018 - Bold energy is not for slowpokes
Jack Sommerville, A Cloud Bursting (1), 2020
Courtesy the artist and Stallmann, Berlin
Insider tip in Charlottenburg
Hello Smart Art Lover,
In February, the galleries and institutions remained closed, and I could only see exhibitions through shop windows or digitally. So I'm definitely looking forward to the end of the lockdown and the possibility to seeing art up close, though likely equipped with an FFP2 mask and hand disinfectant. Yeah! I got a foretaste this week at the latest addition to the Berlin art scene. Back in December, Galerie Stallmann opened on the edge of Charlottenburg's gallery district in a small shop. Lina Stallmann comes from London and radiates the bold energy of a young gallerist, which reminds me of my own gallery in Zurich. She is currently showing her first solo exhibition with charming works by the young British painter Jack Sommerville. The rather huge canvas works seem to blow the ceiling away with several very abstracted rain clouds, whose shape is reminiscent of drawings from The Little Prince. The specially shaped Wind Caller appeals to me in particular. At Stallmann's you will find another opportunity to acquire painting at an astounding price (2,000 and 5,000 EUR). But the real insider tip is the remise in the backyard, where the gallery owner and her partner live. I'm already looking forward to the warm summer evenings in the green heart of western Charlottenburg. Lina Stallmann will set a new standard. Drop by.
Jack Sommerville
Rain, that's all
February 25 – March 31, 2021
Stallmann
Schillerstraße 70, 10627 Berlin
stallmann.club
Jonas Lund, 100 Jonas Lund Tokens (JLTxNFT), 2021
Courtesy the artist and Office Impart, Berlin
Not for slowpokes
If a month ago Clubhouse was the hot thing, now it's NFTs, Non Fungible Tokens. Crypto art. As part of the blockchain technology, these virtual goods are not exchangeable, unlike bitcoins. This gives a digital object, such as a trading card, a piece of land or even a work of art, a unique value that cannot be copied. At the powerful auction house Christie's, there is the work EVERYDAY. The First 5000 Days by the so-called crypto superstar Beeple is currently being auctioned off for a six-figure sum. This action gives NFTs the most important currency of our time: attention. Also mine. While researching this topic, I discovered the Kobels Kunstwoche newsletter, which provides a weekly summary of art world news in German. The current issue is about NFTs. It cites Annika Meier in Monopol, Valentina Di Liscia on Hyperallergic, and Dieter Petereit on the digital site t3n as good intros. And according to Artnews, Clubhouse is considered the most important propaganda machine for crypto art. But how does it actually look?
Curious, I take a closer look and discover a strange world. NFTs are traded on so-called marketplaces with the cryptocurrency Ether. The most important top dogs seem to be Nifty Gateway and SuperRare; and there is already Foundation specifically for art. ArtDeal is a little late to the party and plans to launch in summer. Digital artworks, most of which I would expect to see in analogue form at a third-rate art fair, are offered in so-called drops to all logged-in customers. Depending on the length of time, a corresponding number of editions of these digital works are created and auctioned off as NFTs. At Nifty, the standard price seems to be the equivalent of 500 US dollars per edition. Speed is everything. These virtual goods can then be offered in a secondary market on the same site, sometimes for several times the initial price. When they are resold, the crypto artist receives a percentage, at least with Nifty.
The hype is great
In the whirlwind called American marketing speak, there is now talk of profits amounting to six-figure sums in under five minutes. But it hides the fact that these artists have been working on this technique for years on the outer fringes of the art world and are now seeing the fruit of their labor. And my cool programming friend always reminds me of the energy consumption of this technology when talking about the blockchain. The computing power to create an NFT gobbles up a lot of electricity, which is still derived from fossil fuels. Room for improvement. While I don't even want to pretend that I fully understand the whole phenomenon, my first impressions are as follows.
Power shift. A parallel art market for digital art is emerging here that makes analogue artworks look old. Whether NFTs will make traditional galleries obsolete and replace them with marketplaces is another question.
Eye cancer. The quality of most crypto art can definitely be raised a few degrees—if that is even wanted. There are exceptions. Jonas Lund, who is represented by Office Impart, has been dealing with blockchain technology for some time and sold his latest work on Foundation on Wednesday. This brings me to the next point.
Speed. Doubters here are from the day before yesterday. Perhaps what is needed are art advisors who keep calm nerves despite the storm and can give quality judgments to responsive collectors.
Gold rush. The trade in NFTs is an El Dorado for speculators, the so-called art flippers. Very large sums can be turned over in a very short time.
Potential. I see an experiment in front of me that can be over again in half a year. Or it could become the new standard in the near future. I remain curious.
Kero Kero Bonito, Flamingo (cover)
By the way
I am an entertainment nerd. At the suggestion of some friends, from this issue onward I will always give you a little entertainment treat, either books, films, a series, or music. This time my programmer friend has created an ingenious Spotify playlist to which I have already danced alone throughout this week. I find the Synthesizer Flip Flop Ballerina a pure source of endorphins. I hope you enjoy the music too!
Be brave, gentle, and smart.
Yours,
Florian Christopher
