Judging by the title of this Vice article, it is written as a feature, emphasizing the statement most of the public would silently agree on, and perhaps written as a way for onlookers to open the article and have a read. Following the current trend of cryptocurrencies, NFTs are a good topic for discussion. The journalist, Amy Francombe, investigates the artistic value of NFTs, because despite the large sum of money it is worth, the public would agree that these digital artworks are “gaudy” or “ugly”, as described in the article.
Through colloquial and informal language this article had a nice flow and was easy to read, despite the complicated technological lingo associated with NFTs, like “crypto kitties” or “crypto punks”, which was not explained at all, but merely referenced. The insults towards NFTs were rather humorous, assuming the journalist has sided with the public’s dislike of NFTs. There was a good portion of the article that focused on opinions from the public, through their social media comments, to actual art collectors and critics, who didn’t understand the artistic value of NFTs.
Besides the negative opinions toward NFTs, the journalist briefly shows how this widely hated trend has given a few young ambitious artists a platform to post genuine art, ignoring the materialistic aspect of NFTs. This was a nice way to end the article, but there is an obvious imbalance in weighing out the good and bad; It felt as if the journalist had sided against NFTs, and the headline’s question still stands unanswered.
The article can be accessed here.