Our Mission in Detail - Believe in Something or Fall for Anything
Trade Mode Life is a new community, a new mARTket, a new art economy - and its about damn time.
Mission Statement: Belief #1
WE BELIEVE ART IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE WELL BEING OF ALL PEOPLE.
Experiencing art - viewing it, listening to it, watching it, touching it, creating it, being present with it - reminds us of the powerful, beautiful, and joyful nature of creation. Art is the manifestation of beauty, storytelling and history.Art is a platform of human expression and imagination.
Art is a constant state of creation. We cannot always control the darkness and destruction around us, but we can always create art to light the way toward a better tomorrow. Art is an interface where we can explore the entanglements of realities, dualities, personalities, universes, multiverses, cosmos and consciousnesses. Art is the supreme architecture to create the worlds of tomorrow.
Art is essential for the well being of all people today and tomorrow.
Mission Statement: Belief #2
WE BELIEVE ART SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE TO ALL PEOPLE.
Trade Mode Life exists as an alternative mARTket removing the financial blocker between artist and would be collectors.
We want people to have access to art in their daily experience. We love to experience art daily because it makes us feel the joy that we are alive. It makes us move our bodies, minds and emotions to the vibrations of human expression. Every person deserves to have these artful experiences in their everyday lives, and luckily, there are so many artists creating, the art inventory is beyond abundant - it is never-ending. Meaning, there is some kind of art for everyone. The blocker to most people experiencing, owning and collecting art is the expense. Paper money shouldn’t hold anyone back from feeling alive, which is why we believe art should be accessible to all people.
Mission Statement: Belief #
WE BELIEVE THE STARVING ARTIST CONCEPT IS OUTDATED.
To say the starving artist concept is outdated is an under-statement, but the goal is to shift the paradigm away from starvation and toward abundance. Many creative and talented children who want to become artists are told by many adult influences to do it on the side because they can never make a living as an artist. This is the toxic social programming artists must immune themselves against from a young age. The starving artist idea leaks from the nuclear circle of family and friends out into schools, places of worship, seeps into places of commerce, communities, industries and floods further still until we are all under the spell believing artists should be willing to starve in order to create.
If an artist believes they should be willing to starve in order to create, they are willing to accept a life of deep scarcity. They are willing to accept going “without” and even believe they are not “enough” to warrant a life where all their needs and most of their wants can be provided for by the work they create. We reject this concept, and in its place raise a new idea, one that values everyday art and artist by establishing a new bartering mARTket where artists have a platform to know their worth, and get it.
Mission Statement: Belief #4
WE BELIEVE EVERYDAY ARTISTS SHOULD BE COMPENSATED JUSTLY FOR THEIR WORK.
We’ve established why art is essential for the well being of all people, so logic follows that art should be valued and respected. Unfortunately, that isn’t always the case in the art and creative worlds. So many artists are not compensated appropriately given their talent, skill, expertise and overall good stuff they provide for humankind. Part of that is false social programming and part of that is financial reality. When the everyday person is looking at their budget, rarely is there a line item earmarked for beauty, art, experience. We get it. Art is not cheap, nor should it be. If you can’t afford to pay for the mural you envision for your new office space, nursery or restaurant see what other resources you have on par with the cost and offer to trade-in-kind. We all contribute to how art is valued, and we believe everyday artists should be compensated justly for their essential service.
Do you have a trade story where you got what you wanted? We want to hear it, comment below!
Mission Statement: Belief #5
WE BELIEVE EXCHANGING CASH FOR ART IS NOT THE ONLY WAY TO ACQUIRE ART AND ART ASSETS.
We’ve established that cash is not always available to bring art into your personal world or project. Cash is not only a material blocker, it is a psychological blocker too. “There isn’t enough,” triggers anxiety, and it’s easy to dismiss paying for art when the thought of the expense is too heavy to bear. Couple this, what we call the Collector’s burden, with the artist's burden of uncomfortably trying to put a price, or a cost to their creations. Relying on cash to afford and price art is therefore burdensome for everyone. We want to remove that burden, so we believe exchanging cash for art is not the only way to acquire art and art assets.
Mission Statement: Belief #6
WE BELIEVE BARTERING FOR ART IS A VIABLE CURRENCY FOR MEANINGFUL AND VALUABLE EXCHANGE.
As a planet, we have more “stuff” than we have ever had before, or put another way, we have a surplus of stuff we can use as currency. Take a look in your closet, do you really need / want / use all of the items in there? Could a sizable wardrobe exchange be traded for the portrait of your dog you always wanted? Are you moving since a new kid is coming and can’t bring that large outdoor grill or furniture with you, and you’d like a nursery mural for your bundle of joy? You don’t have to go over budget so your baby gets to marvel at the wonders of art during their first precious years. We have so much we don’t view as currency, but we can. Because we have so much already, we believe bartering for art is a viable currency for meaningful and valuable exchange.
Mission Statement: Belief #7
WE BELIEVE EVERYONE ENGAGING IN OUR BARTER SYSTEM SHOULD BEHAVE ETHICALLY, OR BE GOOD HUMANS.
Bartering demands the honor system, and so do we. The artist has to honor their promise to deliver their unique, high-quality and to-specificiation artwork. The collector has to honor their promise to deliver whatever good or service that is agreed upon for artwork. Both parties must treat each other with honesty, respect and hey, friendliness! Our vision is a bartering mARTket, but that is not possible without an active community built on trust that is why we believe everyone engaging in our bartering system should behave ethically, or be good humans.
Mission Statement: Belief #8
WE BELIEVE BARTERING FOR ART DEMONSTRATES HOW VALUABLE ARTISTS ARE TO SOCIETY.
Sometimes it’s not enough to know something, we have to see it to believe it. While we all know and understand the value of the arts to society, we grossly devalue it at the same time. Many programs supporting the arts have been totally eradicated from local, state and federal budgets which we have allowed. This is just one example of our mass agreement to take the arts for granted. With Trade Mode Life, we believe art will be traded for goods and services of equal value to that of the art work. As the word spreads throughout the community, the royal ‘we’ will see and believe bartering for art demonstrates how valuable artists are to society.
Mission Statement: Belief #9
WE BELIEVE BARTERING FOR ART MAKES PLAIN TO SEE THERE IS PLENTY FOR EVERYONE TO HAVE THEIR NEEDS, AND SOME WANTS, FULFILLED.
We reject scarcity economically, sociologically, psychologically and physically. Scarcity can be a reality, but it is a strategic tactic designed stoke fiery fears of lack and instigate base behaviors like hoarding and unfriendly competition. Do not be fooled, scarcity is being used against us all.
There is plenty. Plenty of everything. But plenty is not making it’s way to everyone. Trade Mode Life is our counter-attack in the war of scarcity, because we believe bartering for art makes plain to see there is plenty for everyone to have their needs, and some wants, fulfilled.