The fugliest toys you have seen while collecting.

I won't argue that Bitcoin has a high energy cost, but Bitcoin is not all of blockchain, it's just the most well known use of it. Bitcoin and Ethereum are based off of proof of work, and that work is what is sucking up a lot of energy. Proof of stake, however, works very differently and is a far more efficient use of energy: https://www.bitdegree.org/crypto/tu...ke#proof-of-stake-vs-proof-of-work-the-basics

But to the point, until we can measure "this is what it costs to send a credit card payment" vs. "this is what it costs to send Bitcoin" vs. "this is what it costs to send Cardano" electrically, it's not really a fair point IMO

Anyone buying anything to compete with someone else is an idiot. I think we can all agree on that!

I do think though one of the benefits of all of this is artists that can make a living off it. But I'm not gonna lie, when I see Kaws selling $6,000 prints that cost maybe $5 each to print my eyes rolled so far back into my head I could see my brain. I mean, good for him, but to be honest at those prices I don't care about people buying to flip one bit.

Reminds me of a discussion I had with a friend years ago. She said she "doesn't support any business who does something she disagrees with". Dig deep enough down the rabbit hole and you can find something pretty shitty in everything.

Technical innovation is not the root cause of problems such as global warming; our inability to use it properly is. GE killed the electric car because it was too good and hurt their service model, so they shitcanned it.

 

The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race.

 

I don’t invest in, collect, or even follow NFT digital artwork. I prefer the real deal. So I’m not playing myself at all. I am interested in the application of NFTs in the physical world, which has vast potential. The NFT art craze right now is a pretty small puzzle piece.

Ah yes, the new technology bad argument. I’m glad you think our current governments, their absurd concentrations of power, and their insane monetary policies are working out so well.
At its core, and when done correctly, blockchain technology is a means to decentralize power and provide an immutable, transparent record that no single entity has the ability to corrupt or destroy.

It’s much larger than bitcoin or NFTs. For example how about a censorship-resistant, decentralized social media platform where you control your personal data and digital identity instead of the abomination that is facebook? Or a tamper resistant voting record to help eliminate election fraud or fraud allegations?

I’m not 100% sold on this technology. I’m not 100% sold on anything in life. But you’re shitting on something you don’t fully understand.

 

It's never stopped me in the past and I lived to tell the tale!

NFT . . . No Fuckin' Thanks!

 

How about marriage life = NFT
No Fucking Tonight

 

After 30 years, I understand married life way more than virtual smoke and mirrors!

Happy wife. Happy life!

 

No Fucking Tomorrow, also

 

I've always felt the "art vs toys" debate was unnecessarily heated. To me they are unquestionably both. I don't play with my toys, children don't collect shelves of the same Matango toy hand-painted in different colors, and the process by which most SB-type sofubi is made and collected has much more to do with the old days of ukiyo-e than with G.I. Joe. That's part of the appeal to me, as someone who certainly can't afford to collect netsuke or scroll paintings.
But the world of contemporary art is extremely ugly--having worked on some projects with a major contemporary art museum a few years back and seeing it up close, I really soured on it completely at an organizational level. The global gallery system, the way certain artists (to the exclusion of many others) are minted for a market controlled by a few thousand people, etc, and the way those forces trickle down to smaller galleries, "lowbrow art" and the world of toys. It's disgusting for sure! I certainly understand why toy collectors don't want to have anything to do with that.
At least in the old days of art patronage, works of lasting value were produced. Now we have fourth-and-fifth generation pop artists who turn out the same stuff over and over. And bringing it back to fugly toys, the reason we have SO many hideous $700 atrocities in this thread is a result of the way the "art world" and "toy world" intersect. But it's easy to distinguish between the capitalist "art world" and the "art of toys".
It's easy to design a fugly toy that shows off paint skills: lots of texture and random detail on a big blob of plastic. I understand the appeal of those toys--especially if you're a good painter. But I kind of hate it personally and wish they would value creating a good sculpt (even if it's crude / "heta-uma"). And if I want to feel a sudden appreciation for NNN-style toys, all I have to do is look at a "western vinyl" blog and I'm back where I started...and it's precisely because western vinyl is more slavish in its reproduction of the grotesque qualities of the "art world". (If western vinyl captured the qualities of someone like Gary Panter--an artist who has managed his interactions with capitalism and pop culture and come out with 100% integrity intact--I'd be into it.)

Bitcoin has been around for years and with all the talk of freeing ourselves from government systems, it remains a giant energy-sucking pyramid scheme, not even remotely viable as a currency. in part because of its built-in cap. More generally, Blockchain has its uses obviously but still seems massively overhyped to me--although I'm happy to be proven wrong about that in the future.

 

I do understand it from an art-world perspective and much as vog_island has shared, I am extremely sour to anyone having these conversations around art as if it’s not a mode to launder money for those in blue chip spaces, and very far away from what you describe (which is something I agree with).

if the only access only NFTs at this juncture is it’s ability to rarify things (via blockchain) then we should be careful to not give it too many bells and whistles to the potential turd it currently is (hence my shitting it)

I too want the decentralization of things and the ledger can be that, but right now its speculative output is far more negative into the realms of art and collecting at large, than the where you would like it to be.

You participate to change it. I want nothing to do with it. I think we still want the same things for the world.


So… Any more ugly toys, SB?

 

Interesting convo about art vs toys vs sofubi vs east vs west
I like the idea of the ugly capitalist "toy world" (primarily western IMO) and the "art of toys" some possibly with history or back stories.

I have committed to two separate exhibits this fall as something to share with local communities.
Just interested in the public display and to see what happens in the public space.

edit: not in a gallery or other such thing and definitely not for sale, (gasp) RFSO

 

Gallery shows are so hit and miss I usually don't see the reason to attend or participate anymore. Several toy galleries take 60% fucking percent of the sale price from the artist. So toy makers either have to bite a huge bullet and lose money or increase the price of their toys significantly which can piss off fans. If their stuff doesn't sell getting shit back from some galleries in one piece or at all is a fucking nightmare. I have a bunch of friends who are resigned to that fact that if stuff doesn't sell at a particular group show they won't ever see it again but they keep signing up year after year anyway. If it does sell quick then some artists see that as a good reason to up the price of their toys significantly from then on which also sucks for fans. Covid crushed a lot of galleries though so hopefully more artists learned to handle things themselves and realized you don't need to give half of your money to a middleman who doesn't give a shit about you.

I don't think all galleries or group shows are bad at all. Some are run by people who are honestly just fans of toys and really want to do something cool but those are few and far between.

On the other hand opening your own gallery for your own stuff and your friends stuff is brilliant. Cuts out the middleman and you still get to connect personally to your fans.

 

WTF is that Ebolazilla thing?

 

You noted that one of the symptoms of whatever this Godzilla suffers from is a multiplication of eyes everywhere while rendering it’s actual eyeball unusable. It’s… well disconcerting I guess is a word for it.

 

I don’t know any other way to describe that, other than it’s one of the most asshole things I’ve ever seen.

 

Cum gremlin

 

It’s Logan Paul levels of garbage

 

I was thinking Bukkake Demon . . . but yeah, definitely that kinda vibe!

 

Tell me when this thread gets back to Fugly toys...

too much nifty, beepletydoodas, therureums, bitecoins, and doggies in the last few pages for my liking. i just want to trash on fugly plastic

 

Uhh, is the jizz jockey above not ugly enough for ya??

 

Semen Demon