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Artist trading cards


Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) is a conceptual art project initiated by the Swiss artist M. Vänçi Stirnemann in 1997. He called it a Collaborative Cultural Performance. Artist Trading Cards are 2 12 by 3 12 inches (64 mm × 89 mm) in size, the same format as modern trading cards (hockey cards or baseball cards). They are self-made unique works or small series, signed and dated on the reverse by the artist/producer, exchanged and collected by the people who participate in the collaborative performance.

In 1996, Stirnemann began making small artworks the size of commercial trading cards. An exhibition of 1200 of Stirnemann's cards ran at his second-hand bookshop and gallery INK.art&text in Zurich, Switzerland between 23 April and 31 May 1997. The exhibition ended with a trading session. The ATC project was intended to allow people from different backgrounds to participate in an ongoing art project, which was not part of the art market. Selling or buying ATCs clearly contradicts the initial idea. Instead, people would meet at trading sessions and exchange their art work in a democratic face to face situation. Anybody can participate in the project and all techniques are allowed. ATCs are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.), or even metals, fiber, wax and other materials.

A few weeks after the first ATC exhibition and trading session in Zurich, the Canadian artist Don Mabie adopted the idea and showed artist trading cards at the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In September 1997, a trading session was organized at the New Gallery in Calgary. Today, there are regular trading sessions in more than 30 cities in Europe, Canada, the US and Australia. The Zurich and Calgary trading sessions are still held on a monthly basis.

In April 1998, editions were shown at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart, Germany, and in June and July 1998 shows and trading sessions were organized in Arnhem and Nijmegen, the Netherlands. In July 1998, the New Gallery in Calgary showed "Hot Town: Artist Trading Cards in the Summer" (curated by Don Mabie). From 15 October until 27 December 1998, an exhibition of Artist Trading Cards (copy-left editions) took place at the Kunsthaus Zurich in Switzerland, and in May 1999, the Kunsthaus Aarau (also in Switzerland) organized a show and trading event as part of the "Salon 99" exhibition. In September 2000, a first "Artist Trading Cards Biennial" (curated by Don Mabie and M. Vänçi Stirnemann) was taking place in The New Gallery in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and in 2003, there was a large exhibition at the Kunstverein Stuttgart in Stuttgart, Germany. In May 2002, the fifth anniversary of the project was celebrated with a trading session at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich. In subsequent years, shows and exhibitions took place in many places in Europe, Canada, the US and Australia. ATCs were published in different catalogues, mostly performance catalogues or small press magazines.


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