Towards the burn-out aesthetics. On cryptoculture and NFTs

Abstract

During 2020 and 2021 we are witnessing the boom of a new art market with NFTs (Non Fungible Tokens), accompanied by millionaire sales, as well as the emergence of a huge number of platforms and a media debate around digital art never seen before. This study attempts to analyze the situation of the images and creators associated with the new blockchain technology. To do so, it aims to take up and adapt Byung Chul Han's ideas about the burn-out society and the society of transparency to the current cultural and artistic situation. The ultimate goal is to clarify whether the so-called crypto-art is the cultural consequence of the characteristics of this type of society x-rayed by Han. If so, we could speak of an art as a reflection of the acceleration and automation of the processes of production, distribution and consumption of goods. Also of the conformation of an "burn-out aesthetics" derived from the hyper-employment suffered by creatives and the inflation of the media and artistic image. In the new ultraliberal circumstances of culture, the artworks end up reducing their impact to the economic, becoming a quickly digestible financial asset that entails the annulment of any possibility of a slow, reflective and/or critical aesthetic experience.