The increasing popularity and controversy of NFTs (Non-Fungible Token) it was almost inevitable that artists like Geoffrey Huntley would create works responding to the cultural movement. NFTs are a way to create a sort of ownership of art media by using block chain technology to create a public ledger of ownership. Huntley, inspired by the culture that has come up around NFTs as well as the general English internet culture, created his own web site called thenftbay.org. Thenftbay is modeled off the pirate bay website that was used to host torrents enabling the download of a plethora of media including thighs that are being downloaded illegally. This stylistic choice brings up key cultural elements of how the internet constantly pushes the boundaries of property and ownership. This has led to a general dismissal and hate for NFTs. As many involved with the production and creation of internet media have found community and inspiration from freely available digital art. Others see this as a momentous change allowing for artists to find funding and invest more time in the creation of art.
I interpret Geoffrey’s installation as clearly putting himself on the anti NFT group making this work directly putting into question what protection do NFT offer to art on their block Chain. He compares NFT’s to the failed legal protections of copyright protected works of the past. I feel from my Econ background that NFTs just like cryptocurrency is a bubble market that is mainly propped up by illegal transactions and money laundering.
