Artist Trading Cards Submitted by Lezah

image from www.countryarts.org

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On August 10th I was at the White Rock Community Arts Council Gallery to see Karen Kroeker’s collage art exhibit ‘A Wandering Mind’ (see Swanktrendz July 25 article under Fine Arts). It turns out that opening night was wildly successful for the artist - 19 of her pieces sold, setting a record for the gallery, and since then three additional works have sold. The artist is off to Holland tomorrow to view and select some art for her personal collection, but the exhibit will run until the end of the month.

While at the gallery, I chanced to talk to another artist who was telling me about another, fairly new, and hugely popular, art form: Artist Trading Cards, or ATC.

ATC are small hockey or baseball-like trading cards showing original work by the artist who created the card. There are a few simple rules for ATCS:
- ATCs must not be sold, but only traded
- ATCs MUST strictly adhere to this size: 64 x 89 mm(2.5” x 3.5”)
- On the front must be the image
- On the back must be the following information:
Artist’s name
Contact information
Title of work
Number of work
- the card must be sturdy and of a reasonable thickness
- varnish, wax, or a plastic sleeve is recommended to protect the work
Unique pieces are referred to as originals; numbered sets of the same piece are referred to as editions; sets of different works are called series.

ATC is the brainchild of Swiss performance artist Vanci Stirnemann, who came to Canada in 1988 for the Olympic Arts Festival. While in Canada, he observed hockey-crazy adults trading hockey playing cards. Unused to adults trading cards (as this is a pastime that only children indulge in in Europe), Stirnemann brought the idea back home to Switzerland with him, but it was not until 1997 that he held an ATC exhibit in Zurich. Stirnemann’s ATC exhibit was a success, and since then ATCs have become extremely popular around the world.

ATCs can be traded in person, by mail, or contacts can be made over the internet. It is a unique form of art: it rejects the critiquing, pricing, and selling of art.

This coming Monday evening (August 22) at Ethical Addictions Coffee House in Langley City (at the junction of Fraser and Glover), there is an ATC exhibit and trade happening.