Manifesto

Today there is an undeniably wide and strong spectral dispersion of artistic philosophy, styles and approaches. CURRENTISM is the belief that these wide views of our most recent history while lacking uniformity, have formed a single, indistinguishable flow of content – has been for decades and is overwhelming in breadth, depth, and speed. These trends have only been accelerating as a result of the converging advances in technologies. Converging technologies, where previously unrelated technologies are successfully combined, often in a single device, have fueled the birth of social media applications for sharing content via online platforms. This combined with the consumerization of information technology, driving greater access at lower costs, has resulted in this orgy of IRL and Digital content.

Currentism believes in craft and in the culture of the Shokunin.

Converging Currents is the underlying idea that the above principles are seen across the fields of art, science, technology and culture. The emergence of both blockchain technologies and artificially intelligent generated content will drastically reshape how we think of the nature of work, creativity, life, time, and art. These developing pressures will eventually result in a rebalancing of the world’s socio-political and economic dynamics which have existed over the last 100 years. A potentially violent clash is on the horizon as the last century is now finally converging with the next.

Currentism is not political. We are not apolitical.

To prepare for this future, it is important to understand the philosophical underpinnings of these developing currents. Art is everywhere and it’s more important than ever. In the past, art was something that only existed in certain places: in galleries, museums, or people’s homes. But now, thanks to the digital revolution, art is available to everyone all the time. It’s on our phones, on our computers, and our TV screens.

Currentism is bespoke: sometimes luxury, sometimes sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells. It is hand-tailored, its algorithms hand-coded.

Art speaks the truth. The more uninhibited, the more open, direct and independent the economics, the more truth is brought through the medium and conveyed about the society of today. Contemporary art invites the viewer to bring with them their own experiences to the art. Meaning is ultimately produced through that exchange. Web3 is transforming the “contemporary art experience” into something else, some more immersive, more interactive, and more forceful as a result of the direct ownership one has in the digital intellectual property and branding that its inhabitants create as afforded by blockchain technology. The connection between art and life has never been stronger. The digital revolution helps perpetuate a broader understanding of the role of art in people’s daily lives like never before in human history.

Currentism seeks out signal and seeks to eliminate noise.

All of the above leads to the concept of what we roughly define as Tribal Capitalism which itself can be decentralized or centralized depending upon how it is leveraged. Crypto-Punkism as the rebellious profiteers of the 21st century would be another attempt to create a word to define something that is not yet definable. It doesn’t need to be defined but its’ “feeling”, its “existence”’, as a subcultural movement is enough to churn the waters of imagination for what may be possible.

Currentism aims to be the 8-bit version of a movement.

The CURRENTISM MANIFESTO calls for a new era of collaboration and creativity, one that takes advantage of the unique opportunities afforded by NFTs and digital art. Anon can and does mean trust and integrity. We believe in the power of art to speak the truth and shape the world around us.

Currentism is curated.