What?

The Artists' Lottery Syndicate is a forty-strong collective of UK based artists who are joining forces to play The National Lottery over the course of a year, with the hope of hitting the jackpot. The Syndicate will run from 1 July 2010 - 1 July 2011.

Why?

As a reaction to the recession and its knock-on effect on arts funding, the Artists' Lottery Syndicate is a speculative new scheme for acquiring funds for artists. By utilising the element of 'luck', which plays such a central role in an artist's career, the Syndicate aims to explore the prevalent 'winner-takes-all' market of the arts, described by Hans Abbing in his book Why Are Artists Poor?

As well as these cynical undertones, playing on the 'lucky break' aspirations of many artists, the Syndicate also has a collective spirit. Inspired by the definition of a 'syndicate' as a group of people 'joining forces', working together for a common goal, it aims to be a social coming-together of a group of aspirational artists supporting each other into the new 'age of austerity'.

Just imagine if we won! Forty artists in press shots; smiling, holding a giant cheque and spraying champagne in the air! Would that not be the greatest artwork ever made?

Get Involved

Following its launch on 1 April 2010, the Artists' Lottery Syndicate has now recruited its forty members.

People are invited to monitor the progress and success of the Artists' Lottery Syndicate over the course of the year, by joining our Facebook page or following us on Twitter.