Hyperallergic
Sensitive to Art & its Discontents
One could argue that NFTs were pushing the envelope of respectability from the very start, but fresh controversy over an item listed on GameStop’s new NFT marketplace demonstrates that there is at least one issue at which we collectively draw the line. The platform came under fire for allowing an artist identified simply as “Jules” to list an NFT that appears to emulate a well-known photograph of a person leaping from one of the World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001, taken by Associated Press staffer Richard Drew.
Drew’s image, which captured in midair one of some 100 people who jumped from the towers before they fell, crystalized the horror of a day when so many lives were lost in unseen ways. Naturally, finding the photograph appropriated for financial gain on an NFT marketplace was upsetting and enraging to many people. After public outcry, the post was taken down and its maker was suspended.
Hyperallergic was able to retrieve a screenshot of the original listing using Wayback Machine. In the NFT by Jules, a toy astronaut falls in front of a vertically striped background. “This one probably fell from the MIR space station,” the caption states, a possible reference to Russia’s space station which was in operation until 2001. The cheapest version of the NFT was listed for 0.65 ETH (~$887 USD) and was bid up to 5 ETH ($6,800 USD) before it was taken down.
Found on Reddit: pic.twitter.com/zKycvmz67R
Coverage by news outlets and crypto-world sleuths brought attention to the issue on Saturday, July 23. The website Web3 is Going Just Great pointed out that GameStop’s NFT marketplace is a curated site — meaning that the “Falling Man” NFT was vetted and approved for sale. People quickly began reaching out to excoriate the company and demand the censure of the NFT and its creator.
A screenshot capturing a direct message exchange between an unknown Twitter user and @GameStopNFT indicates that the company is taking the complaints seriously.
“This NFT will be removed from our marketplace entirely,” reads GameStop’s reply. The company added that Jules had their minting ability removed and has been contacted about the image.
Obviously, artists of all kinds are free to engage with any kind of subject matter, including tragedies. But the issue at hand with the “Falling Man” NFT demonstrates that certain subjects remain untouchable, especially for profit, as the late comedian Gilbert Gottfried memorably learned with his early attempt at 9/11 humor. “Too soon,” was the general sentiment at the time, and 20 years later, it still appears to be the case.
In her designs for S. Ansky’s play The Dybbuk, the artist blends various visual and mythological strands of her European background with those of her adopted home of Mexico.
This week, criticism of New York’s proposed “feminist jail,” activists are losing steam, cultural appropriation parodies on TikTok, and more. | Hakim Bishara
Summer graduates of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design showcase their fine arts theses on campus and at the MassArt x SoWa Gallery, with in-person and virtual events and artist talks.
The musical is the first such telling of Kahlo’s life that has been sanctioned by her family, and draws in part on details from Intimate Frida, a book by her niece Isolda P. Kahlo.
The “Stolen Art Gallery” features five works by Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Manet, Cézanne, and van Gogh, long lost to public view but fully visible in the metaverse.
Opportunities for scholars include a professional development program with the peer-reviewed journal American Art as well as residential fellowships at SAAM and its Renwick Gallery.
The unorthodox bodies that Donatello sculpted seem intertwined with the unorthodox relationship he developed between his own body and the bodies of other queer men.
Auslender’s art brings personal associations and a sense of intimacy to images of torture based on the crimes of Argentina’s ruling junta from 1974 to 1983.
Outro: World-Building Within and Outside the Studio at the SVA Chelsea Gallery features new work by 26 recent graduates, on view through August 15.
Aaron Bendich draws from his massive collection of Yiddish records to share an hour of otherwise hidden music on his radio show Borscht Beat. Recently, he also launched an independent Yiddish record label.
Alexander Si’s “Sweet Green” installation at Chinatown Soup, a near-replica of one of the popular salad chain’s franchises, explored the experience of blue-collar service workers and their place in a system of race-based capitalism.
The documentary has impressive access to contemporary art world figures, but comes up with no good solutions for the many problems it discusses.
Sarah Rose Sharp is a Detroit-based writer, activist, and multimedia artist. She has shown work in New York, Seattle, Columbus and Toledo, OH, and Detroit —… More by Sarah Rose Sharp
1 Comment
Seriously???
Why would you use the screenshot as the image to this story???
If it’s so abominable (which it is) why repeat it???
Your email address will not be published.
{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}Your submission failed. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}
{{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. Even though the server responded OK, it is possible the submission was not processed. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Learn More{{/message}}
Submitting…
Hyperallergic is a forum for serious, playful, and radical thinking about art in the world today. Founded in 2009, Hyperallergic is headquartered in Brooklyn, New York.
