As in many other sectors, the future and technology of the art industry continue to be shaped and digitalized by consumers’ preferences. The artworks produced in the last few years are connected to the blockchain infrastructure as NFT. In this way, the issue of imitation is eliminated, the works of the artists are protected and works find buyers for high prices.
Since digital artist Beeple’s “The First 5000 Days” sold for a record-breaking $69 million, NFTs have achieved wider public recognition during the past several years and have rocked the art world. The technology phenomenon has also been seen in the ballet, sports, gaming, and wine industries. We shall discuss the present application of NFT in art events in this post.
WHAT IS AN NFT? WHAT DOES NFT STAND FOR? #
NFT stands for non-tradable tokens. It means transforming works of art into digital and selling them digitally. Its most important feature is that it is unique. NFTs use blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum also use blockchain technology.
If we talk about being “unique”, we can see Leonardo da Vinci’s work The Last Supper or Mona Lisa in many places. Phone cases, clothing design, photos shared on social media… However, these works will always have the “unique” original and the others are just copies. This is what makes unique works valuable. NFTs are similarly one and only, they cannot be copies of each other.
For centuries, works of art have been bought and sold by collectors at exorbitant prices. However, the originality of the works needs to be proven and the efforts to prove the originality of the works are sometimes insufficient. Such that the most important museums in the world such as the Louvre and the Mets can buy imitation works. How the Knoedler gallery in the US was scammed was even the subject of a Netflix documentary. One of New York’s most established galleries, Knoedler bought over 60 counterfeit artworks in the late 1990s.
NFT, on the other hand, offers artists and buyers a way out. Blockchain, with its decentralized structure, ensures that the works are accessible to everyone, while NFT preserves the originality of the works.
CURRENT USE OF THE NFT IN ART EVENTS #
NFT still permeates the art world today, as I said at the beginning of our article. Recently, the use of NFTs, which have become more popular, has begun to stand out in artistic disciplines and enterprises including music, dance, and art galleries.
NFT AND THE MUSIC INDUSTRY #
We are excited to follow the development of NFT culture, which has the potential to transform the parameters of the music industry in many ways!
NFTs enable a direct revenue stream between musicians and their fans without relying on third parties like music streaming services and concert organizers, giving musicians more control over problems like the output and pricing of their work. It’s likely no surprise that NFTs are increasing during the epidemic, with dropping sales of recorded music, as many artists have grown to rely on touring as their primary source of revenue. These developments can be revolutionary for musicians.
You may have noticed the wave of excitement in the music press and online over the last few weeks as Kings of Leon has released an entire album as NFT via the Ethereum blockchain. We witnessed an exciting initiative that created similar effects in the Turkish dance music scene when Future Forward Music showcased its compilation album “The Void”, consisting of 40 new music works by 44 artists, on NFT.
Also, several musicians have released their own NFTs, including Grimes, Shawn Mendes, The Weeknd, and many others. Most recently, Snoop Dogg declared that his previous firm, Death Row Records, which he acquired in February, will be an NFT label.
Another musical event that joined the NFT world this year is the famous Montreux Jazz Festival. Five vibrant designs by French artist Greg Guillemin, each representing a different artist from the 56th Festival, will be available for purchase as part of the campaign.
Montreux Media Ventures’ CEO, Nick Bonard, stated: “NFTs will offer us the opportunity to collaborate more closely with and support artists in a more sustainable way.”
The Festival has decided to concentrate on the visual arts for its debut in the NFT community because of the lengthy history of this genre and the iconic posters made by Keith Haring, Niki de Saint Phalle, Jean Tinguely, and David Bowie.
NFT & DANCE COLLABRATION #
Dance, one of the founding members of the visual arts, is unafraid to enter the NFT community either. Similar to how it has revolutionized the market for visual art, blockchain technology has the potential to transform the dance world and lead performance art into a new era of digital performance and ownership.
One of the popular dance genres, ballet, is among the first to enter the blockchain space.
Natalia Osipova, a well-known Russian ballerina and the lead dancer of the London Royal Ballet, will perform three pieces for the upcoming Bonhams auction “Encore! Modern Art on Stage” to honor the convergence of visual art and stage. This will be the first-of-its-kind sale, and the NFT format will serve as a proprietary stamp applied to digital works, indicating that collectors and ballet enthusiasts can now own performance art.
According to Nima Sagharchi, head of Digital Art, “Through NFTs, we are able to crystallize unique performances and have and gather things that are normally ethereal,” demonstrating how NFTs are making dance a more tangible art.
NFT GALLERY #
Nowadays, a lot of real-world artwork, including paintings and sketches, is digitalized and traded in NFT on the blockchain ledger. Yes, these pieces of art are currently in circulation as NFT in the digital world, where we can view or purchase them once more. What if we wanted to view and interact with the nft versions of the converted pieces of art in person?
England’s first NFT gallery will open in London, which is the answer to this question. Quantus, soft-launched at the start of March, is a first in bringing digital art to a physical location. According to co-founder Josh Sandhu, “We attempt to merge this digital element with the physical environment.”
