Exploring blockchain — is the art world ready for consensus?

Leading art, technology and finance specialists offered a range of answers at the inaugural Art +Tech Summit at Christie’s in London, as Malcolm Cossons reports

‘It’s incredible to see so many key innovators sat next to so many key decision-makers, all under one roof,’ said co-organiser Elliot Safra of Christie’s as he glanced across the packed Great Room at King Street. The subtitle of Christie’s first one-day Art + Tech Summit — ‘Is the Art World Ready for Consensus?’ — recognised it is a question of when, and not if, blockchain will have an impact. Watch the video of the summit ‘The only way you’ll have more concrete and strong propositions is by asking the right questions and having a knowledgeable audience,’ confirmed Bernadine Bröcker, co-host and CEO of Vastari, a platform connecting private collectors, museums and exhibition organisers. The event was sponsored by Bidpoc, a provenance service provider specifically for the art industry, which uses verification technologies to link physical artworks to an immutable digital identity on the blockchain. With this in mind, it is worth reiterating exactly what this technology is. Blockchain is a decentralised, digital ledger allowing users to store information in a secure and permanent way. The data is stored in cryptographic blocks that form a time-stamped and immutable chain. This is verifiable and impossible to alter, and consequently reliable, trustworthy and traceable. The technology is widely known for currencies such as Bitcoin, but, from an art perspective, the same register can capture information such as provenance, sale history and records.

The conference at Christie’s London was sold out An in-depth programme of events

The context of this technology and its issues and applications was explored more fully in the early sessions of the summit. An emerging field such as this offers great potential, although Anton Ruddenklau, head of digital and innovation at KPMG, tempered this with caution on how robust the system is at this stage. Jonathan Kewley, co-head of the tech group at law firm Clifford Chance, also accepted the potential of blockchain but highlighted the challenges with regard to data privacy, cyber security, artificial intelligence, infrastructure and competition. ‘I think blockchain will help transform the art market,’ he said. ‘Not a full facelift, but maybe some subtle Botox.’

‘The idea of a centralised database is interesting, but more interesting is the idea of a decentralised database’ — Jess Houlgrave

Only five per cent of the investments in the half-trillion-dollar blockchain industry are at present focused on the art market. Anne Bracegirdle, Christie’s photography specialist and an enthusiastic proponent of blockchain, underlined what an opportunity and challenge this nascent technology presents: ‘It’s thrilling that we are living and working during this technology’s infancy when we can shape its future and our standards. To integrate it into our businesses we must be able to see what this future might look like, and how we might collaborate.’ One application of blockchain is for digital art. It can create a self-contained ecosystem that is decentralised and democratic, with the provenance of works, payments and copyright built in. A revelation was the level of interest in the field — a single work recently sold for $140,000 — and the various models that can be applied.

Georgina Adam, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Sylvie Gleises, Kati Price and Richard Entrup on one of the conference panels

‘It’s important to look at all the various propositions and whether they really need blockchain at all’ — Frédéric de Senarclens

Removing opacity from the market and establishing clear and immutable data would revolutionise the market according to Nanne Dekking, chairman of the TEFAF Art Fair and founder of Artory, which is establishing a secure digital registry of verified information. ‘There are a lot of people who could afford to buy art and just don’t,’ he remarked. ‘They don’t trust the data and don’t understand the supply chain.’ Debates remain about who, if anyone, is the authority on the veracity of any stored information, and how it is permanently and physically connected to a specific artwork.

Conceptual artist Kevin Abosch addresses delegates at the conference

The final panel of the summit explored the idea of shared or fractional ownership of art, through tokens stored and traded on the blockchain. Frédéric de Senarclens, who runs research source Art Market Guru, said, ‘blockchain technology allows shared ownership, but it’s important to look at all the various propositions and whether they really need blockchain at all. I am a firm believer that there is an opportunity, so it’s a question of making sure that every aspect of the business side is covered.’ Companies Maecenas, Look Lateral and Tend Swiss, all represented on the panel, though with slightly different models, take a single work and sell shares in it, which can then subsequently be traded. It raises queries about where the original work resides and if a new and possibly inflationary asset class could emerge, while also creating opportunities, such as museums being able to realise assets without de-accessioning, and for new collectors to come to the market.

‘We have to explore these technologies. Blockchain will become pervasive, but it needs to become transparent first’— Richard Entrup