Dear Block Chen

“Dear Block Chen” is the first international contemporary art exhibition about blockchain/NFT technology in Taiwan. With a brisk tone, the exhibition personifies blockchain and contemporary art, depicting the story about their encounters and future. Audience will switch between different characters in this letter-format metaverse, comprehending and reflecting the social phenomena and the impact caused by this new technology from different points of view.

By presenting the research and the artworks made by participating artists, this exhibition not only elaborates on the values and the spirits behind the blockchain and NFT technology, but also describes their potential developments and future applications as well as various social issues that the technology has triggered or manifested. Artists Kevin Abosch, Auan Wang, Tzu-Tung Lee, and Winnie Soon explore how the traditional concept of ownership–which was forged and shaped through the modern development of geopolitics and the emergence of nation state–has been altered again in the decentralized NFT world. Yet what has been changed is not only the idea of ownership, but also our conceptualization of value on artwork and even on artist. By merging an NFT registry and artist himself into one entity, the work of Lans King is a radically brilliant artistic practice responding to this issue. Martin Lukas Ostachowski and Jui-Lan Yao, on the other side, take different perspectives on the energy and natural resources consumption of blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Rexy Tseng, Nai-Ren Chang and I-Chun Lin focus on themes of monetary system and emotional economics, addressing issues such as the golden standard and the speculation and opportunism behind cryptocurrency investments. The artist group “lololol” deals with the idea of “crypto/encryption”, revealing the humane essence behind digital world and future metaverse.

“Dear Block Chen” is a love letter for blockchain/NFT technology, an innovative curatorial project aiming at blurring the boundary between technology and humanity. It is not merely an exhibition displaying artworks of NFT, but a conceptual exhibition presenting contemporary physical artworks about blockchain/NFT.