Carlo Zanni Creates Cryptocurrency Artwork ZANNI
Italian artist Carlo Zanni has launched ZANNI (Ẓ), a cryptocurrency that functions as both a digital currency and an artwork. Built on the Ethereum blockchain via smart contracts, exactly 1,000 ZANNI tokens are available for purchase. The value of each ZANNI fluctuates with Ether: 1 Ether equals 10 ZANNI. Zanni explores how blockchain and cryptocurrencies could transform the art market's valuation mechanisms. The project collapses the boundaries between artwork, price, and artist: the price is the artwork, and the artist becomes the currency. To view the work, collectors must first buy it; only then can they hold it in their digital wallet, contemplating it as abstract numbers on a screen—the pure essence of art market speculation. The work was created in 2018 and was featured in Artribune Magazine #44.
Key facts
- Carlo Zanni created a cryptocurrency artwork named ZANNI (Ẓ).
- ZANNI is built on the Ethereum blockchain using smart contracts.
- Exactly 1,000 ZANNI tokens are available for purchase.
- 1 Ether equals 10 ZANNI; value fluctuates with Ether.
- The artwork collapses distinctions between artwork, price, and artist.
- Collectors must buy the token to view the artwork in a digital wallet.
- The project critiques speculation in the art market.
- The work was featured in Artribune Magazine #44 in 2018.
Entities
Artists
- Carlo Zanni
Institutions
- Ethereum
- Artribune