Exhibitions, Research, Criticism, Commentary
A chronology of 3,585 references across art, science, technology, and culture
“I’d have more sympathy for NFT platforms shutting down if they hadn’t so openly embraced the capitalist extraction engine; the blinding antithesis of decentralization. These were businesses, and they made bad decisions. Own it.”
The Infinite Node Foundation launches its permanent Palo Alto (US) hub with “10,000,” the first major exhibition devoted to CryptoPunks (2017), Larva Labs’ (Matt Hall and John Watkinson) canonical PFP (profile picture) NFT collection. Following last year’s acquisition of the collection’s IP from Yuga Labs, NODE positions the algorithmically-generated portraits as a process-based artwork where “the marketplace is a living exchange that hums with activity.”
“To curate an exhibition about a world where the principal ideal is decentralization involves a certain contradiction because curation demands selection, exclusion, and gatekeeping.”
“It’s like someone wished on a cursed monkey’s paw for an artist who could reflect the truth of this moment, and in Beeple, that wish came true, for better or worse.”
“The one part of financial history crypto could never replicate was the beginning part, where financial products had real-world references. Because of this untethering, all that you have is the most Byzantine and Baroque patterns. Whoever can build the most Baroque pattern will win.”
Building on cyberethnographer Ruby Justice Thélot’s ARTnews meditation on AI and digital folk art creation, critic Louis Bury lists ten examples—art, books, essays—that speak to this tension in 2025. Bury’s picks include Dean Kissick’s dissection of “The Vulgar Image,” Agent 5.5’s QAnon-esque John Pork TikTok lore, artist Maya Man’s “funhouse vision of TikTok vernacular’s over-the-top banality” for the Whitney, and Nadia Asparouhova’s cult hit book Antimemetics (2025).
What would it mean for a forest to own and manage itself? Terra0’s Autonomous Forest (2025) is an experimental, living artwork that rethinks ecological regeneration and stewardship through collective, blockchain-based governance. First theorized in their 2016 white paper, the group—finally—introduces a legal prototype with LAS Art Foundation: Two newly acquired woodland plots near Berlin are now DAO-managed, challenging years of monocultural and profit-driven forestry.
“The best thing about Tezos is its incredible community of left-leaning artists who have created a circular economy and systems of mutual support. It’s almost like a communist chain.”
There might be hope for the internet after all: In a piece for Mozilla Foundation’s Nothing Personal imprint, co-matter strategists Severin Matusek, Nick Houde, and Paloma Moniz chart an emerging ecosystem of radical networks and alternate digital infrastructures that prioritize values and community over growth. Are.na, Metalabel, New Models, Subvert, or the Cyberfeminism Index are all examples of a “post-naive” internet era and builders determined to change the status quo.
“Please take a moment to appreciate the fact that, in the year 2025, there are automated bots that blast out, to no one in particular, serious-sounding financial analysis about an 8-year-old conceptual art project.”
Botto DAO, the decentralized organization governing AI artist Botto, announces a major autonomy upgrade: In its fifth year, Botto now features memory and reasoning capabilities, enabling it to learn from past work, past collaborations, and its wider cultural footprint. A new platform, Botto Studio, allows stewards to observe the AI’s creative process in real-time, provide feedback, chat with fellow Bottonians, and earn community rewards. Botto DAO: “Our little robot artist is growing up so fast.”
Botto
Neurealism
“Not every work of art can be brought into the deep future. Stewardship across generations is incredibly laborious. To bring something into the future is to make it separate from that which will not receive the same investments of care.”
“While auction houses were great early legitimizers, the traditional model is not naturally aligned with new, more decentralized Web3 models. In some sense, this is a good thing.”
The TRANSFER Data Trust celebrates its public launch at New York’s Pier 57, completing TRANSFER’s evolution from a gallery LLC into a data cooperative. The decentralized, artist-owned archive and value exchange network functions as an “open culture stack” designed to collaboratively manage and maintain digital artworks in perpetuity. According to founder Kelani Nichole, “this emergent care model offers a new approach to media art valuation, conservation, and governance.”
Feral File co-founder Sean Moss-Pultz reveals a dedicated art computer as the next chapter for the NFT marketplace. FF1 is a plug-and-play design that tackles the challenges of “living with” digital art (e.g. browser updates, IPFS link rot, server failure). FF1 connects to any TV, projector, or display to showcase your collection. “From your phone, you can browse, build playlists, and send art to your wall.” As FF1 co-designer Andrew Huang states: “If we want art that lasts, we need to control the computer from the ground up.”
“We’re lied to by the media, our leadership, our family members, our friends, and we even lie to ourselves. An honest artwork is like a salve to heal the wounds of the human experience.”
“The same dynamics of representation and influence exist, but blockchain-enabled provenance, global marketplaces and always-on communities make the process faster, more transparent and oftentimes more efficient.”
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