The multiple original

Reproducibility as the point of convergence between printmaking and cryptoart

Abstract

This article aims to reveal approximations between printmaking and what is known as cryptoart, particularly regarding reproducibility as a concept that permeates its production and its implications on the matter of the legitimacy and originality of art. First, it contextualizes the problem of reproducibility in the scope of digital art, which surpasses the discussions about aura and authenticity based on Walter Benjamin (2008). On this basis, the article introduces non-fungible tokens (NFTs), upon which the concept of crypto-art is founded (QUARANTA, 2022), as a response to the unbridled reproducibility of the digital, a contemporary solution for the certification of works, with its socioeconomic and artistic impacts. The paper then presents printmaking as a historical model, emphasizing its fundamental aspects as mechanisms that certify the authenticity of reproducible works. The comparative analysis between cryptoart and printmaking points to parallels between the two modalities which, however, indicate that the concepts of technical reproducibility and aura as proposed by Benjamin do not fully accommodate the circumstances of cryptoart or digital art more broadly. Therefore, it is suggested that the concept of digital reproducibility by Douglas Davis (1995) and the considerations on the allographic and performative properties of digital art, according to Boris Groys (2008), be revised for a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamics of art in the digital context.