NFTs don't strike me as intrinsically interesting, but the seeming
inability of conventional leftish/academic to address them *is*
interesting. I'd be hard-pressed to think of another time when it seemed
so clear that the force of criticism has been *to categorize* — that
is, to dispense with the rough edges of specificity in order file
something away as quickly as possible and reaffirm the big picture.
That's not without its benefits; for example, it can spin off all kinds
of erudition. But it shouldn't be hard to do all that *and also*
acknowledge that some curious new spaces might be opening up. It seems
to me that that victory of more or less disciplinary self-regard over
the raw potential of things is pretty much a case study in
performativity. And, like a lot of performativity these days, it feels
less than promising.
Here are three articles on the subject that I thought were worth the
time. Just retweeting, not endorsing, as they say. But when a supermodel
is doing tactical media that's far more compelling than all of nettime
combined, and writing about it in ways that radiate relevance to issues
that are (let's say) less 'pale, male, and stale,' it's time for a
rethink.
Links below, obv.
Cheers,
Ted
---
(1) How many layers of copyright infringement are in Emily
Ratajkowski’s new NFT? Ratajkowski trolls an art troll
Jacob Kastrenakes
Apr 24, 2021
https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/24/22399790/emily-ratajkowski-nft-christies-copyright-nightmare-richard-prince
👉🏼 note the link to her essay "Buying Myself Back When does a
model own her own image?" (Sept. 15, 2020)
https://www.thecut.com/article/emily-ratajkowski-owning-my-image-essay.html
(2) The Downward Spiral: Popular Things
Dean Kissick
(n.d.)
https://www.spikeartmagazine.com/articles/downward-spiral-popular-things-dean-kissick
(3) The One Redeeming Quality of NFTs Might Not Even Exist
Kal Raustiala and Christopher Jon Sprigman
April 14, 2021
https://slate.com/technology/2021/04/nfts-digital-art-authenticity-problem.html
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