NFT - NEW FREEDOM THINK 2022
International Contemporary Art exhibition
March, 28th - April, 3rd 2022
Concept by Art Curator Camilla Gilardi
“Why do we have a mind if not to get our way?” (Fëdor Dostoevskij)
The world changes every day, every hour: a constant revolution changes the life of man, his behavior, the vision of what surrounds him. Reality and technology meet, and merge creating new universes to know and explore. Words and expressions acquire many more meanings than they were assigned in the past. Does buying a work of art mean buying a physical painting? Not anymore. NFT is the acronym for “Non-fungible token” and is identified with an original and inimitable virtual object. The person who buys an NFT, therefore, does not become the owner of a physical work, but comes into possession of the rights related to the digital work that can be transferable, but not duplicated. Interesting debates have arisen around the issue of the actual value of NFTs: is it worth investing a large share of money to become owners of “only" a digital work? In recent years, technology has allowed the reproduction of works without stopping, depriving them of important values such as uniqueness. The purchase of NFT faces this problem by giving the buyer an official certification, which certifies that the work has been transferred to him by the author. Until now, the record sale of an NFT is attributed to “Everydays: The First 5000 days”, a collage composed of 5000 images created by the famous American digital artist Beeple. We cannot forget to mention the CryptoPunks, the pixelated images representing faces of which ten thousand copies were created in 2017 and which are now worth a real fortune. The rarest category is "Covid Alien": nine faces with blue complexions, the only avatars with masks as a symbol of a complex historical moment that involved the whole world. Not only works of art, but NFTs also enter cinematic culture: Quentin Tarantino has decided to put the original screenplay including unpublished content from Pulp Fiction up for auction, a clear demonstration that this new trend is involving different realities. By playing with letters and word associations, NFT can become the acronym of new freedom think. No boundaries that cannot be crossed, no doors that cannot be opened: freedom to travel with one's mind towards new horizons ready to welcome us. Pre-established patterns, ancient conventions and preconceptions cancel out in the face of a new way of thinking: mind projected towards diversity, observation, but not towards judgment. The actual acronym and the acronym proposed by MADS, therefore, have several points in common. NFT becomes synonymous with contemporaneity and innovation. Art encounters technology: MADS, the first multimedia gallery with a permanent, digital, and unique display, has taken this step from a long time, proving itself to be an avant-garde institution from its origin. On this occasion MADS invites artists to bring themselves into play, to throw themselves into a surreal universe that has now become reality. "Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible" reads the quote from the famous and revolutionary American composer Frank Zappa. Looking to the past without forgetting to look to the future: appreciating normality but remembering that turning it around can mean progress and enrichment. Observe the revolution in progress and get involved in it: change means a new beginning.