Alongside Rutherford Chang, Leander Herzog, Kim Asendorf, Shl0ms, Roope Rainisto and Jack Butcher, the book also includes 60s computer compositions by A. Michael Noll, Rafael Rozendaal’s trippy patchwork art recently shown in MoMa, generative WebGL artworks, and Anna Ridler’s early and important NFTs, all of which share unique relationships with the digital medium and the act of viewing art through the desktop. NFTs can take all sorts of surprising forms – some look like fine art, classical even, whereas others can look distinctly digital.
“Both Herzog and Asendorf in their own respective ways with Infinite Garden and PXL DEX have created technically complex work that uses the blockchain as a medium to create collaborative works that engage the collector,” says Robert. “Speaking of engaging collectors, Sam Spratt’s Monument Game and Butcher’s Checks have both continued to express the convergence of game theory within digital art, alongside the idea of collector as co-creator in the work.” Even poets are on the blockchain now, but this informative book destined for your Metaverse coffee-table argues that the concept, which still escapes the public’s whole-hearted acceptance, is the future.
“There is no world with AI without NFTs. In a world of exponential synthetic image and video generation, where you can’t tell what is real or not, how will you be able to know an image of google is real?” asks Robert. “In a world of AI artists, what system will an AI feel most comfortable with, liaising with a gallery? Or a permissionless blockchain?” With NFT’s unique relationship with provable ownership and digital collecting, they can create a space for artists where they have an intimate connection with how their art is distributed, stored, bought and traded, especially as a more sophisticated digital art market has emerged.