Criticisms
Resources focusing on criticisms and the risks of Web3.
Slide from left to right to browse the different columns in the table.
| Resource | Summary | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
The Unreasonable Ecological Cost of #CryptoArt by Memo Akten (December 2021) | Examines the impact of crypto art on the environment from ‘one perspective’ | EnvironmentCriticismNews | |
4 Reasons Why Museums Aren’t Cashing in on NFTs Yet by Brian Mittendorf and Sean Stein Smith, The Conversation (November 2021) | Article noting four reasons on potentially why museums have not yet really engaged with NFTs | NFTsNewsCriticismFundraising | |
A Bitcoin Mining Operation in the Finger Lakes Runs Up Against New York’s Climate Law, by Rosemay Misdary, Gohamist (February 2022) | Article on the Finger Lake’s bitcoin mining operation which faces challenges to New York’s climate leadership and community protection act. | NewsEnvironmentCriticism | |
Artists Re:Thinking the Blockchain by Ruth Catlow, Marc Garett, Nathan Jones & Sam Skinner (2017) | A seminal book examining different themes on the potential of blockchain technology in art | DAOsNFTsGovernanceCriticism | |
Authentication in the expanded field, Christiane Paul, Outland (May 11, 2022) | NFTs could be an improvement on the paper certificates that museums and galleries use to authenticate reproducible artworks. But much work needs to be done to realize that potential. | Criticism | |
Blockchain, climate damage, and death: Policy interventions to reduce the carbon emissions, mortality, and net-zero implications of non-fungible tokens and Bitcoin by Jon Truby, Rafael Brown, Andrew Dahdal & Imad Ibraham (2022) | Paper investigating the impact of blockchain on carbon emissions, offers interesting correlation between gas usage and deaths | EnvironmentCriticismNews | |
Crypto Collectibles, Museum Funding and OpenGLAM: Challenges, Opportunities and the Potential of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) By Foteini Valeonti, Antonis Bikakis, Melissa Terras, Chris Speed, Andrew Hudons-Smith, Konstantinos Chalkias (2022) | Paper examining the opportunities and challenges of using NFTs as a funding stream in museums | CriticismNFTsBackground | |
Episode V. Toward a New Ecology of Crypto Art: A Hybrid Manifesto by Memo Akten, Alice Bucknell, Geert Lovink, Primavera De Filippi, Jason Bailey, Chloe Diamond, Casey Reas, Fanny Lakoubay, Beth Jochim & Alex Estorick | A response to the environmental cost of crypto art by artists, activists and theorists | CriticismEnvironmentBackground | |
Episode XII: NFTs: Art After Copyright? By Primavera De Filippi & Maria Riivari, Flash Art, (February 2022) | Article on copyright and NFTs, arguing that NFTs are not in fact a source of copyright infringement because the work is not stored within the NFT. They propose that hashes could be covered through copyright law to cover NFTs | LegalNFTsBackgroundCriticism | |
Facebook’s Centralized Metaverse a Threat to the Decentralized Ecosystem? by Nikolai Kuznetsov, Cointelegraph, (November 2021) | An article on how the centralised nature of Meta is a threat to decentralisation. | CriticismMetaverse | |
Huge Mess of Theft and Fraud: Artists Sound Alarm as NFT Crime Proliferates by Lois Beckett, The Guardian (January 2022) | Article on the issues of copyminting in the NFT Space | CriticismNFTsArtworkCollectingNews | |
Keeping Up With the Crypto Lingo by Zsofi Valyi-Nagy, Right Click Save (January 2022) | Article discussing the importance in avoiding artspeak | NewsGetting StartedBackgroundCriticism | |
Lessons From 19 Years in the Metaverse by Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic (March 2022) | An interview with Wagner James Au, a journalist that has written extensively about virtual worlds such as Second Life, they discuss the lessons that could be learnt from virtual worlds | MetaverseCriticismNews | |
Museum of Crypto Art - ROOMs | Paper explaining MOCA’s approach to metaverse architecture | MetaverseCriticismNews | |
NFT Art - A sales mechanism or medium by Christiane Paul, The Art Newspaper (February 2022) | The article argues that the boom in non-fungible tokens is diminishing public understanding of what digital art actually is | NewsNFTsCriticism | |
NFT art collector who says he has art worth millions thinks the market is about to crash—but notes he’s not in it for the money by Tristian Bove, Fortune, (February 2022) | Article on Colborn Bell, founder and curator of the Museum of Crypto Art, and his view on the future of NFTs | NewsNFTsCriticism | |
NFTs and the Digital Democtatizaton of Museums by Frances Liddell, Right Click Save (May 2022) | This article considers how cultural institutions can engage in meaningful ways with NFTs and blockchain technology | ResearchNFTsCriticismGovernance | |
NFTs, Cryptocurrency, and Museum Practice, Elizabeth Merritt, AAM (March 2022) | Reflections on NFTs, where crypto democratises art and wealth, and considers the environmental impact of blockchain | NewsNFTsFundraisingBackgroundCriticismEnvironment | |
Punks and Sellouts by Mitchell Chan, Outland (March 2022) | Article critically reflecting on recent sale of CryptoPunks and Meebits to Yuga Labs, and with it the shift to allowing owners to make derivatives of their NFTs | CriticismNFTsNewsIP | |
Radical Friends: DAO Summit for Decentralisation | Recording of Furtherfield’s Radical Friend DAO Summit which took place on 22nd January 2022 | DAOsCriticismCollectingBackgroundNews | |
Should Museums be Dabbling in NFTs? By Bernadine Bröcker Wieder & Douglas McCarthy (October 2021) | Article reflecting on the use of NFTs in museums as a funding stream | NewsNFTsBackgroundCriticism | |
The British Museum’s NFT Project has Sent its Carbon Footprint Soaring, by Bendor Grosvenor, The Arts Newspaper (April 2022) | Discusses the impact of the BM’s NFT project in relation to its sustainability policy. | Museum ExampleCriticismNFTsNewsEnvironment | |
The Carbon Footprint of Creating and Selling an NFT Artwork, by Erin Davis, Quartz (March 2021) | Details on the carbon emissions of NFTs compared to a print | EnvironmentNewsCriticismNFTs | |
The Problem of (Ethereum) Crypto Art by Joanie Lemercier (February 2021) | Covers the impact of energy consumption for an artist drop on Niftygateway | EnvironmentCriticismNews | |
There is no Such Thing as Blockchain Art by Maria Paula Fernandez, Stina Gustafsson & Fanny Lakoubay, Department of Decentralization (June 2019) | Paper on the current status of the intersection of Blockchain and Art | CriticismNFTsBackgroundArtwork | |
To the Metaverse and Beyond by Habib William Kherbek (February 2022) | A critical perspective on metaverses and ownership | MetaverseCriticism | |
Wanderer Above a Sea of FUD: Cultural Workforce, Crypto Anarchism, Intellectual Rights, and Blockchain-Based Funding Models for Culture and Arts by Maria Paula Fernandez, Stina Gustafsson, Beth McCarthy (February 2021) | Report building on the 2019 report to discuss the intersection of blockchain and art | BackgroundCriticismNFTsArtwork | |
What Can Museums Do With NFTs? By Christinas Steinbrecher-Pfandt, Medium (August 2021) | Article discussing potential use cases for museums | BackgroundCriticismNFTs | |
Why NFTS are Bad: The long version by Antsstyle (October 2021) | This long article explains technical and economic details to explain both why NFTs are bad, why they don’t work (they don’t do what they claim to do), and explains the hype surrounding them. | CriticismNews |