The last years of the “crypto hype” have become a real test for traditional institutions of the art market, from galleries and auctions to investment houses and collectors. In this article we will try to understand how classic museums and galleries try to use blockchain technologies in their work.
Our project is not only a modern solution for people who want to make money on art, but also a project that sets itself some non-profit goals. COART is about a number of important public and cultural tasks, united in the “Renaissance 2.0” Organization, goals of which are undoubtedly global. Obviously, the tasks (their content is disclosed in our white paper) can not be solved without close cooperation with museums and galleries around the world. Before holding the negotiations, we decided to find out which museums and galleries use blockchain technologies right now.
The most recent example of the local blockchain art initiative is the Major Russian Art Gallery Tretyakov. They are launching a blockchain-based art patronage scheme, Russian news agency TASS reports Nov. 15.
“My Tretyakov” allows individuals or enterprises to make a private donation to contribute to the digitization of an item from the gallery’s collection, thereby becoming the artwork’s patron. The system, developed with business innovation collective RDI Digital, uses blockchain technology to assign and manage the patronage structure. According to a press statement from the gallery:
“The donation amount is still under discussion. The system randomly selects which storage unit (electronic copy of an object of art) will be considered digitized with the help of a particular patron, and links the name to the object. The connection of the name or company name to the digitized exhibit is fixed using blockchain technology.”
Moreover, there are a lot of news about exhibitions about the specific Blockchain Art and Crypto Art like “Open Codes” at the ZKM Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe or the “Proof of Work” opened by the blockchain-centered Distributed Gallery at the Schinkel Pavillon in Berlin.
By the way, it is impossible not to notice that the problem and the prospects of implementing blockchain technologies in the traditional areas of the art market are rising at the highest level. The state of the market was remarkably described by Anne Bracegirdle at the Art + Tech Summit:
Different projects, such as COART or Museums Chain, are now ready to show galleries the way to move in relation to blockchain technologies. For example, one of our goals is the creation of a blockchain archive-catalog of the entire cultural Mankind Heritage. The results of 3D scanning, spectrographic analysis and other methods of identification and confirmation of the authenticity of art objects, including the methods currently being developed using AI and deep neural networks, will be included in the COART distributed storage subsystem that will resolve the issue of authentication forever, excluding the possibility of falsification of these works, as well as create the opportunity to reproduce important art objects of the cultural code of Mankind on the way to mastering new worlds.
We are confident that the cooperation of various participants in the art market will contribute to the rapid use of blockchain for the benefit of the mankind.
What about cryptocurrency? This tool seems to be exhausted after the ‘bitcon bubble’ speculations, but we should not be so categorical. Cryptocurrencies issued by museums could affect the market in different ways.
The Guggenheim launched its own cryptocurrency and marketplace in 2016: the cåin (coin) and Åzone Futures Market (ozone). Organized by Troy Conrad Therrien, Curator, Architecture and Digital Initiatives at the Guggenheim, the online exhibition Åzone and physical installation in New York, offers users to trade, invest in or impact the different futures shaped by the new technologies that are disrupting our society today.
Giving a voice to people and the freedom to take action, the project supports values of decentralization, liberty and giving back power to individuals.
Large institutions such as the Guggenheim tend to change from the inside out. Curator Troy Conrad Therrien and his cohort are expanding what it means to do museum work, changing the pedagogy of digital curation as they go. The arrival of online exhibitions like Åzone Futures Market is inextricably linked to the rebranding of cultural institutions as think tanks of social progress. Through exhibits like this, we are meant to believe that the politicized museum can offer a sustainable, trustworthy approach to the future. And if Åzone Futures Market is any indicator of what’s to come, we are going to see more exhibitions embrace the world of digital design as this century’s medium of intrigue (source).
Another very interesting example of the introduction of the blockchain is associated with the use of cryptocurrency to organize the sale of tickets for the exhibition (source). The Austrian company Oroundo launches its CulturalCoin, a cryptocurrency dedicated to cultural institutions to buy tickets, audio guides, tours, and fund projects. By declaring “war to the current ticketing system”, they outline the safety provided by smart contracts each time a ticket is sold using the Blockchain technology to avoid counterfeit tickets and data leaks. Of course, this applies only to big blockbusters exhibitions which are sold out in only a few days.
As to our ecosystem, BID token (COART system token) will allow access to all payment and infrastructure utilities of the COART ecosystem. The BID token uses smart-contracts to keep a trustless system in place, allowing exchange of rights to different artworks by investors and sale of artworks.
Very soon we will continue a series of texts on how new technologies, including the blockchain, will influence the traditional institutions of the conservative art market.
This topic seems interesting to us because it helps to find like-minded people in the big world of art. The future belongs to new technologies!
