NFT Reflections 001
Informal reflections on unfolding NFT ecosystem as it relates to art history.
I have had some very interesting conversations around NFTs lately, and decided to share some perspectives here.
Right now we are in the collectible use-case iteration of NFTs, with a user -driven testing ground to see which patterns succeed and fail. This is a bottom up model, with “success” (in terms of sales) driven by communities (fans of established artists/musicians/athletes/fashion houses/gamer systems). Because the visual component is the main selling point of NFTs now, naturally this bleeds into the art market, with artists and institutions questioning why a digital file from an unknown artist can sell for more than a piece of “fine art” sold at a gallery by an artist, who (for the sake of this example) has spent the better part of their life studying and making connections in the competitive art world. The art world looks on in horror as their elite status of the gatekeepers is now being threatened by a herd of speculative crypto investors drive the market, as auction houses ride the wave of this new influx of capital.
Throughout history the gatekeepers of art and culture have been replaced, and now we are almost full circle. “Art” (creative expression) was originally a decentralized form of communication, wether on bodies, on cave walls, on impermanent materials, stone, etc. There were no gatekeepers and no market (except for bartering). It was expression of the tribe and individuals within the tribe. As societies grew, we can say that Religious institutions and the Empire became the patron of the arts, projecting their strength or honoring the divine. Eventually the model of the wealthy families came to become the patrons of the arts, and with the invention of printing press (or wood block prints from Asia), the middle class was able to participate in collecting works of art. Cultural Institutions/Museums formed and what was in their collection gained the elite stamp of approval. Then we can say that Art Dealers/Art Critics became the gatekeepers of what was culturally significant. It remained a top down model, with the few deciding what was legitimate for the many. And now via NFTs/Blockchain we have the crowd deciding what is valuable, and their criteria may be different than what those in the art world have been trained to recognize as art worth of adulation. Value is intrinsically tied to this cross-road. Artist’s work has typically appreciated in value because of their acceptance into the cannon of art history, where as NFT value is driven by a frenzied speculation birthed out of a pandemic model of earning money from a lockdown hobby. And to see the mass adoption of this new technology is inspiring, because it is a technology full of potential to remake the world.
Aside from the “new digital asset class” quality of NFTs, I see them as a bridge. A bridge that can lead us horizontally or vertically, from the past to the future, or from the imagined to the real, or from the real to the imagined. We are at the dawn of NFT/Blockchain/Smart contracts, and they will in the short term change the way we do things, and in the long term be as ubiquitous as email or iphones are now. But this is a very exciting portal we are in now…like the dotcom era before the burst. I think Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) will allow society to reimagine itself, forming new little tribes, where NFT ownerships come with decision making power, and these files will be bartered and create a new economic model. So in a way we are full circle.. back to the tribal artist. In a way NFTs are very much like Outsider Art. Youtube tutorials have replaced traditional art academies and schools, with the majority of NFT artists emerging from outside of these systems, and with tangental relation to and understanding of Art History. So as much of a Barbarians at the Gate moment the traditional art world is having, this mutation is actually injecting new blood and energy into the arts, and it’s a sink or swim moment for Institutions to embrace the world of possibilities. Jean Cocteau said Cinema will be a true art form once its materials are as inexpensive as pen and paper. And we are at that watershed moment with iphones and NFTs. Now everyone is a creator, and the top down gatekeeping model is disrupted.
Since Feb I have been developing a NFT platform/Marketplace (3d3n.io) that focuses on charities, because I firmly believe that no one will give a shit about NFTs in the future if we don’t have a planet to live on. So recognizing the energy wave flowing into Crypto/Blockchain/NFTs, and understanding the potential of smart contract splits, and aiming to harness the power of community, I hope to reinvent the charity giving model. Blockchain can support so many people who have dedicated their lives to the work on the ground when it comes to preservation, and solutions for the oncoming eco-crisis. I am encouraged to see many NFT campaigns donate portion of sales to charities after successful drops (how often does that happen in the traditional auction sales world?!?), and I believe that in this day and age of dystopian media shoved down our eye-sockets, that blockchain is a utopian counterpoint. To the critics of the energy consumption of NFT/Blockchain, I am in agreement, and I take comfort knowing that there are layer two solutions (Polygon) that currently exist, and many new Layer one projects (Solana) that will make this a non-issue in a few years.
Personally I am working on so many NFT projects now that I am a bit overwhelmed, but very excited to release them over the next few months. From drops with cultural institutions, museums, my platform, and a new series of Metaverse ready sculptures. The future is bright, and decentralized. It‘s a time to be open and playful with what has been gathering dust in the vaults. It’s a time to be smart about Intellectual Property, and also find new ways to engage and grow community. Speaking of which, I barely have time to update it, but feel free to join my small Discord community to stay informed about my thoughts and drops. https://discord.gg/xAzhKpCz
-Oliver Halsman Rosenberg NYC Sept 23, 2021
Artist, Writer, Curator, Co-director at Philippe Halsman Archive, NFT entrepreneur -Founder 3D3N.io