There is a generalised and bibliographically documented confusion of opinions and perennial exploratory debates when we attempt to answer the question "what is art?".
Our understanding of the world of art becomes even more complex when we consider how it has been transformed, fermented, and given certificates of authenticity and value over the centuries. Studies upon studies devoted to explaining what the viewer sees, hears, and experiences. An entire mechanism is based on explaining what is seen, heard, and experienced. This ignores the viewer's perspective or even the process of getting into art. An era where art is made by the critic for the critic. The artist is unable to communicate directly with his audience. He seeks refuge in a gallery or a museum from his first professional steps, in the concept of "belonging," the portal to his community. The art world, which reflects Danto’s meaning, defines both the very nature of art and the aesthetics of the public. As a secondary measure, the gallery's guardians advise the artists not to sell their works directly to the public (always at lower prices) but rather through the gallery.
The phrase "we have seen it all in art" is often heard in academic circles, particularly in the modern art world where it seems that everything has been recycled from previous centuries. However, the emergence of NFTs challenges this mentality. In the context of the momentous art world, perhaps everything is indeed recycled, and the eyes of rigid academic rational observation may no longer be able to see the new, the innovative, even the ephemeral. The adoption of NFTs by the art world is seen as a way to maintain its prestige, which has been declining due to the state of Western economic liberalism that helped shape it.
This partnership highlights the contradictory nature of the relationship between the established art world and the emergence of NFTs. On one hand, the established art world has a long history of exerting control over artistic production and dictating global tastes, aesthetics, and standards of beauty. On the other hand, the rise of NFTs represents a departure from this traditional model and challenges the established art world's dominance. This creates an oxymoronic dynamic in which the established art world must grapple with the emergence of a new and potentially disruptive technology. This world now embraces the world of NFTs. A world of decentralisation and P2P communication. An online artistic universe, where the artist is the spiritual and financial administrator of his work. A time in space when the Collectors are no longer just members of empires, churches, and ruling classes, but your twenty-year-old neighbour, classmate, and you. Finally, a world that allows direct communication between artists and audiences. NFTs were introduced into our lives, their appearance and establishment finally invite us to redefine the nature of the art world.
In most cases, art is defined through institutions. For the first time, art can be set free, and perhaps only in this way will it give us answers about its nature and definition. Through NFTs, we can escape the sterile reproduction of academic culture and directly interact with the artist. In this way, critics and viewers can experience art with their own independent eyes and form their own opinions.
Bonus: It is worth mentioning the highly renowned Kevin McCoy's Quantum NFT, which is widely considered one of the most significant NFTs in existence. Created on the Namecoin blockchain and sold for a record-breaking price of $1 million at Sotheby's in 2021, Quantum has established itself as an unrivaled force in the world of NFTs.
Photo's source Kevin McCoy https://www.instagram.com/mccoyspace/?hl=en
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