UNDRGRND - WHY NFTS?

WHY NFTS?

Wanda Oliver — December 31, 2021

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DECEMBER 31ST, 2021

As part of my New Year’s Resolutions each year, I do a critical assessment of the year that is drawing to an end - what have I accomplished, what have I learned, how do I want to grow in the coming year? Like many, 2021 was the year of the NFT for me, so I sat down to think hard about why I am drawn to make and collect NFTs.

When I first became aware of NFTs in the late spring of 2021, my initial reaction was complete bafflement. Several crypto years later, I see NFTs as a powerful and exciting new force for the arts. My own role in this space is primarily as a creator - an experimental photographer with an active and international social following and a regional presence in the traditional art industry. Despite a modest budget, I am a long-time collector as well. The walls of my home are crowded with art. Why has my point of view regarding NFTs changed? Let’s look at this from multiple perspectives.

The Creator

First and foremost, the blockchain ledger provides protection for my intellectual property rights in ways that are more direct, more provable, and more global than any copyright law. Minting my work establishes the provenance permanently, immutably, and publicly. Then there is the ability to declare royalties on secondary sales with the confidence that decentralized, trustless enforcement on chain will ensure that they are honored. This is truly a revolutionary innovation for artists, and an entirely new revenue stream.

Most of my work starts with a physical process using photosensitive paper, light, and chemicals, though digitizing the work to prepare it for printing and sharing has long been a part of my routine. Without knowing it, I was primed and ready for NFTs. The point was brought home when a friend in Wales wanted to acquire a piece of my work and I faced the logistics of international shipping for the first time. Shipping was expensive, customs a pain in the neck, and we both crossed our fingers in hope that the piece would arrive un-mangled in a timely manner. NFTs eliminate printing and shipping logistics and geographical barriers while guaranteeing the integrity of the transaction for both parties. I will be paid and the collector will receive the art. Period. My work can be collected by anyone, anywhere, easily, quickly, and securely.

Prior to joining the NFT revolution, my work was sold in galleries, and gallery sales are still an important element of my business as an artist. I often hear stories about my collectors - how thrilled they were with a piece, how they planned to use the piece, what drew them to the piece - but I’ve rarely had the opportunity to meet them or talk directly to them. NFTs offer the possibility of my fans and I having a direct relationship with one another. Some of my NFT collectors are anonymous, known to me only by a wallet address, but I’ve had real interactions with others. I’ve even had the opportunity to build interactive artworks putting the collector and I in a collaborative relationship, both leaving our mark on the work itself.

In my area there was once a well known tapestry artist.  References to her and her work appear in newspaper articles and other historical records with some frequency.  But, sadly,  we cannot locate any of her work.  As I grow older, the question of my legacy becomes more important to me.  My artist friends and I joke about the kids and the dumpster once we’re gone, but the jokes have a bitter taste.  What will I leave behind?  How will it be organized, preserved, and shared?  What can I do to ensure that my work survives?  I am beginning to see NFTs as an answer.  By minting and collecting my own work, perhaps I can use blockchain technology and decentralized storage to create a vault of sorts containing my legacy.  Then, even if lost to living memory, the work is there to be discovered one day by a scrappy descendent or local history buff.  I don’t have all the details of this budding idea sorted out, but it feels like a real possibility.

Finally, participating in NFTs allows me to feel as if I am part of THE 21st century art movement. A child during the heyday of Pop Art, never quite cool enough to feel a part of Post Modern, Conceptual, or Installation Art, I’ve felt a ‘tween’, living my life in art in some slightly pedestrian realm. Suddenly, I am at the very center of an exploding new genre that clearly will make its mark on history. That is a heady feeling. As an artist, NFTs allow me to sell, share, give, grow, and build legacy in whole new ways that I find very exciting.

The Collector

That blockchain ledger that protects my intellectual property rights also provides assurance to the collector of the authenticity of the work they acquire. It establishes provable ownership, transparently trackable provenance, and a digital signature. Edition size and edition number become verifiable public information, ensuring scarcity and uniqueness. Decentralized permanent storage provides platform independent assurance of the safety and longevity of the digital asset itself, and the NFT ecosystem provides liquidity for the art as an investment.

Likewise, the barriers of geography, logistics, and payment systems that allow my work to be collected by anyone, anywhere work in the opposite direction to allow anyone to become a serious collector with a growing vault of artworks found the world over. Not everyone has the space to house nor the means to care for hundreds of physical paintings, photographs, or sculptures, but the space in our crypto wallets is limitless and the means to enjoy our collected art is expanding everyday through metaverse venues, social media platforms, web3 experiences, digital displays, HD TV apps, and electronic frames. My own abilities to collect and support fellow artists has expanded exponentially.

Collectors are buying a story: of the artist or of the art. Moved by the emotional impact of an artwork, or falling in love with the sheer beauty of a piece, the opportunity to be in community with the artist must be as heady for them as it is for me as a creator. It’s a human connection, a direct line from creator to receiver, making us all part of the story - collector and creator in a powerful collaboration shaping an innovative future at a pivotal moment in art history.

The Curator

Will my physical gallery survive and remain relevant? It’s clear that the traditional art world is experiencing a shakeup, forced to examine the core tenets and practices of the industry. Certainly many within the industry will face uncomfortable adjustments, but the NFT revolution is a benefit to gallerists and curators as well as artists and collectors. As the walls of the insular art world come down and access to art the world over expands, the need for their services will expand as well.

As I’ve brushed off my moribund Twitter account and reluctantly accepted the responsibility to ‘shill’ my work, I have never appreciated my gallerist more. The work the team at the gallery does to market my creations and get them in front of the right buyers is work I have no real talent for, nor do I really want to spend my time doing it. During these months of marketing my NFTs myself, I’ve learned the true value of the commissions I’ve paid. Digging for the undiscovered future star, having the marketing savvy to make sure the spectacular art actually gets seen, ensuring that the talented artist has a showcase for their work, putting the art and the collector together - these things are real work, taking real time, talent, and experience.

We are entering a new era in which creator, collector, and curator live in a symbiotic relationship with one another, engaging one another and supporting one another - with the lines between the roles becoming more fluid. Over the past few months I’ve felt this enriching expansion personally. NFTs hold real promise for all the stakeholders in the art world.

The role of the curator may be the role most impacted by the changing landscape, but the need for the talented curator will not disappear. We who are shaping this new future must realize that fact and actively design a future in which these stakeholders are appreciated and compensated. A world in which artist, collector, and curator are in a mutually beneficial relationship without the artificial barriers the NFT revolution has broken down is a world that I can get behind. The future is bright - I’m wearing my shades and embracing it wholeheartedly.

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