Wikipedia Has Made Its Decision: NFTs Are Not Art
Last month, a debate began when editors of the Wikipedia page dedicated to the most expensive art sales by living artists questioned if Beeple’s US$69 million jpeg or Pak’s US$91.8 million NFT should make the list.
Certain editors felt that NFTs were tokens, and not the actual artworks themselves, though others disagreed. Eventually, five of the six editors of the page voted not to include NFTs on the list.
“Wikipedia really can’t be in the business of deciding what counts as art or not, which is why putting NFTs, art or not, in their own list makes things a lot simpler,” said one of the editors.
However, cryptocurrency enthusiasts, as well as the lone editor who voted otherwise, weren’t too happy with the ruling. He pointed out that large publications, including the New York Times, had referred to Beeple as the “third-highest selling artist alive” after he made a splash with the sale of Everydays.
“Wikipedia works off of precedent. If NFTs are classified as ‘not art’ on this page, then they will be classified as ‘not art’ on the rest of Wikipedia,” argued Duncan Cock Foster, intern at cryptocurrency app Gemini.
“Wikipedia is the global source of truth for many around the world. The stakes couldn’t be higher!” he said.
In fact, Foster took the matter so seriously that, according to Artnet News, he asked for the cryptocurrency community to “rally and let the Wikipedia editors” know that NFTs should be considered art.
As per AMBCrypto, Griffin Cock Foster, Nifty Gateway co-founder, agreed with his twin, saying: “This is pretty messed up to see—Wikipedia mods are trying to say that *no* NFT can be art—as in, if its an NFT, it can’t be classified as art.”
“Not all NFTs are art—it’s a flexible medium after all—but many are 100% art. Take action and spread the word!” he urged.
At the moment, the ruling still remains, though the editors have agreed to revisit the decision at a later date, in which NFTs could then be re-classified as art.
NFTs have taken the world by storm these past few years.
— Duncan Cock Foster (@DCCockFoster) January 12, 2022
For the first time, digital artists are getting the recognition they deserve. Galleries and the legacy art world never recognized that digital art was a true artistic medium, but the NFT world did!
This is pretty messed up to see - Wikipedia mods are trying to say that *no* NFT can be art - as in, if its an NFT, it can’t be classified as art.
— Griffin Cock Foster (@gcockfoster) January 12, 2022
Not all NFTs are art - its a flexible medium after all - but many are 100% art. Take action and spread the word! https://t.co/Ewk4cGH2XH
[via Artnet News and AMBCrypto, cover image via Rokas Tenys | Dreamstime.com]
