ArtStack: One more (and slightly better) social network for art
Did I mention I like ArtStack? There’s been quite a few social media platforms for art enthusiasts popping up lately, but typically the focus has been on serving galleries and (everybody’s wet dream) collectors. Art.sy and VIP Art Fair are decent services, but the bias towards the art world model shows. I guess you can’t blame them, it’s a hard sell to begin with and the art world is as fond of change as it is of poverty - i.e. not at all.
I’ve been looking for a service that is not only oriented towards normal users, but which allows artists to submit their work. Saatchi Online and Artreview Network both feel too close to established power networks, and hence somewhat exploitative. Meanwhile, image bookmarking sites like FFFFound and Designspiration are great for simply collecting images, but with art you tend to want a deeper context. Like browsing by artist or art movement, perhaps a little tagsonomy and other good social media features that we’ve gotten so used to by now.
ArtStack has all of those features, feels clean and simple and - most importantly - makes it really easy for you to add artworks via a bookmarklet. Ok, it does feel like a beta in parts, but that’s what it is after all. The stack metaphor is useful enough, and the collections even more so. I’ve been adding quite a few works I want to keep as a reference, and collections makes it easy for me to categorize that research.
If you’re interested the following signup link gives access to the beta: http://theartstack.com/users/signup/mariuswatz (Disclosure: I have no affiliation with Artstack whatsoever and I receive no perks for providing this link. Just putting it out there.)
