NFTs between Art and Design. A Story of Digital Transformation

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are blockchain-based certificates that attest to the authenticity of the wares during the sales of a virtual item, infinitely reproducible and freely downloadable from websites. Consistently associated with the commerce of digital images, their diffusion has actively touched the art field and its relative market, which underwent a transformation that has provoked a shake in its previous hierarchical balance. The evolution of the language of digital images started from the widespread practice of creatorsʼ communities—composed of professionals and amateurs—that frequented the Web before the creation of non- fungible tokens. NFTs made possible a new connection between the digital design community and crypto-investors, setting the base for a new market. The figures in this world have a hybrid multidisciplinary provenance. The consequence is a new questioning of the boundaries of art and its relationship with other creative practices, especially with design. This encounter induced a system that approaches the art market with the rules of allographic works: reproducible items depending on a certificate to assert their authenticity, such as design. NFT works might seem superficial if analyzed in the milieu of contemporary art. Still, they frame their significance in the culture of a close-knit community of people. At the same time, the NFT world seems to open a field of experimentation in which designers can proficiently operate, thus contaminating the traditional art world. The result is an experience of art that has the connotations of digital technology and design. It is hard to predict whether NFT art will be successful since it is a nascent phenomenon. The first move, however, has already been made.