🍎🐍 Art As A Consequence #25
🌐 Bauhaus and blockchain: more than meets the eye. Meet you in the email body.
Welcome to the 25th edition of the ART AS A CONSEQUENCE weekly briefing. This is part of the story of how the Bauhaus school comes full circle with the ethos of blockchain technology. So, grab a snack 🍎 and happy reading.
“The search for Knowledge and Wisdom can lead to the discovery of Truth.” 🏴
The Bauhaus school (1919-1933) revolutionized design, art, and architecture, leaving a profound impact on modern aesthetics that continues to shape everything from UX design to urban planning. Founded by Walter Gropius after World War I, Bauhaus aimed to unify art, craft, and technology, breaking down traditional hierarchies and establishing the foundation for modern design education. The school’s embrace of "form follows function," a principle rejecting ornamentalism, played a crucial role in shaping modernist architecture and industrial design worldwide.
The influence of Bauhaus extended beyond design into the integration of technology with art. Its cross-material workshops and exploration of human-machine synthesis anticipated modern discussions on human-computer interaction and transhumanism.
Bauhaus also played a role in challenging centralized authority, both in art and politics. It confronted the dominance of academic art institutions and faced resistance from political regimes, particularly under the Nazis, leading to its closure in 1933. Despite this, the school's diaspora spread its modernist principles worldwide, influencing a wide range of movements.
The ethos of Bauhaus finds an unexpected parallel in the blockchain revolution.
Just as Bauhaus disrupted traditional distinctions between craft and high art, blockchain is restructuring data storage, sharing, and verification, challenging traditional financial systems, and introducing new concepts of value and assets. Both Bauhaus and blockchain embody a resistance to centralized authority—Bauhaus by challenging academic institutions and political regimes, and blockchain by distributing control across networks and resisting censorship.
Both movements also emphasize building and creation. The very name "Bauhaus" originates from "building," underscoring the importance of creation and construction, while the blockchain community’s "BUIDL" culture focuses on developing new systems and applications. Moreover, just as the Bauhaus's minimalist Signet as crafted by Oskar Schlemmer represents a timeless human profile, while blockchain technology is reimagining digital identity through NFTs and digital profiles (PFPs), offering new ways for individuals and communities to represent themselves online.
Ultimately, Bauhaus and Blockchain, though separated by time and discipline, share a common thread in their revolutionary approaches to breaking down barriers, integrating technology, and resisting centralized control. Both continue to influence how we create, build, and represent identity in the modern world, shaping the future of design and technology alike.
Together with one33seven we will be exploring more than just meets the eye about the Bauhaus school and Blockchain technology - there is also an announcement to be made in the next few days. Make sure to follow one33seven’s X account here for the daily tweets.
That’s all frens! 👋 toodeloo
See you next Sunday - if there is a next Sunday.
Lol (Lots of love),
Dimitria
Visit artasaconsequence.net to discover more about my work in the art industry. You can contact me over email or find me on social media: Instagram | X | LinkedIn
