6 ms·

Isn't most real world art buying also about social signaling and the scarcity and uniqueness associated with it?

mikepurvis 5y ago
At the higher levels, yes. At the low/local level I think it really is mostly about aesthetic appreciation and patronage— visit hipster cafe, see attractive piece on display, contact artist and negotiate price, display piece in your own home.
- kelseyfrog 5y ago
  And in today's world, right click, save as.
  - mikepurvis 5y ago
    I don't think anyone talking seriously about "real world art buying" is referring to the digital representation of .... oh damn, this is a discussion about NFTs, isn't it.
TrevorAustin 5y ago
For fine art, maybe? For music, writing, theater, film and television, video games: seems like it's mostly about the enjoyment the patron gets from interacting with the art. The social signaling part strikes me as kind of squicky. Maybe NFTs turn out to be a way to redirect that gross status-seeking impulse, to turn it into incentives to create art and income for artists without copyright, DRM, and associated ugliness. That would be a pretty cool hack! There's a decent chance it works.
- kranke155 5y ago
  This is exactly what's happening. As a part of the NFT community/digital artist, I've never seen artists happier.
  - zepto 5y ago
    What artists? All the NFT art I’ve seen has been either generative cartoons or internet memes.
    - kranke155 5y ago
      The ETH scene is sociopathic/absurd/ridiculous. Most non shit art is on Tezos, where indie artists from all over the world are killing it. https://hicetnunc.art/ https://hicetnunc.art/ And a more organised storefront at https://objkt.com/ https://objkt.com/ https://www.fxhash.xyz/ https://www.fxhash.xyz/ is doing generative art straight on the blockchain. I have an account on Twitter as @CryptoAntonioni and I share decent art, avoid the trash.
      - zepto 5y ago
        Interesting - very good to know about the Tezos scene. As for fxhash, I don’t see that being much more than a ‘because we can’. Nothing on there strikes me as worth money, since there is an infinite supply of art like that and there is no distinguishing character to it. The point of a Non-Fungible token goes away if the art itself is fungible.
zepto 5y ago
I’m not so sure it’s ‘just’ signalling. If I was a billionaire, I would definitely own some $100K watches and probably have some million dollar artwork. Why? Because some expensive watches are really nice, and so are some expensive paintings, and why wouldn’t I buy them if I could easily afford them?
- detritus 5y ago
  I'd like to think I wouldn't, were I in that lucky position. Genuinely-made art, perhaps I might have some time and cash for, but expensive wrist baubles that exist solely for the purpose of extracting money from rich people to salve their ego? No. I'd hope I'd consider it for barely a half second then elect instead to give that money to charity instead. I'm regularly in this mind, walking as I do around London and seeing the sheer array of useless crap that monied people spend money on to advertise the fact they have money. Instead, I wonder at how many people's lives could have been eased if instead of that expensive car, they'd bought a car actually suited to this city. . As an aside to this, I spent a week working at the house of a Rothschild a few years back. His admittedly fancy pad was utterly laden with artworks. His car, on the other hand, was a crappy small Japanese thing and he dressed about as scrappily as I do. I had a lot of respect for that chap.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - zepto 5y ago
    > expensive wrist baubles that exist solely for the purpose of extracting money from rich people to salve their ego? Why not just say you are an inverse snob?
    - detritus 5y ago
      Why must I when someone as helpful as you can come along and do it for me? Enjoy your watch or whatever other pointless tat it is that you value.

At the higher levels, yes. At the low/local level I think it really is mostly about aesthetic appreciation and patronage— visit hipster cafe, see attractive piece on display, contact artist and negotiate price, display piece in your own home.

kelseyfrog 5y ago
And in today's world, right click, save as.
- mikepurvis 5y ago
  I don't think anyone talking seriously about "real world art buying" is referring to the digital representation of .... oh damn, this is a discussion about NFTs, isn't it.

TrevorAustin 5y ago

For fine art, maybe? For music, writing, theater, film and television, video games: seems like it's mostly about the enjoyment the patron gets from interacting with the art. The social signaling part strikes me as kind of squicky. Maybe NFTs turn out to be a way to redirect that gross status-seeking impulse, to turn it into incentives to create art and income for artists without copyright, DRM, and associated ugliness. That would be a pretty cool hack! There's a decent chance it works.

kranke155 5y ago
This is exactly what's happening. As a part of the NFT community/digital artist, I've never seen artists happier.
- zepto 5y ago
  What artists? All the NFT art I’ve seen has been either generative cartoons or internet memes.
  - kranke155 5y ago
    The ETH scene is sociopathic/absurd/ridiculous. Most non shit art is on Tezos, where indie artists from all over the world are killing it. https://hicetnunc.art/ https://hicetnunc.art/ And a more organised storefront at https://objkt.com/ https://objkt.com/ https://www.fxhash.xyz/ https://www.fxhash.xyz/ is doing generative art straight on the blockchain. I have an account on Twitter as @CryptoAntonioni and I share decent art, avoid the trash.
    - zepto 5y ago
      Interesting - very good to know about the Tezos scene. As for fxhash, I don’t see that being much more than a ‘because we can’. Nothing on there strikes me as worth money, since there is an infinite supply of art like that and there is no distinguishing character to it. The point of a Non-Fungible token goes away if the art itself is fungible.

zepto 5y ago

I’m not so sure it’s ‘just’ signalling. If I was a billionaire, I would definitely own some $100K watches and probably have some million dollar artwork. Why? Because some expensive watches are really nice, and so are some expensive paintings, and why wouldn’t I buy them if I could easily afford them?

detritus 5y ago
I'd like to think I wouldn't, were I in that lucky position. Genuinely-made art, perhaps I might have some time and cash for, but expensive wrist baubles that exist solely for the purpose of extracting money from rich people to salve their ego? No. I'd hope I'd consider it for barely a half second then elect instead to give that money to charity instead. I'm regularly in this mind, walking as I do around London and seeing the sheer array of useless crap that monied people spend money on to advertise the fact they have money. Instead, I wonder at how many people's lives could have been eased if instead of that expensive car, they'd bought a car actually suited to this city. . As an aside to this, I spent a week working at the house of a Rothschild a few years back. His admittedly fancy pad was utterly laden with artworks. His car, on the other hand, was a crappy small Japanese thing and he dressed about as scrappily as I do. I had a lot of respect for that chap.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- zepto 5y ago
  > expensive wrist baubles that exist solely for the purpose of extracting money from rich people to salve their ego? Why not just say you are an inverse snob?
  - detritus 5y ago
    Why must I when someone as helpful as you can come along and do it for me? Enjoy your watch or whatever other pointless tat it is that you value.