The Boca Bauhaus Marcel Breuer, BRiC and Lynn University’s NFT museum

Authors

Cesar Santalo, Lynn University
Andrew J. Corsa, Lynn University
Alex Duque, Lynn University
Ariel Baron-Robbins, Florida International University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2-2023

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2023.2273532

Abstract

‘Art and Technology – A New Unity.’ This was a slogan of the Bauhaus art school, but it could also be a slogan for digital artworks that have been minted as NFTs. We trace the lineage of the idea of the unity of art and technology from: the Bauhaus art school, which operated from 1919–1933; to buildings in Boca Raton that were co-designed in the late 1960s by a former Bauhaus teacher, Marcel Breuer; to an exhibit of the Lynn University NFT museum that, as of July 2023, is displayed in a building that was co-designed by Breuer and is now part of the Boca Raton Innovation Campus (BRiC). We juxtapose the Bauhaus’s approach to the unity of art and technology, understood by reflecting on Breuer’s architecture, with the unity of art and technology exemplified by NFT artworks. We argue that while audiences do not experience NFT artworks with the same ‘aura’ that audiences experienced when viewing artworks in the past, audiences can experience NFT artworks with what we call the ‘simulacrum’ of aura. Audiences can experience the simulacrum of aura because an NFT can be understood as original and authentic and cannot be identically reproduced.

Publication

Digital Creativity

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Volume

34

Pages

1-14

Department

College of Communication and Design

Comments

Received 08 Mar 2023, Accepted 16 Oct 2023, Published online: 02 Nov 2023

Recommended Citation

Santalo, C., Corsa, A. J., Duque, A., & Baron-Robbins, A. (2023). The Boca Bauhaus Marcel Breuer, BRiC and Lynn University’s NFT museum. Digital Creativity, 34,1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14626268.2023.2273532