From Street Art to Digital Art History: Noah Bolanowski

In this episode of Verse Talks, Leyla and Jamie speak with digital art historian and researcher Noah Bolanowski about the overlooked history of digital art. From street art and the early days of Nifty Gateway to the NFT boom, blockchain, and the pioneers of computer art, Noah takes us through his journey into uncovering the people, works and stories that helped shape the medium.

00:00 — Introduction: Noah Bolanowski
01:43 — Becoming a digital art historian
03:16 — Street art, collecting & the origins of Nifty Gateway
07:22 — Keith Haring, Timothy Leary & early digital art
11:59 — Becoming a “digital Indiana Jones”
15:15 — Discovering NFTs & collecting on Nifty Gateway
18:37 — The NFT boom and sudden six-figure valuations
23:27 — Speculation, collectors & the pandemic NFT market
30:48 — The 14-year-old CryptoPunks millionaire
33:03 — What happened to the NFT market?
36:48 — What can blockchain actually do for art?
38:19 — Museums, smart contracts & exhibiting NFTs
43:49 — Rethinking how digital art is displayed
45:15 — Museums and the 70-year history of digital art
48:19 — Why blockchain changed access to digital art
50:21 — 1OF1 and the institutionalisation of digital art
51:47 — Bill Gates’ early digital art displays
55:32 — Do we actually want screens in our homes?
58:49 — Why Noah turned towards digital art history
1:02:48 — Who gets canonised in digital art history?
1:04:05 — Questioning established narratives & the importance of provenance
1:09:13 — The forgotten pioneers of computer art
1:10:43 — Charles Csuri and the unlikely computer art pioneer
1:13:40 — Making computer art in the 1960s
1:16:49 — Why digital art history still needs to be written
1:18:58 — Collecting historic computer art
1:21:15 — How early digital artworks survive and are preserved
1:23:28 — Charles Csuri, treasure hunting & Part Two
1:25:17 — Investigating the past and rediscovering lost histories
1:28:03 — Closing & Part Two

You can find Noah on X @Noahbolanowski