ATFU

Today, artists need to organize themselves. To organize in the literal sense, but in reality our generation is working to establish a new order of things. And we are the proof with ATFU.

Two of us are artists and the third has been supporting them on a daily basis for years. We quickly realized that our approach was rooted in an urgent need to return to the collective, to mutual aid, to autonomy.

As artists, we have always deployed strategies. No money? We take several jobs. No gallery? We set up our own exhibitions. No network? We chat on Instagram with strangers. No collectors? We exchange pieces between friends.

With ATFU, we propose a new way, not another online gallery. We propose a new use, not a simple social network.

We, artists, by rehabilitating and allowing the exchange of works without limit of time or space thanks to an application, participate in building a new order of things, a movement, a counter power.

Our recent interviews with researchers, sociologists, gallery owners and artists who support the project have convinced us of one thing: it is necessary to propose and invent these new organizational strategies in the art world. And it is necessary to do it now.


- The principle

On ATFU, visual artists meet by trading their pieces. They compose their art collection as they go along.


- How does it work?

1/ The traffic: sniff out the pieces of the future

Swipe anonymous artworks
- On the right: the piece enters your library of favorites
- On the left : you are not interested in it for the moment
- Click on it : access to more details
- Handshake : propose a barter

Beware, the identity of the artists is hidden until the match! Equality guaranteed, speculation destroyed.


2/ The catalogs: what would you be willing to do for them?

The artists are invited to look through each other's catalogs to agree on a barter.

To barter, you have to add to your catalog a sheet of the work, with some necessary information (complete cartel, a good quality photo) and others recommended (note of intention, more photos).

For one of his coveted pieces, the artist owner receives a notification in his "received proposals" section. He has a direct access to your pieces in barter, can then look at them and choose one.


3/ Messaging: it's reciprocal, meet each other!

When his choice is made, you both receive a notification in your messaging systems where you discover who is the artist behind the work. You can then discuss, discover your work and agree on the terms of the exchange.


- What do you barter?

It is not your latest productions intended to be exhibited. The barter concerns the unsold pieces, already shown, stored in the workshop. The multiples, the editions.
Moreover, what is on the periphery of the works is also a field to exploit: experimental prints (overexposed, underexposed, reversed, negatives...), studio tests, preparatory sketches, works not accepted by your gallery owners...


- The advantages :

- your works acquire value when they circulate
- unclogging of the workshops
- a piece is not for single use: a second life after the exhibition


- The rules on ATFU :

- post only works of which you are the creators
- have only one account on ATFU
- put quality photos (yellow, dark, blurred photos)
- give a maximum of details to each of your pieces
- ensure the authenticity of your works
- respect the others and discuss with kindness
- report abusive behavior

And for all intents and purposes, no euros or cryptos: your wealth is your coins.


- Subscriptions

The application is free.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)