Keaton Laub
An artifact relevant to the subject of optimized storage, distribution and delivery is a piece of artwork. For the sake of analysis, this hypothetical piece of art shall be characterized as a contemporary painting worth $100,000. While the artwork itself may not necessarily have data physically embedded in it, the infrastructure of art storage built explicitly for high-value works of art like this one is rich with it – for tracking, maintaining, securing, shipping, and financially auditing these assets – kept under strict confidentiality to protect its owner from taxes, duties, or other forms of scrutiny, as well as to mitigate the burdens of storing and protecting an illiquid asset.
Additionally, the human capital and real estate necessary to maintain a high-security storage facility requires a variety of forms of data collection, including biometrics, environmental readings, digital passcodes and locks, as well as the data associated with each work’s physical dimensions, location, and insured value. For this analysis, attention will be focused on how this single artwork would move through the ARCIS Storage Facility in Harlem, one of many comparable storage facilities in the city and around the world. By breaking down the process of holding a commodified artwork, one will see the layers of data, labor, infrastructure, shipping systems, and various legal and financial systems that interconnect to support the international art market.
Known as the “Avengers Building” because of its similarly-looking logo, ARCIS (Latin for “fortress”) is a 110,000 square-foot facility in Harlem, New York.
ARCIS is one of many “artports” that exist in the world. An artport is a facility that acts as a Foreign Trade Zone – essentially a grey zone that is both in the United States and out of it. Transactions here are not subjected to local or federal taxes. For example, if one were to buy a piece of art in Paris and import it to ARCIS only to sell it to someone in Hong Kong, it never technically entered the United States and therefore avoids the usual duties. As an epicenter of the global art market, it is appropriate that New York has a Foreign Trade Zone, although many other major cities such as in Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco, Delaware, and Singapore also have them. Global art sales reached $63.7 billion in 2017, bolstering the market’s need for secure tax loopholes such as ARCIS.
According to the company’s website, “ARCIS’ mission is to protect and preserve the world’s cultural legacy, providing expert care for discerning national and international clientele in a state-of-the-art, highly secure and climate-controlled art storage facility.” While ARCIS does not disclose the quantity and value of its holdings, it is safe to assume the number ranges in the billions of dollars.
ARCIS is undoubtedly a secure building. It is situated 19 feet above sea level, which protects it from the dangers of hurricane surges and flood zones. In order to enter the building, visitors must first enter a holding room described as a “mantrap” because only one door can open at a time. Regular clients often register their biometrics with the company, which includes vascular scans of their fingers’s blood vessels.
This measure is taken because veins have a greater longevity than fingerprints. Managers at ARCIS have their irises scanned in order to gain access to the facility.
The internal climate and environmental conditions are also tightly regulated. The air inside ARCIS is changed three times per hour, and the temperature is held at 70 degrees Fahrenheit with 50 percent humidity. These conditions are sustained by adding ultra-pure water to the air using a method called “atomization.”
Artwork that arrives at ARCIS goes through an equally rigorous process. The items are delivered on climate-controlled trucks in impact-resistant crates. They are escorted through various checkpoints by trained art handlers to designated storage lockers. Privacy is a high priority, and measures like special grills that allow airflow but prohibit sight into adjacent rooms uphold this system. While the storage units are locked with manual locks and keys, the keys are stored in a biometrically-controlled box that is monitored by cameras and electronic records when one is taken out.
The hardware in the facility to transport and display artworks is telling of the value and size of works stored inside: ARCIS has five viewing rooms up to 1,000-square feet with 16-foot ceilings, and a crane that can lift 4,000 pounds.
Art storage facilities like ARCIS are notoriously secretive, much like their high-profile and high-net worth clients, which likely include galleries and museums. In order to maintain the integrity and reputation of their services, client information and data about facilities’ holdings are highly confidential. However, the infrastructure and systems in place at ARCIS are likely used in comparable warehouses around the world. These locations work in tandem with one another as they serve the same clients and thus the same interests. While these companies require large amounts of physical space to conduct their business, they also need a significantly sized digital infrastructure to hold valuable biometric data and financial records. When these optimized systems work effectively and efficiently, the multi-billion-dollar art market can continue to operate unregulated on a global scale. To this end, several parties can trade that $100,000 piece of art multiple times without adhering to conventional laws and tax codes, in order to have their collections appreciate in value out of the public eye.
References
“About Us,” ACRIS, accessed Feb 23, 2020, https://www.arcisartstorage.com/about-us/.
Bowley, Graham and Doreen Carvajal. “One of the World’s Greatest Art Collections Hides Behind this Fence.” New York Times, May 28, 2016. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/arts/design/one-of-the-worlds-greatest-art-collections-hides-behind-this-fence.html.
Crow, Kelly. “A New Tax-Free Way to Store Art.” Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2017. https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-new-tax-free-way-to-store-art-1488492871.
Grant, Daniel. “As Art Collections Grow, so do the Places that Stash Them.” New York Times, Nov. 13, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/13/business/art-storage.html.
Haigney, Sophie. “Step Inside New York’s Art Fortress.” New York Times, Sept. 13, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/13/arts/artport-storage-new-york.html.