Alain Servais poses the age-old question: What is art?

Alain Servais started collecting art some 25 years ago—photography, installations, and digital and video art, everything, that is, except painting.

Instead, the Belgian native prefers to collect works that are not just about marketing but that instead touch the viewer or help to open their mind. As Servais puts it: Art needs to help us get out of Plato’s cave—it’s like taking the 'red pill' in The Matrix.

Despite collecting digital and video art early on, Servais is not a fan of today’s much-hyped NFTs. “Most NFTs are just images, so don’t call it art,” he says. “Everyone can create an image: Kellogg’s does it. McDonald’s does it. But is Ronald McDonald art? It’s just an image.”

And what about Maurizio Cattelan’s three bananas duct-taped to a wall, which sold for around USD 120,000 at Art Basel Miami in 2019—does Servais consider that art?

Listen to the full podcast on Spotify or Apple or watch the conversation on YouTube to find it out.

Here’s Alain Servais’ talk he gave at the DA Z Digital Art Zurich Festival:

Correction notice: It has come to the attention of Swizz Art Biz that a statement in this conversation may be false. In an earlier version, it was said that Kenny Schachter gave some of his cryptomutts for free and in advance to artnome. This part has been removed.