coincodex.com
By minting a photo of poop on the blockchain, Diogenes Barrel has attempted to solidify the argument that the NFT space is slowly drifting into a phase where money and prestige trump artistry.
An artist has accused the NFT space of slowly becoming a universe of uninspired artworks created for the sole aim of feeding into the ongoing NFT craze to, ultimately, make money. To prove this point, the artist has minted a picture of his poop, taken in 2004 in a public toilet of a bus station in Rybinsk, on the blockchain. The NFT, called The Message, which is currently auctioning on OpenSea, is somewhat a challenge to PFP-based NFT offerings lacking artistic depths. The artistic statement of the project reads:
“I lay down a challenge to all PFP avatar collections by auctioning A PHOTO OF MY POOP, which I took in 2004, in a public toilet of a BUS STATION in RYBINSK. The picture is taken on a NOKIA 3660 (navy blue), the resolution of the photo is 640x480 pixels. I am sure that this photo contains more art and value than all artificially generated NFT avatar collections combined.”
At the time of writing, the highest bid price for this NFT is 0.1 WETH, or approximately $457. The auction will end on December 31st, 2021, when the NFT will be sold to the highest bidder.
Is The NFT Space In An Artistic Slump?
As clearly stated by the artist, this project seeks to expose the lack of creativity on the part of NFT creators, most especially those creating avatar-based NFTs. For the artist, the major bone of contention is the apparent redundancy of creative expression in the NFT landscape. More importance is placed on the market potential of NFTs and the likelihood of going viral rather than their artistic value.
“Instead of art, they (NFT artists/creators) prefer to choose the common path by hiring a few freelancers that will automatically generate them another collection of 10k stupid avatars. These NFTs have so little art value, and the marketers have to artificially predetermine rarity of items to create fake scarcity.”
Poop Makes Another Appearance On The Blockchain
Notably, this is not the first time poop has been featured on the blockchain. In July 2021, cans of human poop based on the diet of prominent white artists were auctioned physically at Phillips auction house and as NFTs on OpenSea. Also, in June, a 360-degree video of a sculpture made from human feces was minted as NFT to draw attention to the importance of the study of stools. Another notable mention is the poop emoji-based NFT offering created by Signal’s founder, Moxie Marlinspike. The sole aim of this project is to showcase the fragility of the NFT marketplace.