The Work of Art in the Age of Metaverse Reproduction

The core message of the essay – both in original and remediated form – is one of frustration. Frustration in terms of art’s worth versus its value, commodification of art and the knock-on effect experienced by the creator economy – themselves a new ‘proletariat’ of artistic creators. Framed against the goals of the World Economic Forum, a de-valuation of art and creativity seems inevitable, unless it can be applied in a commercial context. This connects to the first instance of a ‘Big Other’ occupying a surveillance position and its ongoing role in content-led imagined publics; the very spaces this creator economy inhabits in the digital domain. The susceptibility of these spaces to media effects, algorithmic bias and potential manipulation makes the exploitation of the working artist ever easier for corporations as a result.