‘what will NFTs change about art?’ – damien hirst, teamlab, & others land at gyre gallery

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1 Gyre Gallery presents the latest line-up of artists

2 tracing the history of nfts & their impact on contemporary art

Gyre Gallery presents the latest line-up of artists

Tokyo’s Gyre Gallery is launching its latest exhibition, ‘Artistic Experiments in the Age of Hyper-Technological Reproduction ー What Will NFTs Change About Art?’ Running from March 24 to May 21, 2023, the event spotlights the nature of NFTs Their recent boom and how it could impact the art scene. NFT is shorthand for Non-Fungible Token. It is a cryptographic asset that can only be duplicated and cannot be traded.

From Damien Hirst To teamLab and Rafaël Rozendaal, the exhibition gathers an impressive pool of artists and introduces their NFTs in three chapters: Sharing, Aura of the Simulacra, and Transnational Power. Each theme corresponds directly to the essential prerequisites for any artwork: Exhibition, Ownership/Contract, and Creation.

‘Center’ (2022) © Rafaël Rozendaal | image courtesy the artist

tracing the history of nfts & their impact on contemporary art

The Gyre Gallery’s exhibition is a great example of this (see more). here) traces the history of NFTs – starting from 2014, with the first ever ‘digital token’ created by New York artists Jennifer and Kevin McCoy, called ‘Quantum.’ But it wasn’t until a few years back, sometime between 2017 and 2021, that this blockchain-driven phenomenon truly gained momentum before momentarily collapsing with the boom of cryptocurrencies (Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.).

The show’s title also suggests that it is a return to the 20th Century, when reproduction technology was exploding like wildfire. Philosopher Walter Benjamin, a leading thinker of this era, began questioning the reproduction craze and how artworks could start losing their ‘uniqueness’ or ‘one-time-only’ value.

‘NFT / Eternal Mass’ © Mariko Mori (2022) | courtesy the artist

‘Are NFTs are nothing but a way to turn art into a speculative financial tool. Could it also destroy existing rules and arts, liberate expression and create new history? This exhibition, which is both online and offline, and the related publications raises questions about the new systems of meanings and value created in NFTs. It also examines and redefines the role of contemporary artists in an unprecedented information-based environment. It explores the impact of virtual space on the reality of our lives and the psyche and culture shaped by it,’ Gyre Gallery.

Additional Information Damien Hirst, Rafaël Rozendaal?, and teamLabThese artists were exhibited Lu Yang, Robert Alice, Rhea Myers, Shunsuke Takawo, Sol LeWitt (1928-2007), Seth Siegelaub (1941-2013), Mariko Mori, Masaki Fujihata, Taihei Shii, and Tetsutaro Kamatani.

‘DOKU Heaven’ (2022) © Lu Yang | image courtesy the artist