The number of artists and art collectors interested in exploring NFT art is increasing. Yet, the NFT market seems to be perceived as hostile territory by some artists.
There are a number of legitimate reasons that have fed this perception, however, this hasn’t stopped me from exploring and finally launching an NFT collection of my own. Below, I touch on why and how blockchain is solving a problem I’ve had for a long time as an artist.
Trust Me Bro, It’s Limited
In the early 2000s when I began exploring digital art (and giclée printing) I was plagued by a nagging question: how can you prove a digital output is limited or actually original? Even as art collectors clamored for these type of works, I felt that at most, they represented a kind of “trust me, bro” arrangement between the buyer and seller.
By its very nature, a digitized artwork can be produced indefinitely as long as someone has a copy of the high resolution source file. Some critics use to even argue that digital-based art shouldn’t be limited at all, though that sentiment has largely died out as ink jet art prints (giclées) and digital art have become accepted fine art assets.
In comparison, traditional art making methods like woodblock printing or even painting, are limited by circumstance due to the degradation of printing blocks, or the artist’s own physical, mental, and emotional capacity to keep producing a body of work. So, the integrity of a limited claim with digital work is grounded in a moral/ethical agreement between stakeholders.
When giclées began really hitting their stride in the early to mid 2000s, I saw artists making a game effort to prove limited status. Signing and numbering prints carried over from traditional methods of printing as did the inclusion of Certificates of Authenticity. Some artists even went so far as to destroy the digital master file after an edition sold out.
On the other side of the ethical fence, I also saw creators advertising limited editions, but printing the works at incredibly high numbers—5,000, 10,000, or even more—effectively undermining the credibility of releasing a work as limited. Other questionable practices included claiming an edition was sold out, only to reproduce the same artwork again.
Blockchain-Based Art = Truly Limited
The acronym “NFT” stands for “non-fungible-token” or something unique that can’t be interchanged with something else. In simplified terms, NFT is used to refer to an asset (digital or physical) that has its existence and rarity proven by being assigned a one-of-a-kind alphanumeric string or “token” that’s recorded to a blockchain.
“Blockchain” refers to a distributed network of public (and sometimes private) computers that collectively act as a decentralized ledger system. In comparison, you can think of a safe or a file cabinet as a centralized ledger system.
What makes blockchain recorded information special is that data changed on one computer will not be accepted by the network as true; changes can only be made by authorized data owners following special protocols that must be accepted by every computer on the chain. The greater the number of validating computers on the chain, the more secure the network. This effectively makes data on a blockchain immutable.
So, what question does blockchain answer for me?
Now I, and other artists, are in a position to offer truly limited digital artworks individually verifiable by a unique token. Instead of trusting that a work is original or part of a limited edition because an artist says so, that fact can be verified on a public blockchain. This aligns great with my principles, and based on the increasing number of collectors seeking NFT fine art, I suspect they will find value in this too.
But, there’s more. Besides providing a way to clearly prove that a digital-based artwork is limited, blockchain technology also allows me to:
- Securely store Certificates of Authenticity for traditional and digital works
- Personalize the art-buying experience for collectors and craft individualized “journeys”
- Approach art selling in a way that reduces waste and excess inventory
So with this amount of upside, why do some artists not like or trust NFTs and their associated technologies, blockchain and cryptocurrency?
Why Some Artists View NFTS with Skepticism
Whenever new technologies emerge, they tend to rock boats, strike fear in hearts, and disrupt existing patterns of behavior. In this regard, NFTs, blockchain, and cryptocurrency are no different.
However, there has been something more pernicious that has accompanied the meteoric rise in interest for these technologies. Because of the amount of money they generate, they have also attracted the interest of scammers, thieves, and cyber-crooks seeking easy payouts.
Artists have witnessed in horror as the works of recently deceased creators have been stolen and made into NFTs without the permission of the artists’ families.
They’ve watched childishly simple computer generated cartoon animals sell for eye watering amounts only to plummet in value within months (or even days).
Some have even been courted by fake service providers promising to make them substantial profits in exchange for launching an NFT of their work, just to have the arrangement end with their bank accounts emptied.
And then, on the coattails of this tech tsunami, in rides AI companies and large language models (LLMs) that have shown zero respect for creator rights as they’ve scraped the Internet en masse to feed their insatiable thirst for training data.
For artists who as a demographic tend not to be rich, and who are also highly sensitive to creative rights abuses, this can all be too much.
There is also the legitimate concern of the potential environmental impact of these technologies when human greed supersedes common sense and existing regulations.
AI, cryptocurrency, and blockchain are not going away, at least not in the foreseeable future. That means that each human being will be challenged (sometimes unwillingly) to deal with them in some capacity. People will have to make personal decisions about what extent they choose to engage with them and also make sure that their choices match their moral/ethical framework.
Over the years, I’ve met creatives who have vowed to avoid mobile phones, the Internet, having a website, touching social media, or using digital technology of any kind, so living in such a way is not impossible.
Realistically, few modern artists will choose this path, so it makes good sense to at least stay informed about how new tech is developing, how specifically it’s impacting the area in which you make your living, and to remember that technology itself is neutral; the humans behind it are what drive negative or positive impacts.
Take What You Need, Leave the Rest Behind
I’m old enough to have been around before internet access was a regular household expense. That means in my lifetime I’ve seen several technologies emerge and change the way artists approach their craft. With at least a few of them, I experienced a moment of apprehension (like any other artist) then I plunged into research mode to learn everything I could about the good, the bad, and the opportunity.
One of my favorite quotes is “Everything you want in life is on the other side of fear.” It’s a philosophy that’s propelled me forward into a lot of life decisions and it defines how I approach most things that seem impossible, too big, or too scary to wrestle with.
With the latest batch of upstart technologies, it’s not only this philosophy that has helped me as I’ve decided what I will or won’t experiment with; it’s also a background in digital marketing and library and information science that helps me to distinguish to what extent this tech wave is driven by actual capability versus marketing hype.
As I explore, my interest is firmly planted in preserving the art of manual crafting (hand making stuff) while using technology to assist me where I need it (middle-aged eyes can get more detail into an artwork using a big ole monitor). It’s also dedicated to reaching more art collectors and optimizing their experience when they purchase from me.
I don’t chase fads. I simply take what I need and leave the rest behind. This mindset means that I’m using the following approach to adopt NFT art and blockchain technology:
- Mint artwork on blockchains that match my moral and ethical framework. I’ve chosen to mint my first NFT on the Cardano blockchain because of its stated mission to promote inclusivity and improve life on earth. It also uses proof-of-stake (PoS) as an environmentally responsible validation protocol.
- Don’t approach NFTs as a get-rich-quick scheme. I’ve seen a few artist dabble with NFTs thinking that just by minting them, the riches would come flowing. NFT minting is simply another tool, and blockchain-base art needs marketing muscle to get it in front of buyers, just like any other type of art.
- Stick to my tried and true belief that art should be purchased for pleasure. As an artist, I’ve never marketed or sold my artwork as an investment tool. Even if a buyer is purchasing a piece for that reason, I always encourage collectors to buy works for their emotional impact before anything else. That won’t change because a piece happens to be NFT artwork.
- Register my copyright. As I touched on earlier, disregard for creators’ rights has increased with the advent of new technologies. In response, I now register my artwork before releasing it to the public.
Introducing, “Python and Roses” my First NFT Art Drop
Well before I decided to experiment with launching my first NFT fine art collection, I practiced creating original artworks in serial as a meditative exercise. My goal for these limited edition works was to have them be a culmination of my favorite mediums (wood, metal, oil and acrylic paint) and art making techniques that I’ve learned over the years.
I also wanted to have a verified test case for how many times I could recreate an original physical artwork before losing interests (or going nuts). For the record it’s up to 15, depending on the size and complexity of the piece.
“Python and Roses” is a direct result of this endeavor and my first venture into blockchain-based artwork.
This inaugural launch is a combination limited edition comprised of Digital NFTs, Physical NFTs, and Acrylic-Mounted Prints. The artworks will be released as a “journey” presenting collectors with a range of price points from which to choose.
You’re invited to join this experiment and collect a cool piece of artwork in the process. To participate in this art drop and any ones I release in the future, just click the button below. If you’re new to collecting NFT art, you will also have the option to access a free mini-course to help you get up to speed on NFT art collecting best practices.
I look forward to engaging with!
