Hi John,
I loved this article, especially “I want to meet the artists and hear their stories about why they make what they make. I don’t want to go to the parties.”
I started Gertrude (www.gertrude.co) a few months ago in NYC exactly on this thought. Instead of using technology to commodify art via an online marketplace, I am more interested in using technology to match collectors and artists so they can meet at intimate, real life one-hour events (we call them Salons, like one by Gertrude Stein).
It would be cool to meet, we are in Brooklyn too! Kenneth (twitter @kschlenker)