The Accursed Share of Non-fungibles

Abstract

As described by Georges Bataille in his 1949 essays on General Economy, the Accursed Share refers to the excessive and non-recuperable portions of an economy that must be spent lavishly or luxuriously, or otherwise be destined to outrageous, destructive, and catastrophic expressions — most often resulting in war, or other ruinous and destructive acts [Baitaille and Hurley 1988]. How might we might consider Bataille's idea as expressed through the recent boom in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and contemporary Blockchain technology? Between 2020 and 2021, the global trading volume of NFTs increased ten-fold [Nadini et al. 2021], with a reported global market of 22 billion USD in 2021 [Milmo 2021]. Researchers Matthieu Nadini (et al.) note that digital art sales accounted for roughly 10 percent of all NFT transactions in 2021 [Nadini et al. 2021]. The volume and frequency of the booming NFT market cannot be ignored, but what does it suggest for the future of art practice and pedagogy, and how does it relate to the excesses suggested in Bataille's notion of general economy?