Virtual reality and blockchain are taking art to the next level
Then, of course, there’s the artwork that doesn’t exist at all, neither in this world nor a virtual one: Kevin Abosch, who famously sold a real-life photograph of a potato in 2016 for €1 million (HK$9.65 million), this Valentine’s Day sold the concept of a rose for US$1 million worth of cryptocurrency to a group of 10 collectors. The Forever Rose is an ERC20 token called ROSE on the Ethereum blockchain that is based on Abosch’s photograph of a rose. In other words, the artwork doesn’t physically exist, nor even have a virtual visual representation.
“Potato #345 and Forever Rose pose questions pertaining to identity, existence and value. They are both proxies. The former for the human experience and the latter for love,” Abosch says.
“The Forever Rose, however, is further abstracted from the photographic representation in that it doesn’t exist in a physical sense. It is the result of using blockchain technology to create a virtual proxy of the photographic work.”
....In other words, art should be put to the same scrutiny, whether it uses advanced technology or primitive tools – pigment and paper.
“Art goes beyond technology when it conveys messages and poetry, questions and emotions, dialogue and action.”
See the full story here; http://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/news-trends/article/2145198/virtual-reality-and-blockchain-are-taking-art-next-level