A new world is opening over apps

2016-01-15  Source: Chinaculture.org

Zhao Yiqian's Witnesses on Seventh Day is part of Wall Power, an exhibition that promotes young artists.

Buyers, sellers and artists in the art world have entered an era of online transactions. They not only watch live auctions and bid online, but also browse for artwork and bargain with artists via apps on smartphones.

Wallart, a Chinese online and mobile portal for art, recently launched in Beijing an app that facilitates the sale of works of art and design and directly connects creators with potential buyers.

Registered artists and designers can upload their works, and an instant messaging function allows them to communicate and deal with possible buyers.

Buyers can also resell collections that were purchased using the app.

A trial run since September has seen some 39,000 downloads and the registration of 18,000 users, including 1,000 artists and designers, according to Su Yan, the founder of Wallart and herself an art collector.

She says the total turnover during the test run reached about 15 million yuan ($2.3 million), with the top price for an artwork at 250,000 yuan and the lowest price for a design at 600 yuan.

"A growing base of middle-class people and office employees are buying art to satisfy their tastes. They can afford artworks with a moderate price tag," Su says.

"To cater to their needs, our primary focus is on artworks and designs priced between 20,000 yuan and 50,000 yuan. And we promote a generation of up-and-coming artists."

The app charges no commission for the first year and thereafter 5 percent of the realized price for each purchase.

When using the app, people can also upload a photo of their homes or offices, and merge the image of the artwork into their environment to see whether the two match.

Lee Seung-koo, a South Korean artist based in Beijing, offers four installations－including works representing a bull terrier named Ddinggu－on his account on the Wallart app. He has introduced the app to his artist and curator friends in Seoul.

"When an exhibition concludes, it's the end. I take my works away and the connection with people is no longer there. But an app like this makes barriers of time, space and language disappear. It's like an exhibition with no end," he says.

Besides the app, Wallart also organizes offline exhibitions and activities to boost people's interest in art. It has held two art fairs in Beijing's commercial compounds recently.

It is now holding Wall Power, an art exhibition at the city's Today Art Museum. Among exhibits there, one can find works by young artists such as Geng Xue, Li Tingting and Ye Funa.

As Zhu Qingsheng, co-curator of the exhibition and a professor with Peking University, says: "The past year has seen dozens of contemporary art exhibitions. And a number of new artists have emerged along with their experimental works.

"I can think of only one reason behind this phenomenon. People have realized that they don't want to see familiar formats in an artwork. They want originality and unspeakable marvels."