NFTSensation Shifts People’s Thoughts on the Traditional Art Industry.
You may have heard about non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a thing that has been popular for quite some time now, but really picked up steam this year. It is an interesting concept because it truly reflects how we are living in a digital-first society.
Years ago, one would pay a fortune for an original Monet or van Gogh. But NFTs have gone on to shake up the art world.
For instance, an NFT artwork called “Everydays - The First 5,000 Days” by Mike Winkelmann (aka Beeple) sold for over USD69 million at a Christie’s auction. This was the highest price ever paid for a piece of contemporary art.
Everydays - The First 5,000 Days, a JPG file that contains a collage of images that contains everything that Beeple, the artist, has ever created since 2007.
Dorsey’s tweet, which said, “just setting up my twttr” sold for USD2.9 million!
But NFTs are not confined to just art. It can be anything that you create. For example, Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter sold his first-ever tweet (posted on 21 March 2006) as an NFT for over USD2.9 million this year.
It can be digital art, tweets, video snippets, photographs, anything you can think of. Movies are also being released as NFTs. What this shows us is that the possibilities are endless, especially for creators. If one can create something that can be stored and sold on the blockchain, you can potentially sell it as an NFT. Once tokenised, these assets can be bought, sold, and traded using cryptocurrency.
But apart from people buying and selling NFTs for huge amounts of money, NFTs have an important role in fueling and redefining the creator economy.
NFTs enable creators to work on something they love and experience meaningful connections with their followers, which may lead to a community of like-minded individuals. On top of that, the technology behind NFTs offers genuine benefits for both creators, fans, and buyers. Work can be fully authenticated and widely distributed, and when a creator’s work is resold, the creator also receives royalty fees.
Malaysian artist Red Hong Yi’s “Doge to the Moon”, the NFT based on the Chinese Yuan.
This offers an opportunity for creators to earn income from their assets and masterpieces anytime their work is resold, regardless of how many times their work changes ownership.
MDEC has had the privilege of working alongside many creators over the years. The fact that NFTs appear to be giving creators more agency to create work that they are proud of and make money from is truly motivating and hopeful for the creative industry.
While NFTs have been gaining traction globally, we have local creators who have participated successfully in this space.
One such creator is artist Red Hong Yi who has created and released an NFT series titled Memebank, which is an interesting series that spoofs the whole concept of fiat currency. While it is a fun series, it makes us ponder on the future of fiat currency and how digital disruption impacts our lives.
Big brands are also dabbling in NFTs using video games. Take, for example, Louis Vuitton. They launched a video game called “Louis: The Game” featuring 30 NFTs and aims to target younger audiences globally. Other luxury brands have also rolled out their own video games in addition to incorporating game-themed designs this year, in order to appeal to the younger generation of luxury consumers.
This means there is now a confluence of different creative mediums that can contribute to the creation of NFTs while staying relevant to a younger audience.
While we are now seeing the rise of NFTs anchored on digital art, animated videos, and games, industry players are predicting that NFTs will prompt an explosion of new works designed to make the most of digital technologies such as augmented and virtual reality.
NFTs are exciting as they add pizzazz to the creative industry. And from what we’re seeing now, NFTs will only grow bigger and better once we embrace the concept and start thinking outside the box.
NFTs also have the potential to drive innovation across all industries, and what is particularly important is how creators will sit at the centre of this space.
So what do say you? Do you prefer an original Monet hanging on your living room wall, or an NFT sitting safely on the blockchain?
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and Blockchain technology afford creators a unique opportunity to monetise their content.
