Beyond Mimesis: Valentin Ruhry - Bitcoin and Contemporary Art
Theorie Zeitgenössische Kunst Diskussion
The talk will focus on Ruhry’s platform cointemporary.com (co-founded with Andy Boot) and his opinions on economic dynamics emerging out of a strict usage of the Bitcoin currency, as well as the potential impact of blockchain related applications on the global art market and other areas.
Valentin Ruhry (www.ruhry.at) is a sculptor whose work is alternating between current questions of sculpture and conceptional interventions. Over the last years, light has become an important basic material for many of his works, with Ruhry investigating how it can be seen as a volume in space, but also as something substantial invisible. In parallel, Ruhry has continued his studies in current socioeconomic topics such as decentralized markets, alternative currencies, the Bitcoin network, startups, sharing economy, regulated markets, and the “new” art market.
About Cointemporary
Cointemporary (www.cointemporary.com) is an online art space and gallery, founded by Andy Boot and Valentin Ruhry. It is dedicated to showcasing on artwork for a limited period of time, to be be purchased for Bitcoin only. The ongoing discussion of the intrinsic value of this new currency and its high volatility disables the current basis of valuation in the art market, which transforms the - at first glance - commercial platform into a critical artwork by itself.
About Bitcoin
Bitcoin represents a decentralized online payment network and a new form of autonomy in the global monetary system. It can be filed somewhere between anarcho-capitalistic utopia and a potential viable finance tool for the future.
Beyond Mimesis is a research and discourse platform established in December 2013 by Christian Bazant-Hegemark, investigating the conditions of contemporary painting. It consists of periodical exhibitions, artist talks and studio visits, publishing exclusive texts on contemporary painting. The format aims to foster an understanding of the academic research process outside of pure academia, and vice versa: to foster an understanding of art based processes and practices outside of the studio.
kuratiert von Christian Bazant-Hegemark