Two Art Historians Discuss NFTs: Part Two: Cryptoart vs. Conceptualism

7/7/2021

In this follow-up to our discussion of NFTs and the NFT market, we consider how so-called "cryptoart"--or digital art that is bought and sold with NFTs--relates to the history of Conceptual art, which is often cited by those in the crypto community as its precedent. While most cryptoart is not "Conceptual art," it's not unrelated to it, either: both raise questions about the nature and value of art. The episode concludes with a brief discussion of some artworks by artists who are using blockchains to make art that really IS Conceptual, and who treat blockchain as a medium, and not just a transactional tool.

LINKS

Rhea Myers
Plantoid
0x
Proof of Work
"Pieces of Me"
Feral File

1 Comment

Danius Cambella

7/14/2021 01:00:18 pm

Tina makes it seem like the element of conceptualism must be present in an artwork in order for it to be deemed relevant. This may be the way museums and institution place value upon artwork, but it doesn't necessarily apply to the way the general public values artwork. Crypto art and NFTs increase the availability of artwork to a broader range of the general public, meaning that more of the valuation and relevance of art is placed out of the hands of the institutions. Understandably, museums and institutions may not like this. Institutionally-trained art historians won't like it either.

Has she considered that the nft movement may be a stance against conceptualism in art?

She critiques NFT culture as elitist due to the need to have technological knowhow of how to set up a wallet for example. My response to this is that museums and institutions have consistently pushed the idea of elitism into art over time. How many visitors to contemporary art museums have responded with "I don't get it, how is this art?"? In order to understand the art, one must have some sort of specialized academic knowledge or understanding of history, or medium, or some other factor that is alienating to the average person. Setting up a crypto wallet can be achieved by following a series of steps. Understanding a modern day conceptual work requires tons of reading and questioning, and then even still the work may not be fully understood.

The two artworks that she mentions as significant and relevant to the current NFT movement are operating upon a different token standard. The two artworks are from 2014 -2015, while the implementation of the erc-721 standard occured in 2018, three years later. While the works are thoughtful critiques of early nft tenons, the works don't encompass the traits of the erc-721 token standard such as transferability and non-fungibility which are what has given rise to the the NFT movement. Instead, I see the two artists and the works described as residing in an awkward moment of transition between traditional ideas of art (the conceptual and the physical) and the post erc-721 ideas of art (natively digital and intentionally lacking conceptualism). I think better examples of artists and artworks could have been given.

Two Art Historians Discuss NFTs: Part Two: Cryptoart vs. Conceptualism

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