New York Times (TM Magazine)
Maybe that Jeff Koons on display at the Gagosian booth at Art Basel Miami Beach last week was a little out of your price range. At Art Barter, opening tonight at NP Contemporary Art Center on Chrystie Street, your money is no good anyway. Instead you can offer up your personal goods or services in exchange for a work by, say, Tom Sachs or Terence Koh. The idea for Art Barter, which made its debut last year in London, came from Lauren Jones and Alix Janta, who were inspired by the free-thinking ways of Burning Man, the RCA Postcard Auction and Freecycle. If you’re stuck for ideas, here are some things that have changed hands in the past: a Tracey Emin piece for 30 hours of French tutoring; a Jason Dodge work for a week in a Scottish castle. Other offers have included Web site design, three months of psychotherapy and a gallop on a white horse. But keep in mind the contract is legally binding so don’t promise something you can’t deliver...