With the irruption of blockchain technology and NFT assets, new options have opened up for artists. With Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), you can digitally own all sorts of files, get credited with authorship, and generate income through royalties. Because it is open to all sorts of files, the artist might be able to have different mediums interact and create a new type of art. Or maybe part of the artwork might be the underlying smart-contract technology.
This means that an artist might become not only an artist. This person might become empowered through NFT technology to create a different professional life and explore more his or her creativity. More ownership of his or her artwork, more ownership of how that work gets showcased, if the art piece gets rented, and many more things that would make the artist, well, not just an artist. Here’s a list of some of the things a NFT artist could become.
Entrepreneur
As an artist, you can find yourself that you depend on someone else contracting your services. Moreover, because you are working for someone else, you might have to compromise your vision so that it adjusts to what someone else wants from you. With a NFT, or a collection of them, you can fund your projects have it so that your community is engaged with your vision. This means that you potentially don’t depend on a client’s paycheck, and you are directly involved with a community.
Now, let’s not kid ourselves. You’re still going to be working for people as an entrepreneur. The difference here is that you are going to “wrestle back” some control over artistic vision. That’s because you can show your work, and validate if people like it. Being able to say that you have the approval of a community is a very powerful tool.
So —for example— if you are a designer, a VFX artist, a filmmaker or a visual artist, you could fund the creation of your own studio by minting NFTs. If you are only into visual arts, you could do a joint venture with a VFX artist and create something that is unique to NFTs. And from there on out, create a company. The sky is the limit.
Community leader
Communities are a big part of the NFT world. You can create a community that shows interests in your creations, and sort of become an influencer in the space. You would need to provide insightful content as well as art. And of course, some sort of privilege to those that are part of your loyal following.
This ability to form a community is not unique to Web3. Social media ushered in what’s known as Web 2.0. People can form communities that are centered in people with opinions on certain topics, or people who are already famous. But with NFTs, you can combine all those social capabilities with what blockchain allows. The result? A community that you know is fully committed to your creations, because they own it.
A different type of artist
The possibilities that arise with NFT art will mean that, more than just a possibility, they’ll be a requirement. After all, if one artist is constantly pushing the boundaries of what can be done in the space, then what this artist is doing can become a standard. Because Non-Fungible Tokens can be many types of media files, you can basically produce artwork that combines music, film, and visual or plastic arts.
If you combine that with smart-contracts, we could be looking at the birth of a new type of artist. One that only exists thanks to NFT technology.
Product developer
On the more utilitarian side of things, it’s very likely that the metaverse will require artists to create all sort of products. Those products need to have visual appeal, and a code that supports their utility. So artists could have the very real possibility of venturing into endeavours that are dedicated for mass consumption.
An artist might be needed to create wardrobe for avatars, furniture, houses, and all sorts of infrastructures that might be needed in the metaverse. Anything that can be designed, but does not have a specific utility in the physical world, might have a utility in the metaverse. A sofa that has an impossible shape, clothing that leaves some sort of trail, or shoes that enables flight for your avatar. Things that are free from the constraints of the physical world.
Technological innovator
From the needs that an artist has to express his or her creativity, innovations might arise. The NFT space has been driven forward thank to the use that artists have given NFTs. Now, an artist might not be the actual innovator, but he or she might be the one that finds an actual need that later on leads to the innovation.
And, perhaps you could have innovations that are not specific to the technology. The artists might find new freedom to distribute the artwork. Traditional gatekeepers might have to rethink ways of operating and find new ways of collaborating.
And yet in this landscape, a NFT Gallery will still retain its value. It is a place where many artist can show their artwork. And the viewers are free to interact with each other in this space. This will be especially true when the metaverse, or metaverses, come to fruition. The space will still be the space, whether that is the physical world or a virtual one. An artist may have a strong community and following. But the artist will always be the artist. An Art Gallery can retain its status as the place where people come together to see different artists and have discussions. SOPRG, a NFT Art Gallery, has taken the leap and decided to join the Somnium Metaverse. You can see all sorts of artwork being exposed there.
An artist can also find the help he or she needs to sell, to be compliant with the laws that affect the space. For the art enthusiast, having a space to see artwork and interact with different people might be very valuable. The opportunity for artists and art galleries is there.
