21/12/2021 Brian Eno is not a fan of NFTs

brian eno-shamil tanna-01

If you were saving up Ethereum for a set ofDiscreet MusicNFTs, we’ve got bad news. Inan interview withCrypto Syllabus(conducted by longtime tech criticEvgeny Morozov, of all people), Eno outed himself as a skeptic of cryptocurrency — and NFTs in particular.

“NFTs seem to me just a way for artists to get a little piece of the action from global capitalism, our own cute little version of financialization,” Eno told Morozov. “How sweet — now artists can become little capitalist assholes as well.”

Best known for his pioneering ambient work and prolific producer credits, Eno seems like the perfect artist for the NFT era. He’s spent decades making art with an eye towards technology and its social implications, often made available assoftwareorlimited-edition product drops. Eno was a particularly early proponent ofalgorithmically generated art, pioneering the same basic process that produced those endless minutely varied monkey portraits for the Bored Ape crew. It would be easy for him to bank a few million pounds by turning this generative iPad app, say, into a string of 10,000 numbered NFTs.

But as he describes it in the interview, taking the NFT turn would be pointless as an artistic move and craven as a financial calculation.

“I am not sure what is being brought into the world that makes any difference to anything other than some strings of numbers moving about in some bank accounts,” Eno continues. “People I like and trust are convinced they’re the best thing since sliced bread, so I wish I could have a more positive view, but right now, I mainly see hustlers looking for suckers.”

Arts

https://www.theverge.com/2021/12/20/22846654/brian-eno-nft-crypto-skeptical-morozov-suckers

Interesting NFTs
The Harvest
An anthropomorphic figure stands, wide eyed, staring at the viewer; its body masculine, muscular, and humanoid. Its “mind” dissociates into a conglomerate of structures resembling feathers, grain, teeth–as well as a radial flower “node”, casting linear rays throughout the composition. To his left, a vat of bodies gesture and writhe in a kind of amniotic soup, attended by a video game robot. The bot's red display reads “uWu”. Behind the robot and filling the left side of the composition is an archaic figure composed of a variety of vintage objects and symbols. Among them are a hardbound book with ancient cuneiform scripts, indicating barley, beer, bread, ox, house, and sky, behind which is a grimacing, salivating jagged toothed maw; and an old Commodore floppy drive. The figure’s head tilts toward an illuminated crescent moon, suggesting the Egyptian Sacred Bull. The archaic figure is composed of a variety of mutating cells, which shift in color, and pattern; eventually breaking free into an ephemeral broadcast of bubbles which move across the background. The work came into being against a psychological introspection, which included associations to pop culture such as alien abduction and pod people, as well as quite a bit of reflection on grains as a symbol of civilization, agriculture, sustenance, life, and imbibing (mainly whiskies).
Rare Kittie! Manx
Hi-ya! I'm Rare Kittie! Manx. I'm a Private Dancer by day, and I like playing chess by night. I once snuggled a labradoodle. I don't like to talk about it. I think you'll love me beclaws I have cattitude.
Pending Gerbil #10/23
The #PendingGerbil drew his breath nervously. Fail Dropped Dropped and Replaced There were nothing in this world he feared more. He looked at the chords that crossed the abyss in front of him. They were loaded with pending gerbils, clinging for their life. No open space to be seen. The world machine creaked under the load. As the wheel turned and settled on a new block with a load bang, the chords vibrated, and short shrieks were heard as tired paws lost their grip and the gerbils fell into oblivion. #PendingGerbil closed his eyes, sent a short prayer to @VitalikButerin, and took the leap. Written by: @Werekitty1 Pending Gerbil is a very special collaboration with NonFunGerbils (https://nonfungerbils.com/pendinggerbil)
Wink
The eye of providence blinks. Originally posted to tumblr June 26, 2012.
Various people climbing the mountain, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Various people climbing the mountain, from the series Thirty-six Views of Mt. Fuji 1833 - Japan