Misfiring for Art. Why?
About Me: Christina Noren• Successful Silicon Valley Product Executive; 3
IPOs in 20+ years• Founding head of product for Splunk, 2012
$3+ billion big data IPO• Founded two art tech platforms: Aura 2014;
Artloop 1999-2001• Currently CPO @ Interana; Behavioral
Analytics Leader• Former exhibiting artist and modest
collector
20 years of Art Platforms
$100s of Millions Invested
Where is the Uber for Art?
•That unlocks massive new demand•That takes the market from
elite to mainstream•That connects any rider to
any driver
Artnet•a place to dump your
unsold inventory•where to pay through the
nose for hard to navigate auction price data
Artsy• a place to find art that will
make you seem hip & successful that will cost a lot less than your M Series BMW • some cool parties• a cheap online gallery
presence tool
1stDibs•a really nice place for rich
people to shop for things that will make them seem cultured and artistic •oh, and a few paintings and
sculptures
Electric Objects,Klio,Depict….
•Bill Gates saw it all in 1984
Artfinder,Saatchi Online,PicassoMio,…
•Won’t that look great over your couch?
Instagram•Reducing art to eye candy +
online personality, one feed at a time.
Art Doesn’t Get Tech •A $20 million business is big
•Hi tech= slick UI•Millennials only want to see art
online•Database = rigid taxonomy• Social = likes and loves• Every brand needs an app•Online = ads & e-commerce
Tech REALLY Doesn’t Get Art
• Art = images• Art is a luxury good • Art is a financial investment• Art is more elitist than music• All art fits in agreed categories
with fixed attributes• There is a master database of art
somewhere
And Tech Has Contempt for Art
•Techies are the real creatives of our age •Artists are not-too-bright
makers of pretty pictures•Art dealers are small
business people - like florists
What Will The Real Disruptor
Look Like? A few thoughts
It Will Be Valuable to All Art Interested People
• A companion for art visits• A resource for learning and
reference• Valuable to experts & novices• Not focused on buying or selling• Knows both market &
scholarship• Building a loyal audience
It Will Grow Its Own Art Database
•Not limited to listings•Organically learns all aspects of
art through daily use in all venues and situations•Discovers forgotten, unknown
and hidden art•Makes connections between
different artists and artworks
It Won’t Dumb Down the Art
• User extensible model for describing art• Can be as superficial or deep as a user
wants to go• Can deal with context, content, form
& sensation• Multiple viewpoints; expert & popular
side by side• Filtering, ranking, reputation & context
It Will Convert Non-Buyers
• Leads people from what they have seen (even in museums) to what they can afford to buy• Gets smart about its users’
interests & budgets way before they buy•Makes buying easy and fun• Buyers will be more loyal to it than
any seller
It Won’t Be Biased Or Limited
•No paid listings or advertising• Can lead any buyer to any art:• Represented & unrepresented• Existing & commissioned• For sale & passive• Online, gallery, auction, fair &
private
What Will It Take? •A thesis-driven deep-pocketed
investor•A willingness to invest in audience
& content in advance of revenues• Knowledge to seed & curate a
workable art model• Cutting edge data science, social
& UX technology
What Will Its Impact Be?
• 10s of millions of new art buyers• Demand spreading to “long tail”
of undiscovered and forgotten art• Reversal of trend to the image• Creation of the largest single
global art market player ever seen• Disruption to existing business
models