By integrating notions of ownership and scarcity in the digital world, NFTs have enabled the emergence of a market for artists in the sector as well as for galleries and collectibles.
In March 1847, playwright Ernest Bourget and composers Paul Henrion and Vincent Parizot sat at a table at Les Ambassadeurs’ Concert-cafe. They hear many of their songs by different artists. And then, the waiter comes to make a note about their drinks. Then they refuse to pay it, claiming that this institution has just distributed their books without paying them!
A legal lawsuit ensued, and, surprisingly, the judge ruled in favor of the three creators. This incident led to the creation of Sacem in 1850, which then sought to reward songwriters for the exploitation of their works.
As it is said:Appearance of The Digital And the’Internet He wasn’t kind to the creators and at first represented an obvious setback. Digital art took off during the 90’s with artists like Evan RothAnd the Gregory ShatunskyOr Maurice Benayoun or Obeki who developed the so-called “Network of Art” using digital tools and sometimes alsoartificial intelligence. Only then, digitalis established a new state: a musical work, a Photography Or the animation is nothing more than an exact sequence of 0 and 1, thus, an infinite declaration can be repeated. This is how online photographers discovered that their footage could be reproduced from one location to another without respect probably of any right. And since 1997, the exchange of songs in MP3 format has caused a panic in record companies as well as among songwriters, especially since it was fashionable in some deliberately demagogic magazines to explain to everyone that art on the Internet was free in principle. Singer Tori Amos had this healthy reflection as she announced that she’s ready to give her music the day she’ll walk into her bakery and her croissants will be free! At the time, the recording industry successfully brought in Napster which promoted the illegal downloading of music, but it didn’t stop other services like uTorrent from taking over.
So digital technology has created a generally disadvantageous situation for artists, who are easily stripped of their rights and unable to assert the notion of scarcity.
coming NFT So it represented a revolution: this technology allows the appropriation of a work, whether to indicate its author or its purchaser, and opens the way to potential scarcity.
NFTs . Birth Certificate
The NFT . phenomenon accident. We usually put its spread in 2017 with the parallel appearance of Cryptokitties and Kryptoponics. Dieter Shirley, co-founder of Dapper Labs (Cryptokitties) is the origin of the ERC-721 standard that set the rules for NFTs. NFT can be likened to a certificate of originality that may not be violated since its inclusion in a blockchain.
For digital artists, the situation has completely changed. Since the NFT certifies that the work is related to its creator, and that it defines the chain of successive buyers, it has become possible to assign a value to JPG, videos, interactive animations, works generated by artificial intelligence … Platforms like Rarible or OpenSea have allowed anyone to put a protected business in this way on the Internet and set the price themselves. Sale, number of copies available. Although they can be blamed for this openly permissive approach, open galleries such as OpenSea have played a similar role as Amazon He was able to self-publish by directly revealing authors such as Agnes Martin-Lugand to the public.
The emergence of the digital art market
As of the end of 2020, the NFT segment has seen a price hike. then They came from a computer code, Cryptopunks From Larva Labs their reviews have reached new heights. Other “collectibles” of the same type, Boredom monkeys, experienced a similar phenomenon.
Traditional fairs have traditionally shown a distrust of the virtual universe. The emergence of NFTs led to a reconsideration of their position. Brilliant galleries, such as Sotheby’s or Christie’s, have incorporated this art form into their offerings, providing artists with a fleetingly unexpected aura. Thus, the digital artist, Beeple, who until then could not sell a work of more than $100, was able to break records. In March 2021, during a sale organized by Christie’s, the business Every day: the first 5,000 days De Pebble won $69.3 million.
The fashion world has quickly shown an interest in nurturing art NFTs, thus multiplying the opportunities for digital art to be sold. Thus, Guerlain has linked the sale of bee representations, Cryptobees, to owning part of a nature reserve near Rambouillet. And at the end of June 2022, Gucci opened a crypto art exhibition in collaboration with SuperRare: Vault Art Space.
Make what wasn’t possible before possible
One of the main points of NFTs is to provide artists with opportunities that did not exist before. Here are some examples.
ephemeral promotion
Some works are ephemeral, such as carvings on ice or in sand. The street art is another example. As a rule, these types of artists paint walls Public buildings in the city, near major roads or in places they occupy, for example an unused building belonging to a bank or a town hall. Being that they do not have the support in question, they cannot sell their creations.
However, from the moment he worked street art Filmed on its original support and linked to NFT, it becomes sellable. And so, in June 2022, Presentation of Maison Boischaut Painters for street art To exploit their creativity in the form of NFT. It is already for these artists the opening of a market that did not exist until now.
Breaking Geographical Restrictions
Some artists develop in countries where it is not easy for them to distribute or even transfer their worksilver… The possibility of placing a snapshot of the work in an online gallery such as OpenSea or Rarible, again opens an unprecedented opportunity, for which it is understood that they will pay Cryptocurrency.
art of photography
Photographers have traditionally practiced what are known as numbered fine art prints. The number of copies must be less than or equal to 30. However, it is usually necessary for the person organizing such a draw to go through a gallery or website such as artistic pairThe audience is usually small or elitist.
For photographers, NFT opens up new ways to sell their artwork and the ability to attract new audiences. The buyer, for his part, can freely decide to use the image in question:
- digital print placed under glass;
- Reproduction on canvas
- Reproduction on a Wall paper…
Thus, the art of photography becomes “more flexible” in terms of its use.
Could NFT be of interest to classical artists?
What about the classic artists, those who prefer to stick with traditional tools (painting, sculpting…) and also some collectors who make art a point of honor to avoid digital?
The sometimes misunderstood idea is that the artist, although he has sold a work to an individual or to a museum, still and always has the right to subsequent exploitation. If he took a picture of his work, he has the right to make one lithography, numbered print, to transcribe into a beautiful book or even, if he wishes, on a medium such as a T-shirt – but at the risk of alienating his favorite audience. Be that as it may, NFT provides such an artist an additional opportunity to exploit creativity.
However, what could hold back a traditional artist is the prospect of seeing his work coexist, on sites like OpenSea or Rarible, with creations of all kinds, some of which are far from deserving of the artistic label. However, various initiatives have emerged in order to make this sector more frequent than before eyes Industry professionals. First of all, more elite platforms like SuperRare, Zora or Foundation, practice what’s called “curation” (choice of businesses hosted in their showrooms). For its part, the start Pour intends to create a platform where collectors can purchase NFTs” From people who have a good reputation in the art world Also, the show return speed, is proud to host NFTs from famous artists such as Lucas Samaras and also Jeff Koons, one of the world’s most highly rated live artists. The latter is planning to send on the moon 125 miniature copies of his sculptures moon phases It planned to sell an image of their lunar location as NFTs.
Public domain and plagiarism
The NFT industry knows its youthful mistakes: in January 2022, OpenSea had to admit it Across a tweet : 80% of the files placed online using the tool dedicated to this platform were “plagiarism, pseudo-groups, and Spam emails OpenSea says it has taken drastic measures to curb this. a movement.
On site Artists Rights NFTSeveral artists’ estates – including the Picasso and Magritte families – are urging the building of the NFT market in terms of artistic property rights.
” It must be remembered, in the clearest way possible, that under the rules applicable to copyright, established at the international level, any reproduction or communication of any work of art to the public, either in part or in whole, can only be made with the consent of the artist or his successor in title. »
” Marketing work related to NFT is no exception to this rule: no person may publish digital work on a sales platform, or enter it into metaverseWithout the consent of the artist or his successors (heirs, foundations, etc.). »
“ It is the responsibility of anyone considering an NFT project related to an artist’s work to ensure that the necessary licenses are obtained from the appropriate copyright holders or collective management organizations. »
We mention the fact that more than a thousand scams and counterfeiting have been removed from the NFT sales platforms.
It is clear that the young universe of NFTs is changing. after, after’trance In 2021, the market witnessed a significant decline from $945 million in August 2021 to $101 million in May 2022 according to Claire McAndrew, author of a report on the topic. However, if some want to see what looks like the Internet bubble of the late 1990s, it is easy to remind them that aftercollapse In the spring of 2000, this sector witnessed the emergence of many giant companies The GoogleAnd the FB where Twitter. From this angle, the NFT market appears to have a bright future ahead.
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