About Art Business Ltd
Art Business Ltd is an art business, project and performance by the Bristol-based artist [formerly known as Sole Trader] Rachael Clerke. It is part of their ten-year series Businesses 2019-29: an irreverent yet earnest attempt to understand, expose and co-opt systems of money, trade and exchange through the creation of real life businesses.
Following Subscription Business (2019), Shared Ownership Business (2020+) & Transactionland (2022), Art Business Ltd sees the formation of a company limited by guarantee (company number 14785673) to operate as a
Through Art Business Ltd Rachael wants to ask (& answer!) big questions like:
- What does it mean to make art under late capitalism?
- How can we help each other?
- Is it possible to professionalise without selling your soul?
- How does my menstrual cycle affect my work?
- Is it funny to wear a uniform every day?
- Can I earn enough money to survive?
- Is it ‘better’ to be a company than an individual?
- Can dance moves take the edge of admin & networking?
- Will organisations pay me faster if I publish the wait times online for everyone to see?
The 2024-25 financial year began with a private Art Business Ltd Hard Launch, dinner & drinks reception on 6th April (including a buffet of hard foods, collective press conference and official song). Following this Rachael is publishing regular datasets on this website, developing the Dance of Professionalisation for Survival in collaboration with Clara Potter-Sweet, and opening the first Art Business Art Business school (page coming soon), creating an open-source, non-hierarchical workshop structure for artists.
The founding of Art Business Ltd is supported by a research and development fellowship from the West of England Visual Arts Alliance. As part of the company’s incorporation a number of bespoke artist commissions were created including:
- The Art Business Ltd official logo, by RTiiiKA.
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The Art Business Ltd official CEO uniform, by Moa Johansson & Ray Gammon
- Coding of a custom google docs API for the Art Business Ltd website, by Suzanna & Katherine Hurst
- A piece of writing reflecting on the politics and play of the Art Business, by Maddy Costa (published October 2024)
Press