Tutorial final
Virtual worlds into virtual reality
Techism Review
By renowned art reviewer
Britney Potts
Techism is a virtual art movement that is slowly creeping its way into the current trends in the South African Contemporary Art scene, creating a platform for registered artists to grow themselves further. The trends within the art scene are slowly developing into deeper constructs of identity and how that is explored by each individual, which makes space and opportunity for self-growth and cultural development. There are however flaws in the way artists are treated in the system, as they can often be exploited and used. This new movement creates protection as well as transparency within the art scene, allowing for a more cohesive community throughout.
The aim of Techism is to make light of the Marxists ideologies and remove the concept of money, instead making art its own commodity. By doing this it prevents artists being further exploited through financial power, as the art will be valued within its own stock evaluation. Like Bitcoin, the more people invested into the concept the more it will develop and grow, benefitting all those who have invested. In Techism people will be able to view art as a form of cryptocurrency, therefore allowing a stronger and more secure community in terms of transactions and verifying of assets. This way art becomes a commodity as it is now its own product of culture, as there is no way to value conceptual work anymore, only through institutional evaluation which is often flawed. For example, artists can be exploited by their work being flipped, simultaneously starting and ending an artist’s career as quick as it was made, all because of financial power. This movement prevents those situations as there is more transparency and security within transactions and the verification of assets, creating a mechanism for registering and allocating resources, viewing art as the asset. Now art would be viewed as areasonably interchangeable good or material, bought and sold freely as an article of commerce.
Art is slowly becoming more ephemeral as time develops; and it is slowly shifting towards a more digital realm in terms of documentation and exploration of ideas. Through this new digital platform artists are free to work across the world, because they have access to a database that gives them better exposure without having the worry of being copyrighted. As investors in Techism they are able to view more and have access to contemporary and archival works. Techism also enables art to reach a wider market in different communities. Art is often a taboo subject to those who aren’t within the art communities, this movement allows people to have more access to knowledge and prices, eliminating the power of dealers or collectors over artists. Dealers often have their lists of clients that they sell artist’s works to, if one is not well known or a member in the community they will not be able to buy artworks. Through Techism, people who invest go through a financial screening to make sure they aren’t blacklisted or involved in any illegal activity, they then have a profile that belongs in a digital space and can buy work through the Techism platform. A platform like this would intrigue artists as well as people who are financially invested in art. Different galleries and museums would also be interested in Techism as it is a tool they could use for buying and sourcing work that is available. Artists are able to register their work through Techism and it can be evaluated world-wide by multiple professionals in different fields.
As someone who critically writes and investigates the art scene, I do have a few problems with this platform. I feel that this is still very much in its foundation phase and believe that the designers of this platform need to do more extensive research and calculations surrounding the art market. There needs to be more clarity surrounding the process of evaluating work and how the logistics of it will play out in the future. This is a platform that has a huge amount of potential, but it needs more work as I feel it has not been fully thought through. I do find that there is an issue with making art into a form of digital currency as there is a risk in the value of something plummeting if too many people withdraw their investments in Techism. As they say, high risk equals high return, however there is also room for a high loss. The idea and concept is too high tech and ambitious as I believe it is beyond the time of now, suggesting that it is slightly utopian.
Techism has a long way to go, however I feel that the makers of the virtual art movement have the ability to shift the realm of the contemporary by slowly introducing these ideas into the art scene. I believe Techism has ignited a conversation in many different realms of contemporary art, these are conversations that need to happen because where to from here? Have we as a society reached the idea of post-truth or post-history? The art scene is stagnating in a sense and people just seem to be making work that challenges identity, the constructs of history and the patriarchy. What happens when that critique is over, and all constructs have fallen, as it has already been revisited over and over again, does art just become an entirety of clichés or does it shift into the virtual existence that is taking over? We as a society need to change the way we see the world and start to challenge and critique art trends and the platforms those are displayed on. The planet we live on is a ticking time bomb itself, perhaps Techism is a way that we can remove the physical debris of art making. Instead, art can then be turned it into one conceptual virtual orgy of ideas that can be invested into and then eventually capitalized on. The time is now to shift the contemporary art scene and how that happens will then shape the very world we live in. Are you ready for it? Because I know I am.
