Artist trading cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern baseball cards,[1] or 2 ½ X 3 ½ inches (63 mm X 89 mm),[2] small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets.[3] The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland.[4] Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or cloth. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals (ACEOs).
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M. Vänçi Stirnemann is credited in many circles with popularizing the modern artist trading card in 1996,[5] holding trading sessions in Zurich, Switzerland. This resurgence of interest of Artists trading cards has spawned the popular ACEO (art card editions and originals) movement. Many people consider ATCs and ACEOs to be one and the same. Others feel they are decidedly different pieces of art.
An offshoot of artist trading cards are art card editions and originals (ACEOs), which originated when some artists began to create cards to sell, in addition to trading among themselves. Many ACEOs are sold on internet auction sites, such as eBay. As the term suggests, ACEOs may be small original works of art, or editions of small prints.
As one example, Michael Leavitt specifically designed his Art Cards (2001–03) to be appreciated as originals unto themselves. His hand-painted small portraits of artists replicated traditional baseball trading cards in style and format.[6] ArtCard subjects were drawn from varied genre, with icons such as Vincent Van Gogh, David Byrne, Bob Ross, Frida Kahlo, Jackson Pollock, Laurie Anderson, Björk, and Michael Jackson. The limited editions were hand-packed in wrappers with bubble gum, as Art Cards were sold personally by Leavitt and exhibited as art objects.[7][8] Leavitt said, "It's a way I created to compare people and what they do across all kinds of different areas."[9]
As for an earlier example, in 1991, Cleury Champion first sold his cards through the catalog of his avant-garde magazine eXpErImEnTaL (bAsEmEnT). Champion's most recognized cards were playing cards with experimental poems of John M. Bennett rubber stamped on the face.[10]