About the author: Aleksandra's research interrogates contemporary art's shifting terrain, focusing on the tensions between representation and abstraction. With a BA in Fine Art Practice and a law degree, she explores art's evolving dialogue with history and culture. More about Aleksandra
The nature of the art world, and the politics of producing, disseminating, and gaining ownership of art, are undergoing a profound transformation. This challenge to the notions of materiality, display, and most importantly ownership, finds its roots in the rise of dematerialised art – a term which encompasses the intangible artwork. Art is no longer kept in the body of an object, but stored as ideas, digital files, or even instructions.
Collectors find themselves grappling with the transition from physical artworks to their more elusive forms, as a new paradigm of art collecting emerges – one in which the value is precisely the conceptual existence of the work, as opposed to its physical reality.
Let's explore how that shift, and the phenomenon of ‘dematerialised’ art, is impacting contemporary art collections, and what that means for collectors in current times.
The Emergence of Dematerialised Art
The conceptual framework of dematerialised art is not entirely new. The roots of this phenomenon go back to the art movements of the 1960s and 1970s, when artists such as Sol LeWitt, Yoko Ono, and Joseph Kosuth began to give ideas a greater importance over their material execution. LeWitt, for example, had famously said that "the idea becomes a machine that makes the art," as he created works which could be materialised by anyone, should they follow his instructions. That is when the physical being of art objects became secondary to the ideas which underpin them.
Cut Piece, 1964, performance by Yoko Ono. © Yoko Ono
The shift away from the materiality of art was partly a response to the commodification of traditional art forms. Through the removal of physicality, conceptual artists sought to free art from the market’s grip, encouraging intellectual engagement instead. Collectors, however, came up with their own idea of how to play this game. They found ways to engage with these ephemeral works and own them through certificates of authenticity, or by acquiring the instructions provided by the artist.
Current times, often defined as the digital age, see the boundaries of dematerialised art expanding further with the rise of digital art and NFTs (non-fungible tokens). Digital works were once seen as easily reproduced, lacking in scarcity and, therefore, in value. Despite that, they have now found new life through NFTs, which leverage blockchain technology to establish verifiable ownership and provenance. A notable turning point in this evolution was the 2021 sale of Beeple’s digital artwork, Everydays: The First 5000 Days, for $69 million at Christie’s. This was the moment determining the entry of digital art into the mainstream art market, solidifying its place within the world of high-value collectibles.
Everydays — The First 5000 Days, 2021, Beeple and CyberPunks, 2017, the studio Larva Labs (in the background). Photo mundissima/Shutterstock
How Collectors Are Adapting to Conceptual Ownership
The challenge for contemporary collectors stands: how to own and engage with art that lacks a physical form? It is a tradition for collectors to value the tactile experience of owning paintings, sculptures, or other works that can be displayed in their galleries or homes. However, dematerialised art does not offer the same sensory satisfaction. It is, as we know it, an invisible commodity.
In the world of conceptual art, it is certificates of authenticity that facilitate ownership. Let’s look at Sol LeWitt’s Wall Drawings as an example. Instead of physical works that one can easily buy and hang on a wall, this work consists of instructions for creating a drawing on-site, accompanied by a certificate, serving as proof of ownership. In this instance, the artwork only exists conditionally – only when executed according to the artist’s instructions. Similarly, NFTs provide a certificate of ownership in the digital realm, presenting collectors with the opportunity to claim ownership of a unique digital file or work of art.
These new forms of ownership excite collectors with renewed ways of seeing and engaging with artwork. They find themselves rethinking their relationships with objects by shifting away from physical possession and, instead, interacting with ideas or experiences. Nonetheless, the question remains: can a purely digital, experiential, or conceptual art object offer the same emotional and aesthetic fulfilment as a traditional collection?
The Value of Dematerialised Art
Dematerialised art dictates the idea that value need not be tied to physical substance. For contemporary collectors and artists, the worth lies precisely in the conceptual power of artworks. For example, when Yves Klein displayed an empty art gallery space as a work of art, the absence of any physical art objects was the statement itself, and the value was seen in a gesture of concepts, rather than anything tangible.
The challenge here lies in how collectors perceive long-term value. Some critics argue that NFTs and digital art exist in their own speculative bubbles, so to speak, whereas others see them as the natural evolution of producing, disseminating and collecting art in the digital world. It is true that early conceptual works initially met with scepticism, but eventually, they made a permanent indentation on art history. Is it possible to assume that digital and dematerialised works might, too, prove their staying power?
Challenges in Collecting Dematerialised Art
Dematerialised art offers an abundance of exciting opportunities to collectors, but not without challenges. A primary concern is to ensure the authenticity and legitimacy of owning such art. Certificates of authenticity, be it physical or digital, are a vital part of verifying ownership of that which is intangible. NFTs, which use blockchain technology to track ownership and provenance, provide a solution to this problem in the digital world. However, certain issues remain unresolved, such as technological obsolescence and the long-term sustainability of blockchain networks.
Another significant concern for collectors is how to display and preserve dematerialised work. They find themselves having to navigate the complexities of exhibiting files on screens, or in virtual spaces. Furthermore, conceptual works often require active participation of the collector, as they work to attain the artist’s vision. Although these issues are as elusive as the intangible creation they pertain to, one thing is certain: as technology evolves, so too will the methods of displaying and preserving dematerialised art.
Dematerialised art, and the contemporary phenomenon of giving primary importance to artistic ideas and digital formats over physical objects, is reshaping the cultural life of art collectors. As they adapt to this shift, they must discover new ways of owning, displaying and engaging with that which does not conform to the physical realm.
The very essence of what it means to collect art is being reimagined. The boundaries between the material and the immaterial continue to blur. Challenges remain – but so does the excitement surrounding a broader evolution in how we define and value art in the 21st century.