Hirst’s massive NFT experiment bears results; Ai Weiwei to curate show by the incarcerated

A SUMMARY OF THE MOST EXCITING ART NEWS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

While we focus on Indian art, we can’t obviously function in a vacuum. It’s a small world and everything is connected, especially on the web. So, let’s train our spotlight across the world map to see what’s going on — from art trends to socio-political issues to everything that affects the great aesthetic global consciousness. Or, let’s just travel the world and have some fun!

 

Ai Weiwei will curate London exhibition of works created by incarcerated people

Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei will curate a show of works created by incarcerated people in London, titled “Freedom”. It is organized by the Koestler Arts charity, which promotes and sells works by incarcerated people, and will open at the Southbank Center this October. It’s intended to mark the 60th anniversary of the Koestler Awards, a prize initiative honoring the artistic achievements of detainees across the U.K. criminal justice system. “Freedom” will reflect a diversity of people’s experiences with incarceration, with works created by individuals in prisons, mental health facilities, immigration detainment centers, and youth offender institutions. Ai, perhaps China’s most prominent artist, was detained in 2011 in Beijing for his criticism of China’s authoritarian regime during a crackdown on human rights lawyers, writers, and bloggers. He spent 81 days in prison on charges of tax fraud. How will that reflect in the show? ART News tells you more.

 

The results of Damien Hirst’s ‘The Currency’ experiment are in

The results are in. One year ago, Damien Hirst announced a brazen plan to “challenge the concept of value through money and art,” forcing buyers of his NFT project “The Currency” to decide between owning the physical artwork or the digital token connected to it. The project consisted of 10,000 unique NFTs that were each associated with corresponding artworks the British artist made in 2016. The digital tokens were sold via a lottery system for $2,000. Each of the enamel dot-painted works on handmade paper were titled based on the artist’s favorite song lyrics. Hirst announced that his collectors would have to make a choice between the physical artwork and its digital version, and set a one-year deadline—asking them, in effect, to vote for which had more lasting value. Now, Hirst has announced the final tally on his Twitter account. So, are NFTs the future? Artnet News answers the question.

 

Google AI turns all 10,000 BAYC NFTs into machine-made art

A recent piece of news coverage about the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection says that Google artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed nearly 10,000 BAYC non-fungible tokens (NFTs) into machine-made art, via a project named ‘Artsy Monkey’. These can be perceived as simply abstract paintings at first glance but they have an interesting feature: They resemble the Yuga collection when viewed closer. The AI made use of more than fourteen million images to understand the circumstances of BAYC’s NFT and then used the knowledge to turn the collection into machine-made art. Twitter was flooded with various hashtags related to science meeting art, indicating that the collection is well-liked by the consumers. It was placed for sale on the OpenSea platform and was sold out as soon as it was placed there. Forbes India reports.

 

Book review: India’s leading art historian holds forth

When B.N. Goswamy, India’s foremost art historian, produces a book titled Conversations, the obvious question that springs to mind is “with whom?” The preface clarifies that the “whom” is also Goswamy, as he culls 125 essays from a collection of over 600 standalone Art and Soul columns he contributed since 1995 to The Tribune, Chandigarh. These short essays address an array of artistic disciplines including painting, sculpting, architecture, calligraphy, poetry, literature, textile manufacturing, printing, and photography. The book contains 33 plates of artworks sourced from various museums worldwide, and referenced in essays traversing the realms of miniature painting, carpets, Kashmiri shawls, Islamic calligraphy, Bhagavata Purana illustrations, and more. Hyperallergic has the details.