TAEX Digest: July 2024

From now on TAEX will keep you posted about digital highlights of the month in a special column and newsletter. If you’re already subscribed, there is no need to worry, you’ll be first to know. We present the first, July edition. To stay informed, please subscribe to our newsletter.

ETH ETF is live!

After a long legal and political discussion, the ETH ETF is finally live! Last Tuesday three major investors in Ethereum, BlackRock, Bitwise Investments and Fidelity, entered US stocks. The funds of approximately $267m, $204m and $71m stood, according to FT, ‘in line with expectations’. The best news is that they’re going to invest directly in the world’s second largest cryptocurrency.

Bill Viola dies at 73

A prominent American video artist Bill Viola passed away on 12 July at the age of 73. His artistic legacy comprises 45 years of work in new media. Viola will be remembered as a true pioneer of video and web2 art. In 1985 as a part of Whitney Biennial his video works were the first ever to be exhibited side by side with paintings, graphics and sculpture. Ten years later, in 1995, his piece The Greeting was the first video work included in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Through his aspirational video works Viola was reflecting on human life, death, time, and eternity. Read more about his artistic path, influence and insights in the obituary written byThe Art Newspaper.

AI, digital art market and technologies at Christie’s Art+Tech Summit

Christie’s Art+Tech Summit in NYC was definitely the major digital art event of the month. TAEX attended the key panels of the conference dedicated to the future of AI, current challenges of the digital art market and new paradigms of technology.

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, stated that the investments and costs necessary for AI advancement are far from reflecting its actual value. Others, including Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank, also question the cost-effective side of AI.

Stay tuned for a TAEX review of the event and for now read more at ARTnews.

Was it worth it? A pioneering NFT trading platform is to be shut down two years after being acquired by eBay

KnownOrigin NFT trading platform announced its closure on 17th of July after six years of existence. As shared in their official statement: “After careful consideration and evaluation we can confirm KnownOrigin will continue to wind down its on-chain marketplaces & minter (and signpost to secondary marketplaces) over the upcoming weeks.”

KnownOrigin is not the first among the early influential NFT marketplaces that didn’t survive the current market challenges: in 2023 it was Async Art that announced its shutdown.

However, no worries — any purchased NFTs aren’t going anywhere. Check out the full coverage by NFT Now.

Olympics in Paris: is the art world suffering?

Paris art galleries are dramatically influenced by the ongoing summer Olympic games in Paris. The high-level security measures as well as the unusual opening ceremony and impossibility to cross the river Seine had basically blocked the access to art spaces in the city centre.

Art galleries that happened to be in ‘red’ and ‘grey’ security zones were eventually closed due to the absence of visitors. The unprecedented flow of Olympic guests and fans that was expected by French business, including cafes and restaurants, had the opposite effect. French prime minister Gabriel Attal however promised to count the indemnities. It’s still a question whether art galleries will be satisfied by the state reimbursement.

Last but not least, TAEX has its own intense agenda without any summer breaks:

Error#0 by Francesco D'Isa

Please check out a new collection Error#0 by a pioneering Italian digital artist and theoretician Francesco d’Isa. His new book ‘The algorithmic revolution of images Art and artificial intelligence’ just published by an Italian editor Luca Sossella is already making headlines. A prominent philosopher Francesco d’Isa offers a profound and serious analysis of the use of artificial intelligence in art. Check out the fruit of his work in our latest collection.

We promised to provide you with guidance once you purchased a digital artwork. In this article we break some myths and prejudices about crypto art and suggest the best ways on how to preserve it in your private collection and show it at its best capacity.

At TAEX we truly believe that one of our goals is to overcome the scepticism around digital art. Here we unveil three axes of crypto art evolution that prove it can solve social issues. If you were at Digital Art Week in London you may have seen yourself on the example of Krista Kim’s Continuum how digital artwork can heal your emotional state. The artists are rethinking our new reality at all levels including the existential one. Moreover digital art is transforming the entire artworld by establishing a truly open horizontal structures for curators, artists, collectors, and the audience.

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Cover image: ARTnews, SHANTI ESCALANTE-DE MATTEI