The avalanche of digital 'crypto-art' arrived in Colombia
AUTOPLAYJoaquín Restrepo, a digital artistThe Colombian talks about his work and about 'Non-Fungible Tokens'.
Colombian artists are already selling NFT works, after one piece reached 69.3 million dollars.
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Select the creator of the article in the configuration of this moduleS.Time of publication of the articleName of the authorTime of publication of the articleREDACCIÓN EL TIEMPOSAApril 24, 2021, 10:31 PMJGJulio César GuzmánApril 24, 2021, 10:31 PMLast week, one of the first pieces that Colombian artist Joaquín Restrepo converted to the new NFT digital format, which is revolutionizing the art world, was sold to a Japanese collector for $1,700.
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It sounds little when compared to the historic transaction that last March 11 meant a before and after in the digital art market: a collection of intangible, abstract images, without any physical support and certified by an NFT, was auctioned by Christie's until achieving a value of 69.3 million dollars . "That is more than anyone has offered for works of art by Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí or Paul Gauguin - the newspaper 'The Wall Street Journal' reported with irony -, and that makes Beeple (its author, just 39 years old) the third most expensive living artist after Jeff Koons and David Hockney.” (Keep reading: The attack of a Colombian artist against a statue in Paris). But the sale of the Colombian artist, although it is far from those figures, can become a milestone within the incipient national art backed by 'Non-Fungible Tokens' (NFT, for its acronym in English). What's more: do you know what an NFT is? “A token is like a kind of virtual currency that is not controlled by anyone,” says Restrepo. And in this case, it is non-fungible because it is not consumed by use.” When the AFP agency released the news of the famous Beeple to the world, its definition of NFT was “a virtual object that can be an image, photo, video or musical fragment with identity, authenticity and traceability in theory uncontested and inviolable, thanks to technology known as blockchain, used in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin”.
Another way to understand it is through three characteristics of an NFT that the sculptor Restrepo highlights: security, compensation for the creator and the democratization of art . The first is based on the union of two numerical codes, a public key and a private key, which guarantee the origin of the piece and the certificate of authenticity, two fundamental issues when it comes to avoiding counterfeits. Whenever such a work is sold or resold, the artist receives 10 percent of the price, similar to how music royalties work . In fact, in the NFT intermediaries are eliminated, since the galleries and art dealers have not understood how to enter, according to Restrepo: “In the large traditional auctions, the artist does not receive a peso. He is at the bottom of the pyramid of art, the intermediaries profit but the artist does not." (Also read: What is worth eating at ElCielo, the Michelin-starred restaurant). And thirdly, according to this visual artist, NFTs constitute a platform to democratize, because access to art is greater and faster. “I uploaded a virtual exhibition with music by a famous English composer that was in a bank of paid sounds and I tagged it. Two hours later, she contacted me and now we are going to do a joint work.” It should be clarified that NFTs are not restricted to the plastic arts. The digital researcher and marketing expert Gastón Barnechea cites this example: “If you are a singer, you can give access to a group of fans so that they have a certain space in all your concerts. That access is the NFT, something like a golden key that gives it to you, is validated at the door and allows you to enter. Anything you would like to provide to those followers can be established in a smart contract, with all the conditions transparent for the whole world to see. In the same way, if you are a clothing brand, you can give a group of loyal users of your brand access to private collections or seasonal previews that they can buy only if you have that NFT. If you have a loyalty program, you will be able to give something different to the member who owns that NFT. If you are a realtor, you could 'parcel' a property and share the profits that property generates, creating several NFTs of it. This changes the whole game of transactions that can be had in the future”.
art that can't be touchedThe pandemic ended up pushing the artist Restrepo into the digital world, as several exhibitions of his sculptures, which were due to open in Mexico and the United States in the middle of last year, had to be canceled due to the confinements: “My Chinese friends have been writing to me since December 2019 about what was happening and then they suggested me to gather the exhibitions and turn them into a virtual one.” The exhibition is called 'Amor Fati' and can be visited by means of a computer or a cell phone. The route crosses a castle, as if it were a video game, and not only are the images of the works created by Restrepo impressive, but also the sound, which changes depending on the place: here, a musical tune; over there, someone recites a poem, or just ambient sound is heard. If you go through it with virtual reality glasses, you can literally walk the exhibition advancing step by step and control what you can see with a turn of your head. (Also: On Book Day: 'The bookseller recommends').
When you read this, Restrepo will be traveling to Texas to open a solo exhibition, open to the public between May and August in a hybrid setting: for the first month, his sculptures, drawings, and paintings will be mixed with his virtual exhibition Amor Fati. In the second month, the pieces will be accompanied by works in augmented reality. And during the third month, new NFTs will be released. It is not the first time that this 36-year-old creator has merged the two worlds. The tangible proof is sitting in the central plaza of Barichara and is the bronze sculpture by Belisario Betancur . It was conceived as a digital piece and, in fact, the artist's proposal was a video made by computer (a render, as the architects say). Its appearance is so faithful that only the ice cream vendors are missing in the square. Once the idea was approved, the entire work was printed in 3D and from then on it was cast in bronze. “I made the sculpture from Spain –says Restrepo–, although the printer was in Bogotá. I controlled everything with an application on my cell phone and here, an assistant was removing what I printed, cleaning the tray and notifying me to create the complete sculpture piece by piece. With a camera, I reviewed the process. If something went wrong, from the cell phone he would physically turn off the printer. It is the first monumental sculpture in Colombia that was made in digital format, passed through a 3D printer and turned into bronze .” Along the way, there was no lack of manual processes, sanding, sculpting, burnishing. (You may be interested in: Oscar Awards 2021: where can you see the ceremony?).
What to do with an NFT?Launching into the world of NFTs is not easy. Starting with the costs: an artist must first create a digital 'wallet', in which there are no bills but a virtual currency called Ethereum (some platforms use other cryptocurrencies). The simple process of uploading a piece to one of the platforms (such as Foundation, SuperRare or Nifty) can cost between 80 and 200 dollars. The piece is attached to a wallet and it is known who created it and who authenticates the account (a process called minting). But it is not enough to upload it to the platform, you have to put it 'on the list' to make it visible: another 200 dollars . And that the value of the work itself has not yet been added. You will then be able to change the price, but you will need to pay an additional $23. And if in the end he gives up and prefers to delete the work, he must leave another 19 dollars . The scenario for the buyer is equally expensive: the works are usually acquired through online auctions and the first bid involves paying 50 dollars. And once you're done with a job, the process of claiming it can be another $100. The prices may be lower than those achieved in large real-world auctions, but once the auction is over, you might be wondering: Now what do I do with this NFT?
To show off your new acquisition to your friends, you can use some smart display that connects with the platform that hosts it. There are digital photo frames, such as those manufactured by the firm Infinite Objects, which read QR codes and reproduce very elaborate NFTs, with 360-degree video or interactive experiences. Public exhibitions are also planned: “In New York – Restrepo cites – there are large outdoor screens where they are constantly exposing themselves to NFT . I have been looking for exhibition sites to make NFT of Colombian artists visible”. At the same time, those who create art in this format also become collectors, because when they manage to sell a piece, they have an extra amount left in their virtual wallet and they have three paths : Upload other NFTs, get the money out into the real world, or buy pieces from another artist. There are already numerous initiatives to make exhibitions curated with various of these tokens. However, optimism is not everywhere. The renowned Colombian artist Nadín Ospina, who has been using digital tools for years, is blunt: “For me, as an artist who is especially interested in the physical production of the work, this is a mystery (...) For now, and with the speculative figures that are handled, it seems to me only the last movement of the hamparte.
For now, and with the speculative figures that are handled, it seems to me only the latest move of the hamparte”. Nadín Ospina, artist
Ospina mistrusts this type of media, since he values the physical experience of a work: "Perhaps in the future, when 3D printing or holography are developed and accessible, they would be interesting media for me." In the same vein, the Arteria magazine editor Diego Guerrero finds it strange that poems, memes and even the first tweet in history have been sold as NFTs (as Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey actually sold it for $2.9 million) . "Deep down, it is still a speculative market, where an artist is competing against millions of people who are not," says the journalist. Judging by the figures, the NFTs are here to stay. According to the website NonFungible.com there are more than 10,000 active virtual wallets and more than 23,000 NFT works have been sold. The sculptor Restrepo predicts his success: "If Elon Musk's idea of traveling to other planets materializes, the art that we are going to take there will be NFT." JULIO CÉSAR GUZMÁNEditor of the Visual Table of EL TIEMPOOn Twitter: @julguz
SAApril 24, 2021, 10:31 PMJGJulio César GuzmánApril 24, 2021, 10:31 PMRelated:Art
Sculpture
Culture
Digital
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