NFTs, explained [Banana Edition]

mint [at] /vv 

link + provenance

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entropy fightoor gillesdc.com ~ /gillesdc

24h

https://gillesdc.worldcomputer.art/0x2fbc797edcf6763e47aefa92e8666e3a2da22ae9/1

1/

Art Basel 2019, Miami

Maurizio Cattelan duct-tapes a banana to a wall, declares it "art" and sells two editions for $120k each

the banana, bought for 30 cents at a local grocery store, was eaten shortly ("delicious" ) but the collector doesn't care

2/

the collector doesn't care because the art was not to be found in its material instance but somewhere else

where is the art, then?

in the concept? in the moment of creation? in the expression of zeitgeist?

3/

regardless, no one thinks a banana is a work of art, no more than a random canvas hanging in the Louvre is the Mona Lisa

important is the distinction between physical instance and original idea inspiring it — instances can be infinite ∞ vs. the concept is 1-1

4/

who knows how many people taped fruit to a wall before Catellan

nobody thought that concept was "art" until the moment he did and sold it as "art"

as gallery owner Emmanuel Perrotin put it:
"if you don't sell the work as a work of art, it's not a work of art"

5/

ever since, anyone who duct-tapes fruit to a wall today and inevitably evokes Cattelan; meaning so or not

all re-enactments, replicas and derivatives lead back to the original moment in time and its concept; in fact accruing its value (also known as "cultural capital")

6/

how do you own a concept?

in the banana case, ownership was transferred from artist to collector as a paper certificate

authenticating the concept through metadata; mainly timestamps, descriptions and photographs

you can thus own "Comedian" without having the banana

7/

can you own the Mona Lisa without having the painting? since you'd denounce theft from ownership of its certificate: yes

in fact, ownership record and physical instance are more often separated than not; a skyscraper will be in Manhattan, its ownership somewhere else

8/

but paper certificates are flawed; they can be lost, destroyed, falsified

the superior authentication technology is of course blockchain; where the record is digitally unique and immutable by design: non-fungible tokens

no forgery experts needed

9/

the NFT is minted by the artist at the time of creation, recording a moment otherwise lost in time

every instantiation of this concept since leads back to that original moment, and thus grows the cultural capital of the NFT authenticating it

10/

1 idea, ∞ instances

this entire thread and more is much more elegantly captured by 
@jack

10/

1 idea, ∞ instances

this entire thread and more is much more elegantly captured by 
@jack 

https://x.com/visualizevalue/status/1476175140174057472

11/

the art of "Comedian" is not in the banana, but in the commentary his act represents on the question of what we really value, suggesting the actual object doesn't mean anything: it's all about the idea

12/

as I write this 5 years later (Nov 20, 2024), "Comedian" is set to be auctioned at Sotheby's in New York, expected to sell for up to $1.5m

the point Cattelan made has aged like fine wine, its cultural capital has exploded, and all of it is captured in what should be an NFT