NFT Movers And Shakers

The NFT boom has seen digital creators using the block chain to sell their art for thousands of dollars. Natalie Flaum shares her own story and speaks to a renowned NFT collector to find out more about this popular, new art scene

In the last year, the NFT crypto-art scene has been meteoric, turning a generation of crypto investors into budding art collectors and opening up a lucrative new revenue stream for creators. According to NonFungible.com, a total of $6,568,082,244.22 worth of NFT sales were carried out in the past year.

NFTs (non-fungible tokens) are digital assets such as works of art, music, in-game items and videos and are rare collectibles that are registered on the blockchain, which is

a public ledger. An NFT is a digital certificate of ownership and authenticity that shows provenance. NFTs are the new world version of a safety deposit box, revolutionising the way people own, collect and store art.

NFT’s are ‘non-fungible’ meaning unique and therefore can’t be traded or swapped for an identical asset. Unlike a fungible asset that can be easily swapped for another unit, eg 1 bitcoin (btc) for 1 bitcoin (btc) or one pound (£) for one pound (£).Fungible items are equivalent to each other, used in traditional commercial transactions. So, non-fungible goods cannot be interchanged as they are unique or a rare collectible.

Each NFT consists of a digital file, paired with a ‘smart contract’ which is an encrypted code stating what will happen after the artwork has been purchased. The combination of the digital file with a smart contract means that the authenticity of an item is guaranteed. This is likely to shape the future of all contracts and purchases.

NFT collector Dan Murray gives an insight into the creative world of NFT’s:

Tell us about your NFT collection

With the introduction of NFTs, I spent hours looking at digital art platforms such as superrare.com, rarible.com, opensea.io and institut.co, where I began educating myself on the world of digital art. Though I have always loved art, I could never envisage buying any. Then I noticed NFTs were surprisingly affordable, many of which were amazing. A lot of the art I felt lucky to just see, privileged that I had looked at them. I guess I saw the images as an item of beauty that I and many others aspired to own, so I started collecting. Many have such special meanings, maybe uniquely and solely to me. I’m privileged to have collected work by famous artists such as Krista Kim, Diogo Sampaio, Graceland London, SamJ, Waarp, Gabriella Barouch, Suryanto, Henry Hudson, Unskilled Worker and many more.

How and why should someone invest in NFTs?

I follow a rule not to buy NFTs for financial gain and instead I’ve bought pieces I love. Its impossible to forecast their future value as a financial asset. Some sites like Institut allow you to fund your account with flat currency (£/$), while most like Super Rare require you to fund it with crypto- generally Ethereum. Though more platforms are now allowing other cryptocurrencies to be used. As a financial investment, artis attractive over the long term, as it’s a store of value that generates moderate positive real return. It’s also seen as a hedge against inflation, though additionally can be seen as volatile and risky.

What’s been your most memorable NFT experience and why?

For me the most important part of the NFT world is the community. This comprises the artists who create, the collectors who buy, the galleries who display and the companies who facilitate the whole experience. The wonderful world of social media, such as Twitter, Discord and Instagram help this grow. You can be part of the community without ever creating or collecting an NFT. I loved ‘Proof of People’, a 3-day NFT festival at Fabric nightclub in London, where there were some amazing talks on all areas of digital art, web3, fashion, finance and even mental health, with the world’s biggest NFT creators including Robness, Miss A L Simpson, Vector Meldrew and Operator. Often this is a virtual experience, with most artists living in a variety of countries. Over the last 2 years, I would chat online with artists from Peru, Indonesia, Japan, Ukraine, Israel, United Arab Emirates and Portugal whose art I had collected. A real highlight for me, was having the opportunity of meeting these artists for the first time at the festival.

Abode2 Features Editor Natalie Flaum shares her own NFT story:

My personal journey into the NFT world coincided whilst emerging from lockdown. Reunited with my childhood friend Dan Murray, we began catching up on lost time. While my life had taken me on a path to magazine journalism to motherhood, his went down the rabbit hole of NFT’s and crypto, two things I knew nothing about. Having told Dan about my art degree, I ventured up to my loft to find textile design prints I’d not seen in over 25 years. He persuaded me to turn some physical art prints into NFT’s and mentored me on the process. The next month my art was available on the world’s first and largest NFT marketplace Miss A L Simpson’s Pixel Pout Diogo Sampaio’s Impossible City. Shortly after, I went to my first NFT event, curated by the infamous Kenny Schachter, titled NFTism: No Fear in Trying, organised by Institut. A glass of champagne in hand, I experienced the first ever NFT exhibition of its kind in the UK. When we left, there was a queue of 300 creatives outside. Following the 7-day auction after the event, Dan purchased his favourite NFT from the show. With the profits of my first NFT, I rewarded myself with a divorce gift - a green velvet sofa that I like to call my Natalie Flaum Token.