Art.sy

Art.sy is a new, controversial way to discover and buy art. The website launched by the 24 years old Carter Cleveland is the son of the digital revolution that transformed an unthinkable mass of tangible spaces and objects in digital form.  Imagine combining the stylish and fascinating layout of the Google Art Project with the Amazon recommendation algorithm, imagine then a website which aims at attracting the wealthiest people in the world in a unique art marketplace accessible any time anywhere. This is Art.sy.

A minimalistic but functional interface guides virtual visitors through the white walls of the gallery. A simple browse system allows choosing style, region, medium and subject of the pieces available: navigating through the hundreds of pictures and paintings is undeniably straightforward.

Every time we click on a work an algorithm will show similar pieces underneath. By simply starring a work it will be automatically added to our private gallery where it will be readily accessible for display in the future.

It takes only a few minutes to realize the quality of the collection; it’s no surprise that behind it there is one of the most influential American art dealers: Larry Gagosian.

Since Art.sy is a for-profit website most of the works are on sales and prices are usually shown or can be requested contacting our private specialist.

The website manages to be user-friendly and at the same time recreates that aseptic environment typical of nowadays art galleries.

But what is left afterwards? There is no participation of the viewer without the work put in a physical context. Everything is flattened: light, the supreme companion of every artist is splatted on the works with deadly uniformity.

Art.sy is an interesting business idea on the wake of the success of Amazon or Pandora, it is also a powerful tool to broaden one’s artistic horizons in an effortless way and it will be probably solve some geographical difficulties of well-off art lovers. Nevertheless looking through the high quality images of Art.sy is an experience closer to leafing through an Ikea catalogue than visiting an art gallery.