🍎🐍 Art As A Consequence #05
🌐 The Apple Vision Pro is here but what does it mean for the art market, plus find out what the art market is paying. Announcement of Punk in Residence program and digital IDs will become mandatory.
Welcome to the fifth edition of the ART AS A CONSEQUENCE weekly briefing. In this week’s briefing, I explore the Apple Vision Pro and what this could mean for the art market. Additionally, discover the global art market outlook for 2024, where women artists anticipate a strong focus and an increase in demand. Have you ever wondered how much the art market pays? Well, now you can see the $$$ without blushing and perhaps consider renegotiating your salary. Larva Labs launches the Punk in Residence program with the aim of redefining fine art through digital and blockchain innovation, in collaboration with traditional artist and NFT champion Nina Chanel Abney. Lastly, learn about the anticipated requirement for digital IDs. Continue scrolling to get the full scoop!
Lol (lots of love),
Dimitria
✨🦋 From the prestigious art world
The Apple Vision Pro, priced at $3.5k, is likely something you've seen a lot on your timeline this week. The headset, which sold out with 200,000 units in a presale last month, is expected to be the most significant mainstream market test for mixed-reality headsets to date. Among the 600 new apps created for the device are shopping experiences. But what does this mean for the arts? I'm not sure yet, but one thing is certain: there is potential to reshape the art landscape by offering new ways to create, experience, and interact with art. However, as with any technological advancement (as seen with blockchain adaptation, or the lack thereof, other than for marketing), the impact will depend on how well the art community adapts to and embraces these innovations.
What about brands using the headset as an extension to their online presence? Let's consider HENI or the big auction houses like Sotheby’s and Christie’s, which put emphasis of the latest technological adaptations to increase sales - will they participate? Apple promises that the headset offers more engaging experiences than traditional grids and scrolling, enabling companies to increase engagement, gather data, and educate visitors. In case you're not familiar, Acute Art has embraced such cutting-edge technologies and produced artwork in the past with artists including Marina Abramović, Jeff Koons, KAWS, and more.
In 2019, while working for Polly Robinson Gaer at Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac, the artist liaison for the Anthony Gormley studio, I had the opportunity to try Gormley’s first venture into virtual reality titled 'Lunatick.' This immersive experience utilized data collected by NASA to map a real and interactive journey, traversing Earth's atmosphere, stratosphere, the asteroid belt, and venturing into outer space. This project, similar to Gormley’s sculptural work, explores themes of human existence and the relationship between the human body and space.
🗞️ More from the art world:
Everybody wants the bag, but sometimes the bag gets too heavy! Here, the bag in question is the $1B art collection that is tearing Hubert Neumann’s family (mainly three daughters) apart - especially following his wife’s death who changed her will before passing away. Eight years and at least 18 lawsuits later, the saga continues.
Claims and counterclaims have spiraled across New York’s criminal, civil and family courts—sweeping in allegations of physical abuse, fraud and undue influence of the elderly.
👁️🔗 Read Kelly Crow’s detailed article about the collection and find out what went south, link here.
ArtTactic released its Global Art Market Outlook 2024
Copyright © 2024 ArtTactic
🧮 The Numbers:
Sotheby’s maintained their position as market leader of Europe’s Post-War and Contemporary market in 2023, with a share of 52.8% of total sales
Auctions of artworks priced below $50k have had a 10.3% increase in sales compared to 2022, with a total of $140.4M sold and accounting for 2.6% of total auction sales categories. This is due to new buyers as an important force behind this trend.
Christie’s reported that 35% of all purchasers last year were first-time buyers, and Millennials represent 34% of all new buyers to Christie’s in 2023. There was also a 65% increase in new Gen Z buyers, driven by sales of handbags, watches, and prints. The number of first-time buyers from Gen Z also more than doubled in the Asia Pacific region year-on-year.
Copyright © 2024 ArtTactic Auction sales by women artists generated $787.9M in sales in 2023, up 10.5% from 2022.
In 2024 we anticipate the strong focus on women artists to continue. A key driver behind this, is a large number of high-profile women artists museum exhibitions pencilled in for this year.
Among these are Tate’s Now You See Us: Women Artists in Britain, 1520–1920 (16 May - 13 October, 2024), Camille Claudel at the Getty Center (2 April - 21 July, 2024), Mary Cassatt at Work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (18 May - 8 September, 2024), Harriet Backer La musique des couleurs at the Musée d’Orsay (24 September, 2024 - 12 January, 2025) and Lygia Clark at the Whitechapel Gallery (2 October, 2024 - 12 January, 2025) among others.Lastly, the Wealth Outlook: Knight Frank forecasts that Europe will have 192,426 UHNWIs in 2026 (+24.9% between 2021-2026). According to the Deloitte Art & Finance Report 2023, art and collectible wealth held by UHWIs in Europe is projected to grow from $528 billion in 2022 to $652 billion in 2026.
💸 Leading art world recruitment agency, Sophie Macpherson collaborated with ArtTactic on the Art Market Employee Salary Report. Read the published report here and see where your $$$ fit this past year.
🏴☠️ from the Web3 Space
CryptoPunks introduces the Punk in Residence program, collaborating with artists globally to redefine fine art through digital and blockchain innovations. The initiative encourages creative experimentation, challenges traditional art norms, and features its first collaboration with artist Nina Chanel Abney, showcasing a collaborative collection at her solo exhibition. The collaboration highlights the intersection of art, technology, and culture.
"CryptoPunks are a pioneering project that has played a crucial role in the creation of the digital collectible space... By collaborating with them, I saw an opportunity to be at the center of a unique intersection of art, technology, and culture." —Nina Chanel Abney
Yuga gifted Abney a “dev Punk” CryptoPunk of her own (Punk #72). Abney will create a unique collection of NFT art in partnership with CryptoPunks that will be offered for sale at Magic Eden and put on display as a part of Abney’s upcoming solo exhibition later in 2024.
✨🛍️ Fashion: Where Movement, Design, & Architecture Unite
📊 Long Live Luxury: Converge to Expand through Turbulence
The annual Bain-Altagamma Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study projects a new record as spending on experiences recovers to historic highs, fueled by a resurgence in social interactions and travel. Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions, the overall luxury market reached €1.5 trillion globally in 2023, a robust 8-10% growth over 2022, setting a record for the industry and proving its unparalleled resilience.
👁️🔗 Read the Bain-Altagamma Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study study here
🌐 New ways to use digital IDs
Digital IDs, also known as product passports (DPPs), have emerged as a crucial component for fashion brands, storing essential information such as manufacturing details, supply chain origins, materials used, and ownership history. This is no longer just a luxury for fashion brands; it is anticipated to become a mandatory requirement.
The European Commission is set to implement regulations as early as 2026, mandating that brands selling in the EU must integrate DPPs into items like apparel, accessories, and electronics. This move aims to enhance supply chain transparency and compel brands to adhere to sustainability goals. The fundamental concept and methods of associating digital identities with physical goods have remained consistent, utilizing approaches like QR codes or NFC chips.
For instance, during Austria's Hahnenkamm Races ski competition, Boss collaborated with Mastercard and wearable payment-tech provider Digiseq to create a customized tag for its ski jackets. This innovative tag combined various contactless technologies with a web app, allowing customers to personalize their experience. VIP guests receiving the jackets could tap the tag on its sleeve to gain access to the event, the ski resort, lifts, and even log in to a physical pop-up store, all while facilitating secure contactless payments.
Exploring Chanel's Impact on the Resale Market
The French luxury powerhouse, Chanel, renowned for its exclusive handbags that doesn’t offer discounts and remain unavailable for online purchase, meticulously controls its supply, coupled with substantial price increases, which contributes significantly to maintaining its image of exclusivity.
However, the surge in online resale over the past few years has posed challenges to Chanel's traditionally tight grip on distribution and brand image. Notably, the luxury giant secured a $4 million victory in a closely monitored lawsuit against the US-based reseller, What Goes Around Comes Around, valued at $46.3B in 2022. This legal triumph intensifies the risks for resellers, making the second-hand luxury market a notably more precarious business.
The crux of the matter revolves around accountability for the presence of counterfeit goods in the market and how resellers navigate the promotion of the brands they carry. As the legal landscape evolves, the dynamics between luxury brands and resellers become increasingly complex, shaping the future of the second-hand luxury market.
🎈🐩 Similar to Chanel's influence on the luxury resale sector, the dynamics of exclusivity and control have notable implications for limited art editions and their secondary market. Much like Chanel's coveted handbags, limited art editions are often prized for their scarcity, and artists and publishers carefully regulate their supply to enhance their perceived value.
Read my article on the case study of Jeff Koons’ limited art edition of the Balloon Dog (Red) from 1995 - its cultural impact and iconography
Visit artasaconsequence.net to discover more about my work in the art industry. You can contact me over email or find me on social media: Instagram | X | LinkedIn
