Meet the Curation Board: Taylor K.
Meet the Curation Board is a series that introduces the Art Blocks community to the board members and their backgrounds.
1. What is your background as it relates to art and design?
I hold an MA in Art History with a specialization in contemporary exhibition practice and dedicated study in design art history. I have worked in a curatorial and research capacity at several art institutions and galleries, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Blaffer Art Museum, and the International Center for Arts of the Americas, where I worked directly with artists and curated exhibitions. In addition to curatorial work, I have contributed to various art publications and historical exhibition texts, including the most recently published Radical: Italian Design 1965–1985. Currently, I maintain a rapport with many contemporary artists and designers, engage in studio visits, and I am a university professor where I teach a variety of art history courses on topics such as challenging the art historical canon, diversifying the field of art history, and democratizing the viewership of art.
2. What is your background as it relates to crypto?
I was introduced to blockchain technology being utilized in artistic practice in 2016. I know it arrived before that moment, but with my understanding of early video and digital artists such as Nam June Paik and David Em and their contributions to the field of art history, it felt like a vast landscape significant to our current social, economic, and cultural state. Since then, I have continued to learn, critique, and welcome blockchain technology in the art world because it challenges our understanding of ownership, object, and materiality.
3. How would you describe your taste in art?
My taste in art is a little funky but still timeless. I enjoy subverted historical art references within artworks and design and the power of material juxtapositions, literary references, and concept art.
4. What got you interested in Art Blocks?
I have been in tune with blockchain technology and its presence in the art world and marketplace for a while and appreciate the Art Blocks platform for developing a generative arts community accessible to all.
5. When you review an Art Blocks project for curation, what qualities are you looking for?
I look for an understanding of art and design principles such as rhythm, balance, contrast, and unity. Much like pre-drawings reveal the cognitive processes of artists before they complete their final work, I like to look for these processes through sensation and visual language, albeit sometimes abstract.
6. What is your overall vision for the curated collection at Art Blocks?
I hope the curated collection continues to challenge the possibilities of generative art and provide excitement, surprise, and wonder in its conception. The mystery in how an artwork is created is an attractive force.
7. Is there anything you hope to see in future projects?
It would be rewarding to see works that reference art’s historical predecessors of the digital world.
