WTF is an NFT, the first collaboration between Artsted.com and CONDOMINIO, was an exclusive phygital event gathering artists, curators, and experts to discuss the new Web 3.0 and crypto art technologies, engaging participants in a conversation entirely focused on digital art and NFTs, explaining and tackling the dynamics of crypto and the art world.

In case you have missed it, we will wrap up what happened in the pop up event held at the CONDOMINIO headquarters last friday April 1st, 2022, on the occasion of Milan Art Week:

This collaboration between Artsted.com and CONDOMINIO was born with the purpose of bringing the general public closer to the world of digital art and NFT technologies, and to share new digital horizons and artistic possibilities that Web 3.0 has made possible to the art community at large.

The speakers - CEO & Founder Artsted.com Maryna Rybakova; visual artists Jure Kastelic and Young Agamben; curator Anna Vittoria Magagna and Alessandro Calabrese, Creative director of CONDOMINIO - explained the theoretical and practical notions about the NFT process, as well as their repercussions in the art market and collecting system.

After a brief introduction on how NFTs function by Maryna Rybakova, Young Agamben and Jure Kastelic shared their experiences as artists and creators in the context of NFTs.
Both of them have started their careers in a traditional artistic setting and engaged with NFTs later in their works, connecting gradually to this fascinating phenomenon.

Young Agamben’s art practice plays with the intersection of art and philosophy, and challenges the distinction between theory and praxis. The artworks displayed in the Condominio exhibition are memes created by associating alternative meanings to renaissance paintings, and are part of a conceptual destructuring process. With these works, the artist provokes the notions of collecting and the function of crypto art in capitalistic societies, questioning the overall concept of economic value:

If the NFT does nothing but relaunch in a contemporary key the great game of collecting, then it is good if the thirst for possession (of Being) is aimed at sublimated objects rather than bodies and territories. (..) It all depends on the fate of the infrastructure that supports the process of dematerialization of the symbolic within a new stage of abstraction
Young Agamben

Jure Kastelic’s work moves from a traditional way of painting but with a strong connection with the crypto world. He has been exhibiting since 2016 and he developed an early interest towards cryptocurrencies and their mechanisms, in particular towards the technicalities behind the blockchain technology. Carrying on with these interests, he soon entered the scene of crypto art, interrogating the essence of money and its representation in the imaginary of communities. The artists’ current works, exhibited in CONDOMINIO, develop the theme of a dialogue between physical and virtual experience of art. During the talk, Jure Kastelic shared his experience as an artist and NFTs enthusiast, disentangling the point of view of an artist and collector in this dynamic environment.

I see NFTs more like a packaging, the NFT is the container for the digital item. The further you go from the bubble, the broader the application of such technology will be.
Jure Kastelic

Curator Anna Vittoria Magagna, contributed to the talk underlying the importance of this shift from a sociological point of view:

NFTs are a revolution, where artists started to directly market themselves; collectors have become community based, we don’t know them, they are anonymous.
(...)
On the curating side things are changing. Educating the audience to this duplicity of the art world is fundamental as NFTs are gradually being more present and established.

The debate touched various topics regarding the mechanisms related to blockchain connecting, and its advantages for digital artist:

NFTs also enable royalties, and they enable royalties in the secondary market. In the secondary market it is often sold without complying with the law. This constitutes a huge change for the Artists.
Maryna Rybakova

In this environment, it is possible to disseminate digital content in ways that are trackable, legal for the artists.
Jure Kastelic

After the talk and the open discussion, the audience was given the possibility of receiving in their personal wallet a free NFT work made by Young Agamben, and to experience - through AR glasses - a work by Jure Kastelic combining the physical environment with three-dimensional virtual images, creating a unique experience.

In the context of the Milan Art Week, WTF is an NFT has been a unique event, tackling the new innovative ways of creating and experiencing art.

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Stay tuned to know more about events and insights from the art and crypto art world on our Artsted.com blog.