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The Currency
August 5, 2022 4:15 AM    Subscribe
	
	
 
		
	

	
		Resounding preference? Almost half of the buyers chose NFTs. But I assume this was promoted heavily in crypto-bro circles so the statistics aren't really valid.posted by mmoncur at 5:11 AM  on August 5, 2022 [9 favorites] Exactly. Even in this cherry-picked population the preference was still for paper over pixels.posted by saturday_morning at 5:29 AM  on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite] Ah, but 1000 of those 4851 are Hirst's. That does seem pretty resounding.posted by rikschell at 5:30 AM  on August 5, 2022 [6 favorites] i would have bought an nft just so i could be the reason one of hirst’s boring, insipid dot paintings was set on fireposted by dis_integration at 5:43 AM  on August 5, 2022 [17 favorites] It's not even paper vs pixels. You don't get pixel art when you buy an NFT. It's paper vs a line in a ledger.posted by surlyben at 5:56 AM  on August 5, 2022 [5 favorites] Not to mention that his plan to destroy all the nft-related works means the supply of actual paintings is decreased thus upping their value. It’s not a zero-sum game. I think pig parts in cats of formaldehyde are cool and everything but this is a self-serving money grab.posted by genmonster at 6:11 AM  on August 5, 2022 [3 favorites] The only thing shitclowns like Hirst reveal is that there's a clade of fucking idiots with money and a clade of savvy grifter "artists" who prey on them. Which we already knew. There's nothing new or original about the "art" they create, it's just an endless variation of hype creation. I'm almost grateful there's AI artists now that can churn out endless copies of the same kind of garbage for half a penny of electricity. The only thing interesting about the whole toilet-circle-jerk is wondering how the grifters will pivot into it.posted by seanmpuckett at 7:40 AM  on August 5, 2022 How about a JPEG of a burrito? I heard they're going to the moon...posted by acb at 8:21 AM  on August 5, 2022 [7 favorites] Where does he stand alongside, say, Jeff Koons? Or the grifty bandwagon-hopping end of post-Banksy street art like KAWS/Lushsux/Mr. Brainwash?posted by acb at 9:07 AM  on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite] The ransomware industry probably wouldn't exist if not for cryptocurrencies. So crypto has economic positives, if you're North Korea.posted by acb at 10:02 AM  on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite] Did she eat mushrooms, though? Because I may have worked with her once...posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 11:42 AM  on August 5, 2022 I wish Dave Hickey were alive to weigh in on this.posted by Ayn Marx at 1:53 PM  on August 5, 2022 Fools won't likely buy your convenience-store receipt. Can't say the same about NFTs.posted by achrise at 2:42 PM  on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite] Fools absolutely would buy a convenience store receipt if Damien Fucking Hirst told an assistant to draw a sharpie dot on it.posted by seanmpuckett at 2:57 PM  on August 5, 2022 [1 favorite] Look at at this way: if crap like this wasn’t soaking up money, that money would be down at the grocery store fighting you for the last head of lettuce — and it would win.posted by jamjam at 3:17 PM  on August 5, 2022 Damn. So every time a rich person buys something useless, there's that much less money bidding up the prices on stuff people really want and need. That is really dark.posted by straight at 2:34 AM  on August 6, 2022 [1 favorite] As far as I've seen there's really not an easily-drawn correlation between excess income among the well-to-do and the retail price of everyday perishables, although I'm sure there are knock-on effects from things like NFTs. For which my favorite analogy is "let me sell you the receipt for the disposable lighter I'm using to set the forest on fire."posted by aspersioncast at 7:03 AM  on August 6, 2022 [1 favorite] I am also baffled that anyone would have trouble understanding why people dislike Damien Hirst. What's to like?posted by aspersioncast at 7:06 AM  on August 6, 2022 That is well fucking specious, yeah?posted by acb at 3:34 PM  on August 6, 2022 Was he always going to keep 1000 of them or did he decide that when it didn't look like it was going to sell out in one year?posted by RobotHero at 7:07 AM  on August 7, 2022 Zumbador, I feel the ethical itch with the pieces, as well. Which seems to be an element of much of his work, provocateur that he is. This article claims the wing are sourced from commercial butterfly farms, but offers no citation for the declaration. But in this instance, Hirst wins, because I find their beauty compelling and, seeing them IRL, would no doubt be enthralled. And even moving me to question the ethics of my aesthetic reverie makes the work effective, for me. He’s a tricky artist like that. And many find them to be easy (or even dirty) tricks to play on viewers. Fair enough. But it resonates with me and I find myself defending his art even as I recognize that he sucks in a lot of ways.posted by barrett caulk at 7:34 AM  on August 7, 2022 [1 favorite] A paper receipt is a somewhat unconventional canvas. If a famous artist draws a smiley face on it, it becomes an artwork, or at least collectible. (Same goes if a rock star signs it or similar.)  An entry in a database does not have this property.posted by acb at 8:28 AM  on August 7, 2022 [1 favorite] 

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