The NFT ecosystem has evolved considerably over the past six months as a crypto crash has created the conditions for a new wave of Web3 infrastructure. Please join Gareth and Alex as they consider the implications of these developments in light of recent global attention and increasing popularisation. How and where might the sector continue to evolve over the near to medium term, and what insights might we have learned? This discussion will survey practical areas of growth and development relevant to alumni embedded within the cultural and digital economies.

A Zoom link will provided upon registration to access the livestream on Thursday, September 15 at 12:00pm ET / 5:00pm BST.

Speakers Biography

Gareth Fletcher is the Programme Director for the Sotheby’s Institute of Art MA in Art Logistics and lectures on a range of subjects across Art Logistics, Technology and Art Business. As well as his role as Programme Director for MA in Art Logistics, he is Leader of the Art Crime online intensive course. He also lectures the application and adoption of blockchain systems within the art market for the Art & Tech: Data, Market Analysis and Blockchain online intensive programme. Gareth is a PhD Researcher at Kingston University, London and holds an MA in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art - London. He has received a TECHNE AHRC scholarship to pursue his PhD examining the semiotics of provenance information in the establishment of cultural and economic value in the market for Near Eastern antiquities. His current research explores the interface between the contextual information of cultural objects and technology, and the integration of traditional art market processes within Web3 applications. He sits on the Advisory Board for the Responsible Art Market (RAM) London Committee.

Alex Estorick is a media theorist whose work seeks to develop socially progressive approaches to new technologies. As Editor-in-Chief at Right Click Save, he aims to drive critical conversation about NFTs, blockchain, and Web3. He is also Contributing Editor for Art and Technology at Flash Art, establishing the magazine’s digital column, “The Uncanny Valley”, as a bridge between contemporary art and new media. He contributes to numerous publications – from Frieze to the Financial Times – and recently published the first aesthetics of crypto art: a data-driven study of the early genesis of the NFT phenomenon.

A recording will be available.

Questions? Please contact alumni@sia.edu.

Alumni Event- Masterclass: NFTs After the Hype