UNDRGRND - MY NFT YEAR

MY NFT YEAR

Wanda Oliver — April 29, 2022

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APRIL 29TH, 2022

As I reach the milestone of my first anniversary in NFTs, I find myself analyzing my journey to date and wondering how to characterize it.  Has it been a success? A failure? By what measures should I judge?  How has being involved in NFTs affected my creative practice?  Is it all healthy, or are there some dark undersides to the experience?  What have I accomplished?  Where do I want to go from here?  What has been satisfying, what disappointing?

In January, 2021, wanting to expand my presence and sales beyond my northeast Texas locale, I began looking at selling my work online.  Somewhere along that path, I stumbled onto NFTs.  I wish I had made note of precisely how and when, but those details are lost to history.  On April 29, a date I did note, after weeks of  research on the topic of NFTs, blockchains, and marketplaces, I applied to MakersPlace.  And I waited with bated breath.  And waited.  I am waiting still, but I have decided to mark 4/29 as the official start of my NFT adventure.

As I waited for Makersplace to respond, I began to reach out to people in the NFT space.  I learned to embrace Discord.  I brushed the thick layer of dust off my Twitter account.  I set up an exchange account and bought some crypto.  I learned about Clubhouse and Telegram.  I created a wallet - actually, I created a bunch of wallets.  I’m not sure what I was thinking, but in my vague understanding of how the whole thing worked and my belief that the best way to learn is to do, I explored and abandoned a lot of paths. I made a bunch of mistakes.  Thankfully, none terribly expensive, and all instructive. 

I fretted about whether my work was applicable to the NFT market.  Everything I saw reminded me of CGI and video games - in 3 dimensions and moving.  Could my photographically based work find an audience as NFTs?  As the weeks passed, I began to gain some clarity.  I also made some friends, NFT veterans that were wonderfully supportive.

I learned about the Tezos chain and hic et nunc - much more accessible options than the Ethereum-based marketplaces I had been exploring.  On May 25, 2021, I was gifted 1 tez by NFT Faucet, and I minted my first NFT.  As I look back at this history, I am surprised to see that there was only one month between my MakersPlace application and my first mint.  It seemed then, and seems now, as if years passed in that interval.  On July 31, 2021 I made my first sale.  I was legitimately an NFT artist.

By the end of 2021, I had made 13 sales, across 2 chains - Tezos and Ethereum - and 4 marketplaces.  My sales ranged from $6.36 (an education in using auctions) and $1318, with an average sale of $441.17.  To date in 2022, I have made 6 sales, at an average of $410.13 each, adding a new chain (Stacks) and platform (Heylayer.com) in the process.  Has it been a worthwhile endeavor?  Am I a successful NFT artist?

My learning about the space and the technology that powers it has reached ever deeper levels, and my confidence has grown immeasurably. I have begun to write and publish well-received articles about my experience.  I have offered my hand as an elder and helped those coming on behind me to find their sea legs.  I have met hundreds of talented artists that I value immensely.  My mind has been opened to thousands of possibilities. Along this vector, there is no question that the year has been a success.

In the face of WAGMI, it is less so.  Were I dependent on my NFT sales to shelter, feed, and clothe myself and my family, I would be in serious trouble.  Against this measure, we clearly have a long way to go before the average new or emerging NFT artist has a reasonable chance of finding financial independence via NFTs.  Despite all the stories of instant riches, my experience tells me this is unrealistic for most.  And my research tells me that across platforms and chains, art supply consistently out strips demand by leaps and bounds.

The experience has also been challenging to my balance and mental health.  There is so much hype that expectations can insidiously escalate.  Without intending to, I found myself dreaming of fame and fortune, then questioning myself and the validity of my work in the face of modest sales.  I’ve mourned the absence of my “true fans” and wondered what the heck it might take to find them.  The word shill, to my horror, entered my working vocabulary. I’ve watched collectible and pfp projects generate millions of dollars and been mystified by their appeal.  I have worn my brain to the bone thinking about “utility” in the context of fine art.  I’ve spent countless hours on social media, clamoring like thousands of others, for attention to my work.  I have reminded myself dozens of times that this movement is in its infancy, and the only sensible strategy is to stay open and keep showing up.  I’ve had to repeatedly pledge to myself that I would take the long view, chill out, and breathe. 

My first NFT year came on the heels of an extremely productive creative period. I retired at the end of 2019, just as COVID broke into our collective consciousness.  Lockdown was a strangely wonderful period for me. Despite the anxiety of the pandemic, the weeks spent in the studio, stripped of most external distractions and responsibilities, were priceless.  Looking back at a year of intense NFT focus, I have to admit that the bloom of creative productivity has faded.  I’ve spent the last year more focused on art as a business, an investment, a scramble to ‘make it’, than art as food for my soul.  That strikes me quite clearly as a loss.  

Somewhat balancing that loss, the struggle to make sense of my NFT-life has led me to think deeply about where I am in life’s journey, and what is truly important to me.  I have found valuable clarity in that exercise.

So, in assembling my metaphorical report card, I am left with a mixed bag. NFTs remain a compelling and exciting venue for me. I am in for the long haul, willing to take the slings and arrows along the way as what I see as the 21st century art movement plays out. The promise of an art industry that places more power in the hands of the creator is still a thrilling possibility. Being in community with collectors, curators, and other artists around the globe is enriching and fulfilling. The creativity of others in the space is awesomely inspiring - I can no longer imagine my life without them. We are making a new world, with the possibility to right many of the wrongs of the old. Nothing could be more exciting and hopeful than that. I look forward to what I might have to report on April 29, 2023.

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