Page 168 - Flaunt 175 - Diana

surf’s up dude! the wild
and wacky crypto pipeline is gnarlier than ever, and while the Great White Shark—the Art World—or at least its more dyed in the wool Collectors, look upward and outward with squinty reluctance at the unseasonably savory swells, an arguably democratizing and inarguably bizarre moment has arrived upon our cultural shores.Yes, Non-Fungible Tokens (transactional digital artworks, basically) are the soup du jour, the talk of the town. The ‘‘minting’’
of NFTs and their online brokerage are creating a sort of cultural craze as a new lexicon of price tags, platforms, ownership, transference, unlockabili- ty—all pegged to ‘‘Ethere- um’’, a digital currency— have seen entities as varied as The NBA to Kings of Leon to David Zwirner dip their toes in the salty seas of next generation creative commerce and propriety. And it’s really fun! It’s also really weird, and by the time you read this, things will already have changed in the space, as the cultural phenomena is shape-shift- ing on a daily basis (a la the corny oceanic wave metaphor above).
Enter artist Jen Stark,
a multi-media artist who
lives out here in LA, and
whose optically-seduc-
tive sculptures, paintings,
animations, and mojo make
her an extremely appealing
prospect in the NFT and
crypto art world. Stark is
that 21st century sweet spot
of artistic talent—like, you
can actually touch much of
her super cool work—met with a curiosity and enthusiasm for in- novation and invention in the digital stratosphere. A killer hybrid! And, like much of the conversation as it concerns the NFT dance, Stark’s dynamism is evidenced, accounted for, and documented online (one of the “weirder” symptoms of artsy crypto-capitula- tion, she’ll remark to me). To whit: Stark, who created this issue’s art cover, became one of the more notable names in the NFT ex- plosion a couple months back, when her artwork, Multiverse, sold to a collector for 150 Ethereum. At the time, that sum amounted to $250,000. At present (and again we’re bearing in mind what is likely to be a yo-yo style journey as it relates to Ethereum valua- tion in the coming weeks, months, whatever), the artwork—now of course no longer in Stark’s “possession”, but in the “posses- sion” of a person online, in an exclusive online network of other crypto-enthusiasts—values at something closer to $620,000. Jesus
Christ!!! What the hell is going on!?!?!
Naturally, there’s some balking afoot regards certain NFT
successes, given so many of these online commodities are exclu- sively that—rendered in Illustrator, After Effects, or the like—nev- er to take that first step in the real world. Add that some of these artworks are fetching considerably higher sums than those of other artists who render bronze into realistic figures, or use oil
to paint stunning scenery, could be said to leave a lot of room for detestation. For wariness, for dismissiveness.
But that’s the Art World, kids. What works for one does not work for another, and many will attest that the real art is navigat- ing the complex system of buying and selling it. So kudos to what many consider a great democratization and decentralization of the power-fixated and privilege-laden structures that be! For Stark,
I can only imagine her desirability online will aide in the sales of her IRL works.Who knows...
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JEN STARK. “REFLECTIVE GRADIENT” (2016). MIRRORED STAINLESS STEEL, SPRAY PAINT. 45” X 96” X 1”. COURTESY OF THE ARTIST.