Work in Progress - 'Tower-Grid-Tomb: Transhistorical Blockchain Aesthetics'
- Event type
- Seminar
- Series
- Warburg Work in Progress Seminar
- Address
- Warburg Institute, Woburn Square, London WC1H 0AB
- Event dates
- Contact
- warburg@sas.ac.uk 020 7862 8910
Alexandra Marracini (Bilderfahrzeuge Project): 'Tower-Grid-Tomb: Transhistorical Blockchain Aesthetics'
This lecture traces some of the current developments in cryptoart-- new art on, and using the mechanisms of, blockchain-based internet technology. It couples a longue durée historical approach with a focus on Early Modern media antecedents, and broad readings in contemporary theory, to propose a reading cryptoart predicated on ledger aesthetics, inscription mechanisms, and properties. Three iconographic lodestars guide the talk; the Tower (both the Pharos and the Tower of Babel as metaphor and image), the Grid (both as network map and historical tool for thinking about commodity and space), and the Tomb (both as mausoleum of wonder and as long term storage). The lecture will also include a short potted introduction to the concept of the blockchain and the NFT so that all listeners can engage with its grounding.
The Work in Progress seminar explores the variety of subjects studied and researched at the Warburg Institute. Papers are given by invited international scholars, research fellows studying at the Institute, and third-year PhD students.
ATTENDANCE FREE ONLINE OR IN PERSON WITH ADVANCE BOOKING
