The billion dollar digital art world phenomenon

In a world steadily running towards digitisation, the boom of digital art and its venture into NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens is not surprising, especially amidst the art world. Everyone today who doesn’t live under a rock on a remote island knows what NFTs are. But not everyone is able to keep up with what these Tokens actually represent.

In layman terms, a Non-Fungible Token allows you to own anything digital. Forget art for a minute, and broaden your mind to the many digital things you could not fathom buying or owning, be it a tweet, a TikTok, a pixelated cartoon ape in the form of a jpeg, or even a meme. Now, each of these could be considered “goods” that one can practically own.

But in a world where pressing the Ctrl button and the V key simultaneously allows you to seamlessly copy and paste digital things, one might wonder as to how owning a digital thing is even possible? I mean, we can’t touch it or keep it in a bank, and others can make infinite copies of literally anything they want.

That is where the concept of fungibility becomes pertinent. What makes an item fungible or non-fungible is directly proportional to its functionality. The fifty rupee note in your wallet is fungible, because it serves the exact same purpose and value that another fifty rupee note will do, hence it can easily be replaced. But what if that note was the first fifty rupee note ever made in Pakistan, and Quaid himself graced the note by holding on to it after it was passed on to you, then it is definitely not replaceable and therefore holds extremely high value, making it non-fungible. Despite there being millions of replicas for the same note out there, they simply don’t compare to the one in question. The same concept applies to NFTS, where a valuable digital creation can be sold or bought, and only one original remains yours, no matter how many copies exist, because they’re incomparable to the feeling of owning the real original version.

To put things further into perspective, one only has to look at the expensive sales that have been made over the past year as NFTS. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of twitter, ended up selling the world’s first tweet for $2.9 million, the proceeds of which he donated to an African Covid-19 relief. Mike Winkelmann, a graphic designer, artist and animator who goes by the moniker Beeple, sold his work as an NFT for more than $69 million. Even though Beeple was famous among digital artists, but almost no one in the art world had heard of him before the sale. The work, called “Everydays: The First 5000 Days” is a montage of digital illustrations, cartoons and sketches that the artist made on his computer, one per day, for more than 13 years. Ever heard of Bored Apes and CryptoPunks? These quirky digital illustrations that were minted as NFTS and released in batches were then traded as collectibles and eventually sold for millions.

The future is digital and it is just around the corner. To the naysayers of such practices, be assured that real art is not going anywhere. The pinnacle of human existence is to form culture, communicate through language, and express through art, and it will always be so. No computer could do what Sadequain did. But that doesn’t mean it’s one or the other. Both worlds could exist in the same universe and they both can thrive. A world flush with crypto dollars provides high promise to transform the worlds of art and commerce, and challenge our perspectives of what we think art is or isn’t.

Quite recently, in the curtain raiser event for the Karachi Biennale 2022, Artist Dennis Rudolph brought a wide scale culmination of digital and conventional art where he showcased augmented reality creations from his home apocalypse series, immersing art and tech into one. Visitors could scan a code on their hand held device and witness huge creatures walking amidst them, through their phone screens. And while the installation may not have been tangible, it was still a creative work of art that gave viewers an unforgettable experience. And as the nuances of art collide with the infinite possibilities of technology and digitisation, one can’t help but wonder about the limitless future it holds.

For an artist, the world of NFTS makes their field boundless. The medium of digital art remains the same, just like oil painting, printmaking or photography remain as they are. NFTs are not art, they are simply a financial instrument that makes it easier to sell digital files by creating scarcity. A limited edition art world can be minted as a Non-Fungible Token and be put up for bidding at the touch of a finger. They not only make it easier for creative to sell their work, but ultimately lessen the need for snooty middlemen — like galleries and auction houses – who sometimes act as gatekeepers and take a huge slice of the profits. Not only that, but it brings immense transparency into the digital art world, where all works and their transactions are stored in a Blockchain, which is equivalent to a public ledger. Transactions on a Blockchain are supposed to be impossible to change, hack or corrupt, and can be verified without the need for any central authority, like banks or governments. NFTs also include a feature that you can enable that will pay you a percentage every time the NFT is sold or changes hands, making sure that if your work gets super popular and balloons in value, you’ll see some of that benefit.

As a buyer, it lets you financially support your favourite artists and their life’s work, and if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that art is quite literally the pinnacle of our existence. Buying an NFT also usually gets you some basic rights for personal or commercial usage. Plus, of course, there are bragging rights for the items that you own as originals, no matter how many copies someone makes.

Since the whole concept is relatively new, it has a few drawbacks as well. While there are some contracts in place to support the legalities of minting and copyrighting crypto-art, none of these have yet been tried or tested in court. Without relevant protection by the law or any new reforms or legislation, it remains unsustainable. There is also a huge environmental drawback to the world of NFTs because they require a lot of energy. Many debates around the topic arise as to whether they serve as a new pioneering way for art and digital consumerism or are they just a temporary scam to make absurd amounts of money. But the digital age of art is certainly here and it is to stay, giving artists and influencers alike a chance to redeem their work’s value on their own terms. From celebrity icons like Paris Hilton to tech giants like Jack Dorsey, from digital artists like Beeple to new up-and coming creatives, are all in on the digital art and NFT bandwagon.

Also Read

Asif Raza Mir and wife celebrate wedding anniversary

Actor Asif Raza Mir is celebrating his wedding anniversary today with his...