Leaving Art on the Street

In 2009, while in my second year studying History at Cambridge, I accidentally found myself enrolled in a course on the “History of Collecting”. The course culminated in a 5000-word essay on a collection of your choice. I chose to write my essay on the Wooster Collective, an online collection of photos of street art from around the world, curated by a couple in New York.

Street art is so powerful because it’s shaped by the context in which it’s created. At its best, street art is beauty, social commentary, and political activism and is accessible to the communities the artist wants to speak to. When that art is taken off the street and put in a gallery, the magic is lost.

In my essay, I argued that the Wooster Collective represented how the internet evolved collecting. From cabinets of curiosities in private homes curated by gentlemen after their Grand Tour, to museums accessible to the few and curated by the white and wealthy, to a website showcasing digital representations of art from every corner of the globe and accessible to all with an internet connection.

In a world pre-Instagram, Wooster Collective made street art permanent and discoverable to a global audience for the first time, while allowing it to remain in the community it was designed for.

The problem with the Wooster Collective, and later Instagram, is that while they provide global distribution, artists are still only able to make money from that art if they take it off the street and sell it in canvas, mural or print form.

I believe NFTs could be a brilliant way to solve this problem — imagine a Wooster Collective where you can buy scarce digital representations of iconic street art while allowing the original to remain in the community in which it was created. Collectors of that artist’s work could have access to livestreams of the artist at work on their next creation, exclusive merch and events, and direct access to the artist as part of a curated community.

Artists get paid for creating work in public, earning a percentage every time the NFT is traded, while collectors can buy pieces of culture that represent their values, history, and the causes they care most about.

California, 2020

Bogota, 2017

Bogota, 2017

While a couple of street artists are experimenting with NFTs, I haven’t seen anyone execute a curated gallery of street art yet. Watch this space, I may be 9 months pregnant, but this feels like a side project I’d love to embark on at some point. Kev’s on board too. Let me know if you’d be interested in contributing.

Links I loved

The Future of Work by Stephen McKeon

Delightfully clear writing on the future of DAOs

How the World Works by James Fallows

This piece, from 1993, calls into question the economic “truths” of the West.

Redefining Masculinity by Rex Woodbury

I’m now three weeks out from baby day so this may be my last newsletter for a while. Stay in touch while I’m away and I’ll be back when life finds its new rhythm.