NFTs are unique, non-fungible digital assets that represent proof of ownership and value on a blockchain. They’re giving new opportunities to artists and collectors, while also challenging long-held beliefs about the relationship between art and money.
For gallery owners like Mack, the NFT boom presents an opportunity to reach a new audience. But it also highlights the need to protect artists’ rights.
Transformative Potential of NFTs
NFTs (non-fungible tokens) have made it possible for artists and creators to monetize their work on a whole new level. They’ve given digital art, memes, games such as Chainers and other forms of digital culture value that can be transferred across platforms and in virtual worlds. But they’ve also opened up new avenues for artists, and for society as a whole, to explore and engage with creative expression.
One obvious benefit of NFTs is that they allow artists to connect directly with their audience without the need for agents and middlemen. This has been a boon for emerging artists who previously struggled to gain visibility on the global art market and to establish themselves as unique in their field.
Another benefit is that the blockchain gives digital artworks and artists a level of legitimacy and security never before seen in a purely online space. While NFTs can be copied and reproduced using screenshots and downloads, the blockchain records the detailed lineage of every single transfer of ownership in a secure, immutable way. This makes NFTs a more trustworthy form of digital art than physical prints and other similar works.
Finally, NFTs are giving art and other creative industries a more speculative, financial element that they’ve long been lacking. This has democratized the art industry and opened it up to a new generation of investors and collectors.
They Will Still Redistribute Power
The blockchain (2009) technology that gave birth to Bitcoin (2000) has since exploded into multiple applications in the creative fields (art, design and video games) through the development of non-fungible tokens (NFTs). NFTs are digital certificates that cannot be forged and are linked to a unique object, granting users a level of control and ownership over their digital assets that would otherwise be impossible in a world where copyright laws fail to effectively protect these creative expressions.
By establishing an immutable and permanent link to the original artwork, NFTs ensure that a work can be authenticated by anyone who purchases it. This enables consumers to feel confident that they’re buying the genuine article, while it gives artists the chance to monetize their creations in ways that have never been possible before.
NFTs have been in the news a lot recently because of their rapid rise in value and proliferation across different markets. When an image of Grimes or a cyborg from a popular game is sold for millions, it generates headlines and social media chatter about the value of art in a digital world.
They Will Still Be a Form of Art
Many artists and designers are embracing NFTs because they can monetize their work instantly. This gives them a sense of stability that they can’t always find in their traditional careers. It also helps them to avoid the kind of creative burnout that often leads to erratic work, like chasing clients for payments or working on projects that don’t necessarily inspire their creativity.
But NFTs do have a downside, and it’s not just that they’re not “real” or that people can easily copy them. Because digital art is not physically held in someone’s hands, it is subject to problems like bit rot, file formats that are no longer supported, and websites that crash. Additionally, NFTs have an environmental cost that’s tied to the computer-intensive infrastructure of server farms, which consume cheap fossil fuels and convert them into the virtual currency.
While this may seem like a naive concern, it’s one that could have serious implications for the future of NFTs and how they are used in our society. As NFTs become more widely adopted, it will be important to consider the ethical and social impact of these new forms of art, and what this means for our digital culture.
NFTs are a new form of art that is taking the world by storm and bringing artists closer to their audiences than ever before. But it’s worth remembering that there are other, more meaningful ways for artists to democratize their practices.
They Will Still Be a Form of Money
Since traditional works of art and music can be copied at virtually zero marginal cost, capturing value from their sale has become a challenge for creators. NFTs create a new avenue for artists to earn money, with royalties paid on every resale. This is potentially life-changing for content creators who engage in meme culture, for example. But as NFTs become increasingly popular, it is vital that they remain a tool for artistic experimentation and not a path to quick riches.
Like crypto-currency, NFTs have an intrinsic value based on the fact that they are immutable and inherently linked to a specific digital file stored on a shared ledger (or blockchain). This makes them difficult to forge or counterfeit. NFTs also introduce a level of scarcity into the global digital marketplace, creating a new dynamic for pricing and valuation.
However, NFTs have a problem with monetary speculation just as traditional art has, and just as any other asset market has historically had. As with any bubble, a crash may come sooner or later. The speculative frenzy surrounding NFTs may divert capital from more innovative operations, as it did with railway companies in the 1840s or bicycle companies in the 1890s. This could undermine NFTs’ transformative potential, especially if they result in a crash. NFTs will still be a form of money, but they will be re-purposed for different purposes in the future.
