[rohrpost] ArtUp Escalator Cycle #1: Call for Applications!

[Tsila Hassine]

Call for Artists to reinvent innovation and disrupt disruption!

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   What?

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ArtUp Escalator is an international program with an innovative,
mentor-based curriculum, curated for the crisis-era artist. The program
aims to provide artists with the tools and knowledge necessary for
transforming their artistic ideas into global market disruption. The
program is based on the tech industry’s standardized startup-accelerator
model and provides a unique set of tools for artistic interventions in the
market.


Why?

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The many crises the art world is currently dealing with—economic, artistic,
conceptual—were not initiated by the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic merely
reveals them as it accelerates the collapse of the entire cultural sector.
This now brings the art world to a critical state: while some museums and
galleries were forced to close their gates, those who remain open are
experiencing a sharp decline in visitors (related to decline in tourism).
What’s more, with the looming severe global recession, art budgets
worldwide are expected to undergo extreme cuts.

It has become painfully clear that in order to survive, artists must
reposition themselves, across all areas of (art) making. Exhibition venues
and strategies, audience interaction, medium of production, and, of course,
funding, all need to be re-thought and revised. This moment of crisis is an
opportunity to realize some of the “ideas that are lying around”,
unnoticed, or so far deemed impossible to execute.

We propose ArtUpism as a gallery exit strategy (seeing how those remain
closed anyway), driving artists to explore new modes of artistic
exploration and new arenas to interact with audiences.



   How?

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The ArtUp Escalator program is a 6-weeks program, bringing together
contemporary art and technology market experts, as mentors.

Each week will host two sessions. Monday sessions will focus on the
industry-standard themes as outlined in the program, provided by industry
professionals. Thursday sessions will analyze the themes from the point of
view of ArtUpism, accompanied by artists and theoreticians.


*BUT WAIT, WHAT IS AN ARTUP?*

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An ArtUp is a startup embedding artistic ideology into market logic.

An ArtUp is the process of taking an artistic idea out of the museum,
finding the use-value of this idea while maintaining its artistic core, and
re-positioning it in the market as a product. An ArtUp follows the startup
model in that it is a company or project initiated by an artist in order to
seek, develop, and validate a highly-scalable business model based on an
artistic idea.


OKAY, SO WHO ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

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The ideal participants in the workshop are artists (working across
performance, new media, and conceptual art), non-artists, and critical
thinkers who work individually or in groups, in spaces between art, design,
programming.




   WHAT TYPE OF PROPOSALS ARE WE LOOKING FOR?

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Are you unsure whether your project is an artwork or a product? Are you
certain no company would want to develop it?

Do you hear the question “but why is this art?” once too often?

The ArtUp Escalator program is looking for artistic ideas that are and can
be implemented in bigger platforms than the art institution. Maybe your
idea can be a product! Maybe your work is best experienced as a service in
the market!

Inspiration can be found—but not limited to—projects and collectives like:
Google Will Eat Itself (Ubermorgen), MSHCF.xyz, The Yes Men, Peng
Collective, New Ealam, Dis Collective’s streaming platform, Shmoogle.world.


WHAT WE ARE NOT:

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We do not teach artists how to better showcase their art, nor do we teach
grant proposal writing or digitization of existing portfolios. While all
these are very important tools for today’s artists, there are several other
programs and resources for these purposes.


EXPECTED OUTCOME OF THE PROGRAM:

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The goal of the program is to teach artists how to initiate their own
ArtUps, and to provide them with the set of tools necessary for such a
venture. Once our artists master those tools, they will analyze them
critically to examine how these standard market tools can be subverted and
manipulated at the service of the ArtUp. By the end of the program, every
project will receive the necessary tools to continue its path towards
unicorn glory, or opt for the artistic aura, subverting market culture
altogether.

https://www.wemakemoney.art FB @ArtUpEscalator ln ArtUp Escalator IG
artup_escalator



  DATES AND DETAILS:

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Application period starts: July 27th

Application ends: September 13th, 23:59 CEST

The decision of the board will be communicated via email in Mid September A
Zoom Q&A session, for those who are interested in applying to the

program, was held on 13.8.20, see the recording in this link

Escalator start: Mid October (tba)

Program duration: six weeks

Weekly requirements: 2X3 hour online sessions. Home assignments. Working
language: English

Participation fee for the program is 110 euros, to be transferred upon
admission to the program (special consideration will be given for
individual cases).

You can find more about our mission and program in the following videos:

Wemakemoney.art: Exit Through The Appstore

Aleksandra Artamonovskaja (.art Domains) talks to Tsila Hassine, Yoav
Lifshitz and Gabriel S Moses (ArtUp Nation) about blurring the boundaries
between artistic action and market disruption


ArtUp Escalator launch meetup (including a Q&A session)

For more details about us visit www.wemakemoney.art

For inquiries please contact yes at wemakemoney.art