The following is an excerpt from a document of 30 thoughts on NFT art that were composed in the Spring of 2021.
These thoughts are scattered, casual, misguided, naïve, and at times reckless.
At the very least, I hope they will inspire discussions and debates.
– Ryan Mcginness
Hope
The promise and hope of cyberspace was that we would leave behind the trappings of the old world, including property rights. The sins of greed, pride, and envy will always poison all realms of humanity. Let us embrace our sins.
The Wall
NFT artworks are not the shadows on Plato’s cave wall. They are the wall.
Le Petite Mort
NFT artworks are pure orgasm, without the extraneousness of love, passion, stimulation, or even simulation.
Spirit in the Sky
This is spiritual commerce. It is the endgame of consumerism. This is buying as a concept, distilled down to a feeling without any real exchange. The symbolic gesture of purchasing and selling an NFT is the creation of value and mainlines self-actualization.
Meaning in Gesture
The meaning of an NFT artwork is meaningless because it is the gesture of purchasing and selling that is the real art.
Cover Art
The artwork is attached to the concept of the NFT. It is an album cover.
Indigenous Art
The best NFT artworks are purely digital, and not mere reproductions of previously expressed mediums. And, an NFT artwork increases its integrity by refusing to be associated with an object IRL. Furthermore, the ultimate NFT artwork would have no retinal image at all.
If Digital, Then Free.
Only in Heaven. We live on Earth.
Entertainment
Markets are spectator sports. Finance is entertainment. The best entertainment exists in the service of the audience. The best art does not.
Aggrandizing
“Rare Digital Art” = “Giclée Print”