Why Digital Art Still Needs Context

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Essay exploring why digital art requires contextual framing, discussing NFTs, post-internet art, and contemporary art practices.

Why Digital Art Still Needs Context

Ricarda (Technology Portraits), 2025.Some things that happened last week ❤️‍🔥📮 I can tell you what did not happen last week. Taylor Swift did not share any images from the wedding, so the two most important questions remain unanswered: What did her wedding dress look like? And do Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce have a dog? We still don’t know. What I do know is that mentioning Taylor Swift in the title of my last Substack seemed to affect the number of views. They were lower than usual. I do appreciate all the men who reached out to tell me she’s a very smart businesswoman, though. So, you thought I loved Taylor just for her music? Okay.🍹 Speaking of appreciating fandom, I finally found the time to visit the new exhibition at Pace in Berlin, Goodbye Sadness, Hello Sadness. The exhibition includes a bar by Friedrich Kunath, installed on the ground floor of the gallery. I’d say it was one of the most joyful exhibition experiences I’ve had all year because you can simply go there, hang out with your friends, and look at Friedrich Kunath’s work. If anyone wants to meet me over the summer, I’ll be at the bar at Pace, holding a bottle of Cola (not Coca-Cola, sadly). You can read my conversation with Friedrich Kunath about the bar and fandom for Monopol here.🗞️ A few things were published last week: my conversation with Ed Fornieles about growing up online for Right Click Save. My conversation with Trevor Paglen about digital art for SLEEK. The recording of the panel I moderated as part of the Digital Art Summit during Art Basel in June, Autonomous: Art Before and After the Agent, with Jonas Lund, Primavera de Filippi, and Jordan Lyall (Art Blocks). And I discussed the question, Can art escape the system?, with Liz Haas from UBERMORGEN as part of the conversation series by .ART, Hug, and Art & Vault. We weren’t even sure which system. In any case, you can listen to the conversation here. We disagreed on quite a few things.🗓️ Save the date: C/O Berlin invited me to moder

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