Contemporary Aesthetics of NFTs: The Biocentric Experience of Origin and Originality of an NFT

Authors

  • Vladimir Popov

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i29.537

Keywords:

NFT, metamedium, biocentrism, digital art, aesthetics

Abstract

This paper explores the contemporary aesthetics of one of the latest forms of digital art known as non-fungible tokens, aka NFTs, and how and why they are affecting and shaping today’s society. Using Manovich’s theory of metamedium, Lanza’s theory of biocentrism, blockchain technology, and NFTs can be theorized as a form of medium which represents many other media while augmenting them with many new properties. The main theoretical problem with NFTs in the domain of art theory is the question of their originality. When put to use through various digital art collections and online tech platforms, the backend section of the blockchain smart contract code also becomes part of art, hence it can sometimes be difficult to define NFTs’ originality of the art itself. Due to the repetitive nature of NFTs, it can be argued that the most unique component of the NFT metamedium is not art, or blockchain smart contract, but the owner of the digital art piece. With the collection of 10,000 similar pieces of art, the originality of art is evolving through the ideology of cultural groups associated with desired collections. It is shifting from the art itself to the owner. Throughout the unification of technology, software, and art, artists have a new way to extend their creations, while actively participating in the shaping of the cultural landscape. This gives both creators and collectors of the NFT metamedium a brand-new transcending meta experience beyond the art itself that gives a unique point to the originality of the art piece.

Article received: May 8, 2022; Article accepted: July 15, 2022; Published online: October 15, 2022; Original scholarly paper

Author Biography

Vladimir Popov

Faculty of Media and Communication, Singidunum University, Belgrade
Serbia

Vladimir Popov (b. 1982) was born in Zrenjanin, Serbia. He graduated from the Technical Faculty Mihajlo Pupin in Zrenjanin with an MSc in information technologies. He continued his education at the Faculty of Media and Communications in Belgrade, Singidunum University, where he is currently a Ph.D. student at the program of Transdisciplinary Studies of Contemporary Art and Media. During his professional artist career, he worked in the field of commercial illustration and sequential storytelling for various US and European publishers, such as Z2 Comics, Scout Comics, Dark Horse, Vault Comics, Top Cow, Image Comics, IDW Publishing, Boom Studios, Dynamite Entertainment, Stela, DoubleTake, Wired Magazine, Soleil, Glenat, La Feltrinelli, and others on high-profile licensed titles such as Clive Barker's Hellraiser and Next Testament, Robocop, Steed and Mrs. Peel, Noir, Pathfinder, Cartoon Network's Adventure Time and Amazing World of Gumball, Maze Runner and other creator-owned titles, multimedia projects, crypto art, etc.

References

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Published

15.10.2022

How to Cite

Popov, V. (2022). Contemporary Aesthetics of NFTs: The Biocentric Experience of Origin and Originality of an NFT. AM Journal of Art and Media Studies, (29), 57–65. https://doi.org/10.25038/am.v0i29.537

Issue

Section

Main Topic: Contemporary Aesthetics of Art and Technology