NFT.NYC showed how NFTs can support artists

The craziness of the crypt was on full display at NFT.NYC this week, but among the usual mutterings about PFPs, some unique applications for the technology stood out. From recording your DNA on the blockchain to saving the bees, entrepreneurs are taking the technology and using it for everyday use, which, in my opinion, is what it was always intended for.

But what NFT.NYC also reminded me of is how important NFTs are to empowering—and supporting—creatives.

One of the most interesting panels I attended was about putting books on the blockchain. Some authors use NFTs to share revenue between everyone working on a book, including illustrators, and those people can get a cut automatically through the blockchain.

Behind the scenes, a decentralized autonomous organization called PageDAO brings authors together and helps them create their work as NFTs.

At another event hosted by robot painting company Artmatr and NFT Collective, I spoke with Michaël Zancan, who goes by Zancan, a generative artist from Bordeaux, France, who is both a painter and a programmer. Although only a few years ago he was a stranger to Web3, he rose to fame after releasing his first NFTs in 2021.

His new collection, Organic Matr, is an exploration of nature and was created with Artmatr’s plotter technology that can use paint, charcoal and other materials to create physical versions of art made with code. Each of the physical versions comes with an NFT that verifies the authenticity of the physical work, Zancan said.

Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez—Fortune

A painter named Andre Hemer at the event told me that art made with similar plotters was big in the 70s, although the modern version is much more lucrative thanks to NFTs.

Blockchain technology has opened up a whole new market for these works and is part of the reason they are as popular – and expensive – as they are. I tried to find out how much one of Zancan’s pieces cost, but the price was only “available upon request.”

In other news

Pussy Riot’s Nadya Tolokonnikova now has its own community, Utopia, within the social Web3 metaverse IMVU. Utopia includes the Pussy Riot Pink Church of Feminism, a church decked out in the pink, white and dripping black punk feminist aesthetic that Tolokonnikova is known for. It also includes a stage where everyone can role-play their own punk performance, a dance floor and a meditation circle.

Courtesy of Pussy Riot, IMVU and MetaJuice

Two brand-sponsored metaverse worlds on Roblox, Gucci Town and Vans World, teamed up this week for a scavenger hunt that takes users between both worlds via portals that resemble shoeboxes to collect fabrics and patterns. Once all the items are collected, users will receive either a shoe accessory or a skateboard backpack Roblox avatars. The Gucci Town and Vans World scavenger hunt are available through May 13.

Courtesy of Vans and Roblox

The Aptos Foundation, which supports the layer-1 Aptos blockchain, launched a $20 million grant program this week to reward artists for creating new art on Aptos. Selected artists will receive funding and a direct line to Aptos’ core team for support in using the blockchain. They will also work together with a community of the other selected artists. Interested creators must fill out a form on the Aptos Foundation website for a chance to be selected.