Understanding the History of Blockchain Art as Incremental Innovation
For its 139th edition, the Canadian art journal Espace Art Actuel focused on blockchain for the winter issue. I was delighted to contribute an abbreviated crypto art history, proposing a staircase model approach to better understand its evolution rather than focusing solely on isolated events or artworks.
Excerpt from my introduction text:
“[…] In this essay, I synthesize five years of my research into the development of crypto art. By organizing key innovating forces in successive chapters, this essay promotes the idea of a staircase model to provide a better understanding of its incremental evolution. Additionally, it highlights how rapid capital influx led to explosive growth, and left the nascent space vulnerable to the following market slowdowns, which challenged many of the movement’s initial ideals and aspirations […].”
The 2,100-word essay, presented in both English and French to accommodate the journal’s bilingual audience, spans 14 pages. Although not all of my suggested artworks were included, the editors featured IAMACOIN (2018) by Kevin Abosch, Quantum (2014) by Kevin McCoy, select characters from the CryptoPunks (2017) project, and my recent work, From Grass Root to Tie Loot (2024).
Issue Launch at Oboro Gallery
The Blockchain issue was launched at the Oboro art center during the vernissage of Yen-Chao Lin and Andrée-Anne Roussel. Espace Art Actuel’s Production Director, Gina Cortopassi, and the special issue’s guest editor, Prof. Nathalie Casemajor, introduced the new journal and its framework during the event.
Read the Paper and Journal
Discover Espace Art Actuel’s 139th issue, which features 18 essays on Blockchain art, curated by guest editors Nathalie Casemajor and Eric Bordeleau.
My essay is exclusive to Espace Art Actuel for the next two years, so I cannot share the full text.
However, you can obtain a PDF or printed edition of the journal here.
