We imagine and build tools for creators.
As an arts based think-tank and creative studio, we focus on leveraging new technologies in support of the arts.       

BIG PROJECTS


COMPENSATION FOUNDATION

The Compensation Foundation is an online platform for collecting, sharing, and analyzing how contingent workers are compensated. Launched in 2014, our first focus is collecting data on visual artists and we have current surveys running in the Bay Area, CA and the Houston Area, TX. We hope to enable artists to access data outside their personal network as well as easily identify industry-wide and organization-specific norms.


CF worked with Manjula Martin to redesign and build Who Pays Writers? an anonymous, crowd-sourced list of which publications pay freelance writers—and how much.



THE PEOPLE'S E-BOOK

The The People's E-book is a beautifully simple tool to enable anyone to make e-books easily and for free. Funded by 970 kickstarter backers in 2013, it aims to break down the technological barriers for creators in digital publishing.



THE PRESENT PRIZE

The Present Prize is a democratic arts prize targeting an underfunded area of the creative landscape. It is funded and awarded by The Present Group's community of web hostees as well as individual contributors.



ART MICRO PATRONAGE

Art Micro Patronage was an experimental online exhibition space featuring monthly curated shows of digital, new media, and intermedia work. As visitors navigated through the exhibitions, they were encouraged to become micro-patrons of the arts, associating their appreciation of the works with small monetary values.



SUBSCRIPTION ART PROJECT

From 2006 - 2012 The Present Group's art subscription project enabled a community of subscribers to fund contemporary artists projects and receive limited edition artwork in return. Annual subscribers received...


  • +  3 limited edition works of art by 3 contemporary artists
  • +  each piece signed and numbered by the artist
  • +  audio or video artist interviews
  • +  professional critiques contextualizing the edition
  • +  the honor of helping to bring these works into the world
  • +  a new surprise every four months

LITTLE PROJECTS


LibLib is an attempt to liberate the library.


Gifotrope is a way to take control of your gifs by scrolling through each frame.


SHOW ME THE MONEY was an attempt to get organizations and individuals in the art world to speak candidly about their finances.


MONEY, ART, PAID VS FREE CONTENT, AND THE INTERNET: A partial history of how artists, cultural producers, and content providers have experimented with funding and support models during the Internet Age.


STREAM BOOKS: Turn any Tumblr into an E-Book


DOT MATRIX PRINTING: A resource for anyone looking to celebrate the dot-matrix way


jGifTools: A jQuery library for making animated gif collages.


In New Yorker Cartoons : Mashup any Tumblr with New Yorker cartoon captions