The HAMMER TIME exhibition-auction is an exhibition and performance event that aims to generate a micro-investigation into the value of an artwork from a peripheral position in relation to the market. At the same time, "Hammer Time" is a fundraising event, with proceeds supporting both the participating artists and the sustainability of the Zaratan association's activities.
Participation in the event was open to everyone, who were invited to submit applications, and from the selection process, we gathered over 80 physical and digital works by national and international artists.
The contemporary art system is articulated in structures and circuits of production, circulation, sale, and valuation, in which various actors play roles of synergy or antagonism. By pantomiming the auction structure [as a market institution characterized by an explicit set of rules], Zaratan [as an independent space] seeks to test possible alternative accesses to the so-called commercial art world, but always presenting challenging work without yielding to the trends and fashions of official circuits.
The analysis of the connection between the aesthetic and economic value of a work is crucial to understanding the general meaning of artistic production as a peculiar phenomenon of the culture or subculture we live in. The value of an artwork, considered only from the point of view of who loves it, owns it, or wants to own it, is immeasurable. As aesthetic value cannot be completely objectified or quantified, a work has value as long as it can be publicly appreciated; that is, it needs a public space where the sharing of evaluations of forms can happen.
The institutional channels of art – museums, galleries, foundations – used to provide this function, and still do to some extent, when they are not corrupted by individuals who manipulate art merely as an investment. The prevailing financial system has transformed several of the large public cultural institutions into a circus of promotion and commercialization, forgetting the value of the connection between public and artistic creativity.
Responding to the absence of alternative modes of production and cultural sustainability, Zaratan aims to be this space for discussion and to engage collective participation in a way that instigates a public debate, in auction format, about the valuation of contemporary aesthetic production.
The exhibition includes 4 performative auctions conducted [live and digitally simultaneously] by a contracting agent invited by Zaratan: the artist João Pedro Branco.

AUCTION RULES:
It is possible to place a bid in several ways:
PHYSICALLY: by attending Zaratan – Arte Contemporânea on the auction days (November 8, 16, 23, December 7) or by delivering a bid in a sealed envelope to the gallery assistant during the exhibition's opening hours (Thu-Sun; 16:00-20:00).
VIRTUALLY: it is possible to follow the auction via live stream and send a bid in real-time via e-mail or phone (info@zaratan.pt or 965 218 382). The live stream will be available on Zaratan's Youtube or Facebook shortly before the auctions begin.
The participants who placed the highest bids win, provided the minimum reserve price has been met. The reserve price of the works is not accessible to the public. As they are sold, the pieces are removed from the exhibition.