The art buying process is based on novel 3D technology. Through the platform, Artland lets galleries upload complete collections, so users can tour the galleries of New York, Singapore, Berlin and beyond, all from the comfort of their own home. This takes art buying to a new level.
To discover more about this digital based approach, Digital Journal spoke with Artland’s Co-Founder and CEO Mattis Curth.
Digital Journal: What are some of the challenges that consumers face in relation to buying ‘fine art’?
Mattis Curth: Today’s consumers are used to accessing anything and everything very easily online. With a few clicks or a simple Google search, you can find any information you want. Especially when it comes to younger generations, the reality is, if it doesn’t exist online, it doesn’t exist at all. While the art market has been developing and adapting to technology, it lags behind other industries. Galleries have long been hesitant to show available works online and pricing information is rarely available. As a result, the art world can feel like a closed system with no access. It can be especially intimidating for outsiders. It’s difficult to navigate the market and buy art, especially when just starting out, unless you have an established network you can go to for advice. Beginners need help learning the ins-and-outs, like who and where you should buy from, and how prices are determined, etc.
DJ: Can digital solutions help? Are there good and bad examples?
Curth: Digital solutions are an extremely effective way to increase accessibility and transparency. Utilizing digital solutions enables the distribution of information to a wider audience, more quickly. That being said, I believe that accessibility and transparency are just the beginning. Over the past decade many technology companies have tried to make the world of art accessible online — often with limited understanding of the needs of both industry insiders and their customers and public. As a consumer, you want a solution that elevates and streamlines the experience of discovering art. A digital solution must have an equally strong connection between the consumer’s experience of discovering art and the streamlined buying experience that they’ve come to expect.
DJ: Why did you develop the Artland app?
Curth:My brother and I co-founded Artland after experiencing first-hand how challenging the lack of accessibility and transparency is in the art market. We felt excluded in our first attempts to enter the art world, and didn’t know where to turn for advice. We wanted to make it possible for people to share their passion for art, not just within a closed circle, but across borders. Art is a universal language – why not make it easy to share the passion for it universally? In that sense, Artland seemed like an obvious thing to create; a product for people like us – those with great interest in art and a familiarity with the digital age.
DJ: How does the Artland app work?
Curth:Artland is an online community platform that connects art lovers and galleries worldwide, providing unique tools for galleries and consumers, and a digital environment where they can intersect. Through the website and iOS mobile app, we provide art enthusiasts of all kinds with access to approved galleries around the world, with all their exhibitions and artists. Artland is also home to the largest digital database of private art collections in the world, most of which are shared publicly.
When users download the app they create a personalized collector profile, after which information, suggestions and push notices are provided uniquely to them and pertinent to the artists, galleries, styles that best suit their interests. Artland
also provides users with capabilities to upload works from their private collections and to browse other’s collections for inspiration and education. Artland also gives users the ability to search for art to buy based on a variety of options, like the gallery, artist name, medium, style, cost, or even geographic location, etc. Artland utilizes the newest 3D technology, allowing users to virtually walk around hundreds of exhibitions in galleries around the world.
DJ: How did you develop the technology?
Curth:The technology behind Artland is built from scratch. My brother and I took our imaginative thinking and worked with a team of talented developers to translate it into a functional app and website. Now we have a team, spanning expertise
areas in business, technology and art, working closely, every day in synch so that we can ensure our ideas are the best product market fit, get built and tested fast, and most importantly work reliably.
DJ: Have galleries been receptive to the app?
Curth:Galleries have been very receptive to the platform and recognize the value of services that help them increase their online reach. They know they need to embrace the digital world, and Artland makes it as easy as possible for them to do so. Increasingly, we get daily requests from galleries looking to adapt their strategy by using our technology. Galleries see massive inherent value in the way our work transforms the representation of their artists, which is their core responsibility. Artland takes that mission and enhances every aspect of it – from marketing, promotion and sales tools to mission-based imperatives, like the archiving of entire bodies of work as they are shown in the exhibition context. We bring low cost, high value opportunity for galleries and their artists, combined with sleek, technological sophistication.
