NFTs were meant to help artists, but the new ‘Digital Art Market’ seems even more capitalistic and messy than the non-digital one, and has a high environmental cost. The rich get richer, while artists and others are hurt by scams. Artists are not responsible for the technology itself and we understand the tech’s attraction. We, too, believe artists should be paid when their art is re-sold. However, artists who mint NFTs must contend with their negative environmental and economic consequences.
Read MoreOur contributor Janyce Denise Glasper writes an opinionated essay about artists’ placement in museums. Where does Jasper Johns go? Where does Emma Amos? Some artists receive accolades mostly after their death, while others receive praise again and again in life. The art world is still a mostly white world and mostly a white man’s club.
Read MoreOur contributor Dereck Stafford Mangus’s day job is museum guard at the Baltimore Museum of Art, but Dereck also works as a member of the museum’s conservation crew dusting the sculptures in the sculpture garden. Recently, the dusting tasks came up against the demolition of a building next door to the museum, on the campus of Johns Hopkins University, triggering Dereck’s thoughts about demolitions in general and the labor of artists and conservators. Enjoy this behind the scenes look at a different kind of museum work. All photomontages by Dereck Stafford Mangus.
Read MoreDereck Stafford Mangus reflects on moving from Boston to Baltimore, and into a building clad in Formstone. Dereck compares Formstone’s shaped-stucco facades to art forgeries, calling them “urban kitsch.” But he’s learned to appreciate them as part of what makes Baltimore …Baltimore!
Read MoreLogan Cryer takes a trip out to Reading, PA to check out Zach Horn’s exhibition ‘Cookout’ at GoggleWorks Center For the Arts. Logan is refreshed by Zach’s joyful, kitschy food paintings, and says they are full of heart.
Read MoreAfter getting his second Covid-19 vaccine, Dereck Stafford Mangus takes a reflective walk around Baltimore and photographs the fire-damaged Domino Sugar Refinery. Despite ongoing local and global crises, Dereck is hopeful for the future.
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