I think NFTs are inspired by the contemporary art market
I can’t help but think that NFTs are hugely inspired by the high-end contemporary art market. Like, both markets have some questionable values and artworks.
Buying an NFT is like owning the certificate of authenticity for a work you don’t have access to and also probably don’t care about.
A certificate of authenticity is kind of like a receipt for an artwork. It proves that the artwork you own is the artwork you say it is, and they’re very important in the high end art market. But when it comes to some of the more… esoteric installations, we kind of behave, legally anyway, as if the COA is the artwork.
So remember that installation of the banana taped to a wall? Obviously, it isn’t the same banana every time that installation is shown. And it isn’t the same tape, so clearly the curators are just using stuff they bought at the store.
But you can’t just tape a banana to a wall and call it that artwork… unless you happen to own the certificate of authenticity, which you gives the legal right to do that.
When I first learned about this a few years ago, it made my brain hurt.
Now, the main difference is that esoteric art of that nature is usually attempting to make some kind of wider statement, or at the very least, pretending to.
The concept of an NFT is not an artistic statement, it is pretty unapologetically a financial instrument.