BCA Talk | Robert Alice: I like the conversation between the digital and physical
Robert Alice’s Portraits of a Mind (2019) is a global art project to decentralise the founding code behind Bitcoin into 40 fragments. Block 8, on loan from Jehan Chu, art collector and co-founder of Kenetic, is featured in the “Virtual Niche” exhibition.
Can you talk us through the creation process of the painting series “Portraits of a Mind”?
Sure, the first 6 months of the project were spent researching, conceptualizing and digging into the history of Bitcoin as well as the links between blockchain and the history of art. Out of that research process came the conceptual genesis of Portraits of a Mind, which at its core was an attempt to reshine a light on Bitcoin’s earliest codebase and then decentralize it around the world by fragmenting the artwork into 40 works.
What would you present this work of art to someone who doesn’t know much about Bitcoin?
It is a great question, one I have asked myself often if you weren’t deeply knowledgeable about crypto what would you take from the work, I think you would see a mass of alphanumeric letters and reflect on the idea of code, and then perhaps encryption. Each work is title Block #X, so perhaps you would reason it had a connection to blockchain. Ultimately, the aesthetics of the work play with the other, older historical documents.
In your view, what is the aesthetic value of NFT-based art(your artwork)?
I think it is very simple, a transcription of a physical object into a digital environment. I wanted to play with the idea of darkness in an (NFT) world in which the lights are always on.
Each painting of “Portraits of a Mind” includes a physical object and an NFT collectible. What is the rationale for having both physical and virtual form?
I like the conversation between the digital and physical. I think they both have a fundamental role to play in the evolution of NFT’s and crypto art.
The exhibition “Virtual Niche” is the first and largest offline exhibition for NFT/crypto-art, which will be held at UCCA Lab, Beijing at Jin Art Space, Shanghai. What do you think of having a physical space exhibiting digital artworks?
It’s great, I think it’s a fundamental context and great to see the story spreading outside of the metaverse.
What are your views on the bull NFT market? How will NFT-based art develop in the future?
I am a little worried, speculation and parabolic markets are not good for any market, especially art. When the dust settles, it will be interesting to see who is around. That being said we are about to see a tidal wave of artists experimenting in the space, which is really exciting.
Can you share with us what your future NFT projects might be?
A truly digital side to Portraits of a Mind, decentralising the codebase far beyond the 40 physical holders, an art project to carbon offset NFT collections and then a few other works that will not be sold, just distributed for free.
