Post Art Basel, I’ve been thinking a lot about “institutional recognition” 🤔

We need em... we don't need em... 🤔

There’s only one reason it matters. It’s not 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. It’s 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚.

👉🏾 𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚
Most cultures don’t fail because they’re weak. They fail because they’re forgotten. Feeds forget in days. Markets forget in weeks. Communities forget once momentum moves on. Institutions (museums, archives, libraries, universities, foundations) exist to do one thing well: 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚
They don’t decide what’s “good.” They make work readable by situating it historically and giving language to what’s happening.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔
In ten years, when someone asks: “When did AI art become culturally serious?” or “Who was doing this before it was obvious?” the answers won’t come from Twitter threads or Discord logs. They’ll come from exhibitions, catalogues, essays and archives. Institutions produce artefacts that outlast platforms.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒚𝒑𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆
It’s counter cyclical. It doesn’t depend on velocity, liquidity or price. It preserves work when markets move on.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔
Institutions bring in scholars, critics, students, curators, historians. These people don’t just consume art. They reproduce meaning. They teach it, write about it, argue over it and place it in broader frameworks.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆
Institutions don’t create culture... subcultures do. But without institutions, subcultures burn out, fragment or get rewritten badly later. Institutional memory is how a culture prevents its own erasure.

Institutional attention isn’t about prestige. It’s how presence persists.

Side note...

When Web3 talks about “institutions" it usually means financial ones (funds, custodians, ETFs, auction houses). In @6529er's piece "The Institutions Are Coming", these are the institutions I believe he's referring to. These entities are good at price discovery, liquidity and spectacle. They are NOT designed to carry memory. Auction houses in particular function as market accelerants. They produce moments, headlines, and velocity, not durable cultural understanding. 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓. Capital arriving is not the same thing as culture stabilising.

Post Art Basel, I’ve been thinking a lot about “institutional recognition” 🤔

We need em... we don't need em... 🤔

There’s only one reason it matters. It’s not 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. It’s 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚.

👉🏾 𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒚
Most cultures don’t fail because they’re weak. They fail because they’re forgotten. Feeds forget in days. Markets forget in weeks. Communities forget once momentum moves on. Institutions (museums, archives, libraries, universities, foundations) exist to do one thing well: 𝑐𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚
They don’t decide what’s “good.” They make work readable by situating it historically and giving language to what’s happening.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒔
In ten years, when someone asks: “When did AI art become culturally serious?” or “Who was doing this before it was obvious?” the answers won’t come from Twitter threads or Discord logs. They’ll come from exhibitions, catalogues, essays and archives. Institutions produce artefacts that outlast platforms.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒔 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒉𝒚𝒑𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒂𝒑𝒔𝒆
It’s counter cyclical. It doesn’t depend on velocity, liquidity or price. It preserves work when markets move on.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒕 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔
Institutions bring in scholars, critics, students, curators, historians. These people don’t just consume art. They reproduce meaning. They teach it, write about it, argue over it and place it in broader frameworks.

👉🏾 𝑰𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆
Institutions don’t create culture... subcultures do. But without institutions, subcultures burn out, fragment or get rewritten badly later. Institutional memory is how a culture prevents its own erasure.

Institutional attention isn’t about prestige. It’s how presence persists.

Side note...

When Web3 talks about “institutions" it usually means financial ones (funds, custodians, ETFs, auction houses). In @6529er's piece "The Institutions Are Coming", these are the institutions I believe he's referring to. These entities are good at price discovery, liquidity and spectacle. They are NOT designed to carry memory. Auction houses in particular function as market accelerants. They produce moments, headlines, and velocity, not durable cultural understanding. 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒗𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒐𝒓. Capital arriving is not the same thing as culture stabilising.