This work is for the visionaries!
1000 eth = sold. Is that crazy? Perhaps but it proves an important point about the state of our world and power of blockchain.
What is this?
A -mix and match- work of pastiche, with vaporwaveâish, retro-futurist and mystical influences to signal the confusion of the post-pandemic world of capitalism.
What does that mean?
Pandemics often signal the beginning of a new world. Now too it is clear that out of the political, economic, philosophical, artistic and even scientific confusion a new world will immerge. This NFT is a testimony of those changes.
Why does this work have value?
Why does a work of art have value at all? Does it not make sense that a beautiful realistic, esthetically pleasing painting is worth a lot? As Walter Benjamin and others recognized, this is no longer a valid reason in the âage of mechanical reproductionâ. One could even think that art would become worthless altogether as soon as humanity is able to mass-produce it. This, however, did not happen, on the contrary. Not the art itself has value but the authenticity does. Having the original, with its âideasâ, the âauraâ as Benjamin puts it, is paramount. Such ideas paved the way for all sorts of abstract art. It is a beautiful form of what Marx called âcommodity fetishismâ.
OK, and what about today?
In 2021 these ideas of modernity and postmodernity are brought to their ultimate conclusion, beyond what thinkers like Marx and Benjamin could have ever imagined. Elon Musk wonders if we live in a simulation. With a volatile economy based on hot air, AI rapidly taking over and amounts of news and conspiratorial (mis)information so fast, we can only conclude that, one way or another, we do live in a crazy simulated world. Not only can works be replicated in this world, it is physically impossible to separate a copy from the original.. This is where the blockchain comes in.
Just as with crypto currencies, the blockchain is a mathematical construct âexistingâ outside of space and time which transcends this meaninglessness, forever encapsulating the authentic aura of the work. That is what I offer.
-R.S.
** buyer will receive original project files and proof of my identity if requested!
