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comment by mk
mk  ·  980 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Pubski: July 21, 2021

I entertained that route about 20 years ago for almost 2 years, and of those that I was aware of that were doing the same, I don't think it worked out for any of them. I agree with you.

That said, there is something going on atm regarding NFTs, that is of real interest IMHO. The theory is that artists are going to be able to link their work to non-fungible tokens and in doing so, will be able to capture more value over time and build a better relationship with their audience. It's very early times, so there is plenty to doubt and be cynical about. However, I do believe the theory will be proven correct in time. If you are creating, I'd seriously look into experimenting with them. Currently, it seems that the number of sincere artists doing so is small, but growing. There's fertile ground there and the current economy for art is ineffcient AF.

I used to pile as much relish, mustard and onions on my 7/11 hotdog for the calories. I'd even do ketchup and I don't like ketchup. But the eggrolls tasted better, and sometimes I'd give in.





kleinbl00  ·  980 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    That said, there is something going on atm regarding NFTs, that is of real interest IMHO. The theory is that artists are going to be able to link their work to non-fungible tokens and in doing so, will be able to capture more value over time and build a better relationship with their audience.

To contradict Marshall McLuhan, "NFTs for NFTs sake" is neither long-term nor short-term profitable. People "dipping their toes" in NFTs are discovering that selling your undergraduate trash on Etsy makes you pennies if you're lucky, doesn't matter if it's a jpeg on the blockchain or tempera on canvas.

    There's fertile ground there and the current economy for art is ineffcient AF.

I don't think that's accurate. It's more accurate to say that the current economy for art is not efficient for artists. There are definite advantages to blockchain utilization but they do not overcome the basic challenge of art: it's valuable if you can convince someone else it's valuable. This is why Damien Hirst can make 10,000 dot paintings for two thousand dollars each but if I tried the same, I'd end up with wallpaper.

THAT is the great struggle at the moment: convincing the rich that NFTs have value. Gotta say it's going gangbusters so far. Once that's happened, the mass adoption will be driven by browsers. And that, I think, is going to cause another profound shift: a move away from motion.

Right now a lot of NFTs are dumb little clips. Because hey, motion is cool. But the minute you put it somewhere it catches your eye, it looks twitchy and you hate it. Discovered this when a friend bought an FP Journe Vagabondage 3 (and I think he literally bought this Vagabondage 3):

Looks cool, right? I mean, we all love motion. We all love seeing that mechanical wonderousness. But once it's on your wrist and in your peripheral vision, it's twitchy. It's disconcerting. It's this annoying bit of jerky motion that constantly distracts you.

We're going to have to undergo a whole new evaluation of art, value and appreciation with NFTs. There's something like $20b worth of NFTs out there already, which leads me to believe they'll never go away. Everyone buying Hirst is very carefully calibrating their choice as to whether to burn the NFT or the paper because whichever one gets burned more is going to be worth more.

Or is it?

user-inactivated  ·  980 days ago  ·  link  ·  
This comment has been deleted.
mk  ·  980 days ago  ·  link  ·  

    Right now it appears to be one massive meme auction.

Agreed.

One cool thing that distinguishes it from an art fair sale is the artist getting a cut of future sales of the same piece.

I can be a bit over-optimistic and hyperbolic at times, but I feel that NFTs might unlock more value than "decentralized finance" does by removing middlemen. We do shit in order to surround ourselves with and to consume creative efforts. The market for it has just been abyssmal for all recorded history.

kleinbl00  ·  980 days ago  ·  link  ·  

The core value of NFTs is their inherent community. They inextricably tie the owner of a piece to the creator of that piece, and to the owners of all other pieces and they do so at any scale.

I own a Magritte. Well, I own an official, numbered Galerie Iolas print of a Magritte. This Magritte.

I bought that Magritte for $200 off eBay in like 2002. No one could ever tell me what it was even called. Turns out that's because it's at the TMoCA and has been down the nowhere hole since 1979. I found a picture of it once in 2008, which is how I knew it was in Tehran. Apparently it was actually exhibited once in 2016.

Now - what is my Magritte worth? Who can set that value? Who would choose to pay it? These are the efficiencies around the art market you mentioned. I would argue however that the auction houses and the appraisers are the ones who benefit from that efficiency. After all, the houses and appraisers basically conjured a Da Vinci out of the aether with Salvator Mundi.

But they'll never able to conjure that "value" out of an NFT.

I kind of think that physical art will remain more valuable than NFTs for the simple sake of puffery. The inability to audit is a feature not a bug.

The Warhol Foundation Authentication Board shuttered in 2011.