NFTs - Revenge of the Nerds
In March 2021, an artist known as Beeple_crap sold the digital artwork, “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” for 69 million dollars. The sale sparked controversy in the art community and set the spotlight on the emerging phenomenon of non-fungible-tokens. The critics were shocked to find a massive cryptographic market trading in digital art. The works are largely defined by the ‘nerdy’ culture of online forums. Libertarianism, political incorrectness and anonymity seem to be cornerstones of the new cryptographic art world. By looking at the long history of art through the definitions of sincerity, authenticity and profilicity defined by Hans-Georg Moeller, one can unpack the political implications of NFTs.