The Universal Patronage Project

Patronage is a long tradition in the arts. The Universal Patronage Project is designed to challenge (and perhaps disassemble) the one-to-one, privileged relationship of artist:patron, as well as diffusing it so that the funding of the art is by a large network of somehow-connected people, each of which contribute a very small amount to the production of the art.

This idea of “connectivity” is at the heart of the project – an attempt to understand and push the limits of social networks on the internet. Among the multitude of questions we seek to address:

• What does it mean to have a “friend” online (in particular, one you may never have met)?
• How are digital friends defined in relation to ideas of “analog” friendship?
• Can these friendships exist as intimate (ie: at the human:human interface), or are there particular implied parameters specific to web-based relationships that frown upon such a  connection?

Another issue of central concern: the value and support of art and art-making – especially art that is ephemeral and/or purely conceptual (non-object-based).

• How is value defined when people consider art and artists?
• Is there a valid need for artists to exist within culture, and if so, should they be able to make a living wage?
• What is the exchange value of ideas?
• Will people respond to a form of virtual pan-handling – even in the service of “art”?
• Can a version of the art-patronage system exist that mimics, for instance, the online, grassroots fundraising efforts of United States political campaigns over the past five years?

The Universal Patronage Project is supported by the Organic Art Factory. Please send your comments and questions to lrbc@organicartfactory.com