mixed feelings on this. One one hand very cool that people with money are willing to fund new ideas in art (supposedly, let’s see what happens). But on the other hand a lot of people, with interesting ideas, will be put off by how this is presented (which sounds a bit like nothing good had happened in art since Bauhaus?). It feels a little like Paul Grahams book on hackers and painters -well meaning but disconnected from many conversations on art (maybe due to the whole Silicon Valley startup life being pretty devoid of knowledge of art).

Like do they want to discuss aesthetics- or do they watch something punchy to put their name behind as being the “new thing” like the YBAs. They talk about influencing design and culture at large. It sounds like they want Kanye West? (But more polite maybe).

IMO if you want someone who’s pretty clear spoken on their values and influential and supportive of younger artists and bridging professional world with diy scene, then someone like Ryan Gander is a good choice to talk to about that. Maybe artangle, eflux etc. They’re well established but still down to earth in my experience.

An open call like this is gonna attract a lot of applications and a weird crossover of people in tech who think they know art because they took an art class in their compsci major and will write applications on how AI and robotics is the new big movement and it’ll be inconsequential.

Though I’m being very cynical I do wish them best and would be very happy to see this as a first step to healthy funding of a very strangulated art scene (outside of the art market nonsense)