Carbon footprint, monopoly, and potentiality of change: Tokenizing art as an aesthetic practice for alternative ecologies

Abstract

The article discusses certain aspects of blockchain-based art, including the ecology and economy of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), applying projects curated by Ruangrupa for documenta 15, such as Jalar, Dayra, Cheesecoin, and BeeCoin, created within the lumbung Economy. In light of earlier investigations into the ecology of NFTs, the main areas of concern now are the ways in which information about the environmental effects of NFTs presents itself, the monopolization of particular technological mechanisms, the perpetuation of cultural biases, and, from this angle, the belief of artists in the potential for change brought about by the new technology. Given the economic and ecological implications arising from the blockchain projects discussed in this article, I propose to use the notion of ecosophy defined by Félix Guattari as an approach for lumbung Economy interpretation.