Here at 20x200, our motto of “Art For Everyone” means we’re always interested in new ways of making great art accessible. It’s good for collectors, helps support artists, and enables everyone to live with art. A new-ish London outfit has found an intriguing way to address this concept with their Art Barter events. Art Barter is an auction, open to the public, taking place over 3 to 4 days. However, unlike at Sotheby’s, bidders are allowed to offer anything at all EXCEPT money for the work. Past bids have included a year of private chef services and cases of wine, but anyone is free to offer whatever they think is fair. At the end of the event, artists review all offers and decide what they’d like to accept. It’s an amazing way to open up the auction as a viable format for all kinds of collectors, and allows artists to trade their work for something of value to them without worrying about setting minimum reserves or what the long-term effect on their pricing will be.

Previous Art Barters have been held in London and Berlin. Art Barter 3 launches in New York today and continues through Sunday, December 12th. While the auction will feature some big-name artists such as Terence Koh and Mick Rock, all work will be identified only by a number, so the “value” of the work will really be determined entirely by each interested bidder.

Not only is this a fun idea, it’s a great way to make the auction sale format super un-intimidating for potential collectors. It’s interesting to note that Art Barter is also a Kickstarter project. We’ve featured some great art-related Kickstarter endeavors before, including Kevin Cyr’s Camper Kart and Rachel Sussman’s extremely successful journey to track down and document The Oldest Living Things in the World, which led to an invitation to give a talk at the prestigious TED conference on the project. One of the unique things about the Kickstarter model is the little incentives project owners offer to their supporters, which can range from a limited-edition copy of the work produced to lunch with the artist. As a whole, micro-funding sites like Kickstarter have the effect of fostering a personal, reciprocal exchange between donor and recipient that goes far beyond traditional funding models. Art Barter has the potential to do much of the same for the fine art market by encouraging art lovers to be creative and contribute more than just money. It’s less an auction than an exchange, based on the assumption that all participants have something unique and valuable to offer.

Art Barter New York
Thursday, Dec 9 - Sunday, Dec 12
NP Contemporary Art Center
131 Chrystie St, New York
Open daily from noon to 6 p.m.