LACMA's Digital Turn: Acquiring Tomorrow's Art Today

In September 2023, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) acquired Fidenza #313, a generative artwork by Texas-based artist Tyler Hobbs. This piece, part of the Fidenza series minted in 2021 via the Art Blocks platform, employs a custom algorithm in Processing. Hobbs’s designs reference minimalism and organic forms, generated by seeded random functions that ensure each output is unique. At its minting, Fidenza set a benchmark for generative art in the NFT market.

Hobbs’s work interacts with LACMA’s traditional holdings, including pieces by Wassily Kandinsky and Bridget Riley. A museum spokesperson confirmed that this acquisition was made possible through the Art + Technology Lab, established in 2013 to explore emerging formats. Britt Salvesen, curator and head of the Photography and Media department, stated, "This acquisition represents a commitment to expanding the boundaries of our collection to encompass how artists today engage with code as material." Salvesen's department has overseen projects involving augmented reality and AI, positioning the Hobbs acquisition as part of a broader institutional shift.

This shift presents challenges. Preserving digital art, especially blockchain-dependent works, remains unresolved. The Ethereum blockchain, which underpins Art Blocks, is widely used but its longevity is uncertain. Institutions like LACMA must address smart contract updates, metadata storage, and software obsolescence. For museums accustomed to conserving oil paintings or bronze sculptures, these responsibilities are daunting. Fidenza #313 embodies both artwork and executable software, demanding new forms of stewardship.

The acquisition also engages with the cultural inertia surrounding NFTs. While the initial hype around NFTs peaked between 2021 and 2022, their infrastructure remains vital for provenance and transparency. LACMA’s decision signals a potential pivot in how museums approach the medium: viewing it as significant artistic expression rather than speculative assets.

Dr. Amy Whitaker, an art economist at New York University, describes LACMA’s move as "a necessary intervention in the art historical narrative," noting that generative works like Hobbs’s parallel the breakthroughs of the Bauhaus and early video art. However, she cautions that institutions must "avoid uncritically adopting the market hype surrounding NFTs and focus instead on the underlying innovations in artistic practice and distribution."

LACMA is not alone in this arena. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York made headlines in 2022 with its acquisition of digital artworks by Refik Anadol, whose installations have redefined machine learning in art. Similarly, the Centre Pompidou in Paris launched its first blockchain-focused exhibition in February 2023, featuring artists like Larva Labs and Sarah Meyohas. These moves challenge the assumption that contemporary digital art belongs exclusively to online platforms or private collectors.

The inclusion of Fidenza #313 in LACMA’s collection reiterates the interconnected nature of today’s global art ecosystem. Blockchain technology enables artists to reach global audiences without traditional gatekeepers. Yet, the institutional embrace of works like Hobbs’s suggests a reconciliation between decentralized art markets and centralized cultural authorities. Whether this will lead to equitable models of representation or reinforce existing power dynamics remains uncertain.

Ultimately, LACMA’s acquisition positions the institution as a proactive participant in the conversation about art and technology. By recognizing generative algorithms as a legitimate medium, the museum validates a new wave of creators and acknowledges its responsibility to evolve. "Museums," Salvesen notes, "are not static repositories—they are living institutions that must reflect the changing practices of the artists they serve."

The broader implications of such acquisitions—their potential to bridge technological literacy gaps, challenge copyright frameworks, and inspire new forms of collaboration—are yet to unfold. For now, Fidenza #313, with its flowing geometries and computational elegance, stands as both a symbol of its time and a signpost for the future of institutional collections.