the significant Bitcoin price drop from $47,000 to $16,000 in 2022, along with a related drop in the average price of NFT art from $3,200 in 2021 to $1,200 by the end of 2022, led many commentators to declare a “crypto winter.”
But the authors of The history of NFTs: artists, technology and democracy, a new book released on March 7 with rizzoli — offer a different metaphor. Co-author amy whitaker He told nftnow that the structure of NFTs and cryptocurrencies is similar to walking in Yosemite, where there was a forest fire several years before.
“Giant trees survived thanks to their unharmed roots. The medium trees were decimated, absolutely charred, like giant blackened toothpicks. The forest floor was covered in a chaotic, green regrowth.” Whitaker continued: “We’re looking at something similar today. The forest floor is the most interesting because that’s where creator royalties are changing the structural economics of being an artist, or a creative worker in whatever field.”
In recent months, the arts field has seen some NFT artists being recognized by stalwart “giant tree” institutions: so far, in 2023, the Pompidou Center and LACMA announced major NFT acquisitions. And in December 2022, the Buffalo AKG Museum of Art organized the first NFT museum retrospectivecurated by Tina Rivers Ryan.
Whitaker co-authored Nora Burnett Abrams, director of the Denver Museum of Contemporary Art, echoed the wildfire analogy. “We are already witnessing new approaches to creating, presenting and collecting art,” said Burnett Abrams. “And with enthusiasm, the invitation to new audiences and other interested parties to participate.”
His book aims to locate NFTs in a longer root structure of conceptual art practices, going back to Sol LeWitt. wall drawings since the late 1960s. The practice of issuing certificates of authenticity for concept art echoes the NFT’s role of registering ownership of a work of art (a set of instructions) that would otherwise be difficult to of “possess”.
Whitaker and Burnett Abrams also take readers through the economic precursors of NFTs: the 1971 artist reservation rights transfer and sale agreementthat allowed artists to claim 15 percent of the increased value when a work of art was resold.
As blockchain platforms debate resale royalties, this story of artist activism places recent innovation in a broader context. The book is structured around the many intersecting stories of NFTs, not just the “money” and “technology” stories of cryptocurrency, but also the “artist” and “democracy” stories of shaping the future. .
If “winter” is a metaphor for cooling, the forest fire is an idea of regrowth. As Burnett Abrams says: “I’ve always thought of artists as the ‘seers’ who help propel us into the future.”
The history of NFTs draws on Whitaker’s work as a long-time blockchain researcher and professor, and Burnett Abrams’ work at MCA Denver to create an unusually warm invitation to the NFT art history prequel, as a set of questions essential for the future. It also turns out to be a wonderful tabletop book, featuring the vibrant work of Addie Wagenknecht. Rainbow Eugene Man adorning the cover.
Anne Bracegirdle is web3 and partnerships strategic advisor for FKB Studio, previously Vice President of Business Development at metaversal. She was a co-founder of Christie’s Art + Tech Summit in 2018 and the Art & Antiquities Blockchain Consortium. find it in @anabracegirdle.
