Can I burn Picasso's paintings and turn them into NFTs?

This article is from Rhythm BlockBeats, author: 0x13.

In a debate topic from "Qi Pa Shuo," Li Dan once said, "What is more beautiful than the Mona Lisa is the burning Mona Lisa."

Li Dan's words were originally just a line from a stage performance, and no one took it seriously, but in the NFT field, the act of burning art seems to have truly become a trend.

From abroad to domestic, the market's reaction has shifted from acceptance to rejection, until April Fool's Day, when the JUST NFT Fund founded by Sun Yuchen purchased Picasso's masterpiece "Sleeping Nude with Necklace" for $20 million at Christie's 20th Century Art Evening Auction in London, leading everyone to wonder: Will Sun Yuchen burn Picasso's painting?

Rebirth in Destruction, this is very "Banksy"

On October 5, 2018, at Sotheby's auction house, with a crisp sound of the gavel, a mysterious person pressed the remote control tightly held in their hand.

The artwork "Girl With Balloon" created by the famous street artist Banksy, hanging on the wall behind the crowd, was shredded by a paper shredder hidden in the frame, slowly spilling out from the frame. This painting, which was rated as "the favorite artwork of the British" a year ago, chose to head towards destruction at the moment of the transaction. The crowd was stunned, the auctioneer was at a loss on stage, and bidders in the audience lowered their heads, covering their foreheads with their hands. Sotheby's staff hurriedly removed the "destroyed" artwork from the scene.

"At first, I was shocked, but later I realized that what I bought was not just a piece of art, but a segment of art history." The anonymous female collector ultimately paid over a million pounds, as this unprecedented segment of art history was far more valuable than merely owning a piece of art. The artwork was destroyed at the auction, but at the same time, it created another piece of art. This half-shredded piece was publicly exhibited at Sotheby's gallery, where countless people queued in the rain to view the first artwork ever created during an auction.

Sotheby's was unaware of the paper shredder hidden in the frame; Banksy told Sotheby's that the frame was also part of the artwork, so Sotheby's did not dismantle the frame for inspection. This was not Banksy's first public mockery of traditional auction houses.

In 2006, Banksy created 500 pieces titled "Morons," depicting an auction where the artwork being auctioned simply stated: "I can't believe you morons actually bought this piece of junk."

On March 4, 2021, in Brooklyn, New York, this painting was quietly burning, with flames raging on the canvas for 4 minutes and 39 seconds, until the last charred fragment fell to the empty ground, leaving the canvas empty as well.

Just moments before, a young man wearing a black mask ignited the painting from the lower left corner, his black hoodie emblazoned with the image of "Girl With Balloon."

He came from an organization called "Burnt Banksy," which boldly states in their Twitter bio that they "bear the mission of connecting the world's physical art with NFTs." They burned Banksy's "Morons" and minted an NFT version, which sold for 288.69 ETH, approximately $380,000 on OpenSea.

Fans of Banksy and friends from the crypto art community expressed their admiration for this act. They believed that burning the physical artwork and creating an NFT was inherently "Banksy-like," and by destroying the physical piece, its value would be transferred to the NFT, making it a "unprecedented" social experiment that clearly succeeded.

Some might ask: "After being made into an NFT, is this still 'Morons'? The physical version of 'Morons' sells for less than $100,000; why does this one sell for nearly four times that price?"

This can be understood in the same way that "Girl With Balloon" became "another piece of art" when it was auctioned at Sotheby's; this "Morons," while burning in a vacant lot in Brooklyn, also transformed into "another piece of art."

Domestic Imitation Show

On March 25, 2021, in Beijing, at the Yue Art Museum, more than twenty people were chatting and laughing under a large electronic screen. Three of them stepped up to the stage, unfurled a Chinese painting, and ignited it with a lighter. This beautiful artwork gradually twisted and charred under the flames, eventually falling into a plastic bucket placed on the floor. This piece was created by contemporary Chinese hyper-realistic painter Leng Jun, and after it was fully burned, it was made into an NFT, eventually selling for 400,000 RMB on OpenSea.

After the event, many in the crypto art community expressed their disdain.

Discussion in the community about the domestic imitation

In the eyes of the community, this so-called exhibition seemed merely a mimicry of Burnt Banksy. Burnt Banksy at least received mixed reviews from both the traditional art world and the crypto art community, while this burning of art received remarkably unanimous negative feedback.

Returning to the beginning of the article, on April 1, 2021, the JUST NFT Fund founded by Sun Yuchen purchased Picasso's masterpiece "Sleeping Nude with Necklace" for $20 million at Christie's 20th Century Art Evening Auction. At the same time, the JUST NFT Fund also purchased American artist Andy Warhol's "Three Self-Portraits" for $2 million.

This news caused a huge reaction, and the previously quiet community suddenly became lively.

Discussion in the community about Sun Yuchen's auction of Picasso's masterpiece

People seemed accustomed to seeing Sun Yuchen's various hype tactics, so regarding the "potential" possibility of burning Picasso's artwork, they discussed it in a half-joking manner, without outrage or righteous indignation, likely because "it hasn't been burned yet."

Let's return to that controversial question:

If someone burned Picasso's painting and made it into an NFT, how would you view this matter?

In response to this question, Rhythm BlockBeats specifically contacted NFT collector Cao Yin, ArtGee founder Felicia Che, digital art new media Cyberfunkz, and tech art curator Dora.

"This is a very disrespectful act towards the author; it is a sensationalist behavior." NFT collector Cao Yin had just finished a live stream about NFT science popularization, and while walking briskly down the street, he sent 15 voice messages on WeChat, each lasting several seconds. "A very important point is that if you destroy masterpieces like Picasso's works without the artist's permission, it is actually an insult to the artist."

Since art has spread across the globe, people have increasingly valued the choice of "art mediums." Oil painting uses oil paint and canvas as its medium, Chinese painting uses ink and rice paper, music uses sound, rhythm, and melody, and dance uses human movement as its medium… Different art forms employ different mediums, and each art form has its most suitable medium. The art medium is also the bond and bridge between the artist and the audience. Therefore, for artists, being familiar with different art mediums and choosing the most suitable one to shape their artistic image and connect with the audience is a basic requirement.

In the eyes of tech art curator Dora, the value of Picasso's works lies not only in the works themselves. She believes that the reason why artworks that already enjoy a reputation in secular views are esteemed is often due to the additional value contributed by the creator, time, art critics, curators, collectors (including individuals and venues), and viewers, "These values are scarce and precious because they cannot be replicated."

Felicia Che, founder of ArtGee, stated: "A very important characteristic of traditional artworks is their visual and practical value in the physical reality." Similarly, Cyberfunkz, known for its innovative and sharp viewpoints in digital art new media, expressed the same sentiment. Although NFTs have rational advantages such as verifiability, traceability, and ease of transfer, they are far from sufficient for the emotional experience of art appreciation: "From the perspective of user experience in artwork appreciation, physical oil paintings are certainly better as real objects. Because oil paint presents different light and dimensionality in real light. Not to mention that many artworks are innovative combinations of different materials, which may include ceramics, wood, cardboard, fabric, etc."

From this perspective, NFTs are not a "cure-all" for all art forms; on the contrary, they have significant limitations.

To Burn or Not to Burn, That Is the Question

Why can Banksy's works be burned and made into NFTs? This is closely related to Banksy's personal style. Banksy's works are more akin to reproducible prints, utilizing pre-made templates to spray artworks on the streets. Banksy's spirit of satire, rebellion, and value proposition naturally aligns with the spirit of blockchain. Therefore, although many oppose the destruction of Banksy's works, creating NFTs from them can still gain public acceptance. Cao Yin likened this to "playing jazz with Western classical instruments," where the cultural and value propositions are inherently connected.

However, burning Leng Jun's hyper-realistic works or Picasso's cubist works, transferring them entirely from rice paper, canvas, and other mediums to the NFT medium, in Cao Yin's words, is like "playing jazz with folk instruments." While there may be excellent adaptations, they are ultimately rare, and more often, the original flavor of jazz is lost.

Cyberfunkz referred to Banksy as a "social activist," whose works serve more than just the function of "appreciation." Therefore, his works are not limited by form, material, or medium. The messages conveyed by his works, such as anti-war, equality, and opposition to capitalism, are the essence of the artworks. This is why burning Banksy's paintings does not affect the artistic expression and value of his works, while burning Leng Jun's works makes the audience feel more like "Dong Shi imitating Xiang Lin."

So, which artworks are more suitable for choosing NFTs as their artistic medium?

"I basically won't collect works that exist in both physical and NFT forms." As one of the earliest collectors of the famous crypto artist FEWOCiOUS, Cao Yin's unique perspective makes his viewpoint even more compelling. He believes that the best NFT works should be digitally native; without the existence of NFTs, these works cannot be presented to the public. Just as ink cannot produce the effect of Chinese painting on canvas, works living on screens will also lose their soul when printed out. Felicia Che similarly stated that it is meaningless to chain valuable traditional physical artworks, and there is no proven necessity for it; "Chaining is merely using blockchain technology to create a certificate."

However, there are differing opinions on this. Cyberfunkz cited cubist painter Gabe Weis as an example, who entered the crypto art world and corresponded NFTs with physical works. Cyberfunkz believes that when exhibited offline, collectors can display physical works, while online, they can showcase NFT works. The real world and the Metaverse are two parallel universes that do not need to be dichotomous or mutually exclusive.

"Artificial burning and destruction are the most undesirable." Felicia Che emphasized, "We should think about how to create value better, rather than considering the destruction of value." Indeed, the value of art lies not only in a specific pattern but also in the artist's choice of medium, artistic expression, value transmission, and the integration of various aspects that constitute the value of the artwork itself. If one destroys the artwork along with its complete value merely to pursue a new technology or for a publicity stunt, it is truly a case of losing more than gaining.

Similarly, Dora also expressed to Rhythm that, in her view, NFTs are an effective way to create digital scarcity, promote the digitization of assets, and establish ownership of digital items. "For digital assets or digital artworks/collections, owning an NFT version is more valuable. However, whether non-digital assets or digital artworks/collections need an NFT version is still up for discussion."

"What we need to discuss is not which art forms should be made into NFTs, but which artists bring us refreshing ideas and techniques in the artistic context of NFTs." Cyberfunkz stated that Monet, Picasso, and Andy Warhol made enormous contributions to the breakthroughs and development of art in their respective historical contexts. So, in the era of NFTs, why should we imitate our predecessors? Why should we forcibly attribute NFT properties to their works? We are waiting for the birth of artists belonging to this era.

"If we must say that burning a work to make it into an NFT has any special value," Cyberfunkz said with a smile, "it might be easier to take along when escaping Earth!"