Bored Ape and CryptoPunk NFT’s ‘Are Not Artworks’: Collecting and Creating Derrick Li on the Differences Between Digital Art and Collectibles

NFT collector and enthusiast Derrick Li first learned about the digital art form as many of us did – through the $ 69 million sale of Beeple’s. 5000 days at Christie’s in March 2021. But that’s where any similarities with those who jumped on the NFT bandwagon stop.

Instead of looking for get-rich-quick-buys, Li began reaching out to the NFT creators he admired most. He also founded Triple X, an organization focused on curating collections of NFTs by artists (and not by illustrators – more on that below) and bridging the knowledge gap between regular art collectors and artists working in the digital realm.

Earlier this week, Li announced that Triple X will release a new curated NFT collection, “On Sparks and Souls”, featuring digital artwork by artists including Jia Aili, represented by Gagosian.

We recently contacted Li to discuss the volatility of the NFT market, what distinguishes NFT art from digital collectibles and much more.

Derrick Li, founder of Triple X.

Can you tell me about yourself and how you got to the NFT room?
I’m Derrick Li, aka Tung or Triple X or X, as some artists call me. My family calls me DongDong. People say I have so many names, they hear a new one every time they meet someone who knows me. These “multiple identities” make me feel good because I do not want to be defined, and this somehow sets me free in the NFT room; which, everything is me, but depends on your perspective.

I founded Triple X at the beginning of last year and have been an NFT collector, curator and builder since shortly after Beeple’s auction at Christie’s. I started researching them and realized their potential, their user cases and the benefits for the artists and all the users.

There were several factors that drew me in. First of all, I knew I was still early to join this market, so it would be a big advantage – the earlier you are in and the harder you are willing to work, the better chance you get. Secondly, NFTs have the potential to do so many great things and contribute so much to artists. Finally, I wanted to make it easier for artists to create great new things.

In your own words, how would you describe Triple X? What would you say you see as part of its evolving role in the NFT space?
At the moment, Triple X is me, but I hope that it will be an organization that is open to supporting opportunities and ideas in digital art that innovate and inspire. My goal with Triple X is to uplift people, especially artists, and make the world a better place. Triple X represents sparks and souls, inspirations and purposes, perceptions and understandings. We want people to gather with good hearts and good intentions to create long-term values ​​in the NFT room in interesting ways.

Part of this means bringing more senior traditional collectors and the general public into the field and helping to build a basic and enlightening understanding of what’s going on in the digital domain. From there, Triple X will be able to offer high quality works for collectors and art lovers. I care a lot about the audience, the true art lovers.

Classic becomes classic for a reason, and I do not want Triple X to be seen or associated with hype. I want it to build a culture, and have a culture within as well, with like-minded people.

Your company has many dimensions in the NFT world, especially a curatorial or almost gallery-like research process that brings NFT collection into more familiar territory for art lovers. Earlier this week, you announced that you will be releasing a new collection of NFTs by artists, including Jia Ail, represented by Gagosian. Who are the NFT artists included in the collection? How did you get in touch with each of them?

This collection includes incredible digital artists like Raoul Marks, David Ariew and Ryan Hawthorne, and of course the main character in the collection is Jia Aili. I have two more digital artists working behind the scenes, but I do not want to reveal their identities yet. It’s more interesting to remain mysterious, but based on the quality of the works we’ve produced so far, people can trust me that the secrets are also some of the most artistic digital artists in the NFT room.

I also collect NFTs and love to reach out to the brains behind these amazing digital works of art. Fortunately, many of these artists responded – at the time, NFT artists were more willing to contact collectors. Today, far too many ghost accounts will send you DM (whether you are artists, collectors or builders, whatever), and most people would not even bother to check the DM request anymore.

The artist David Ariew also helped me get in touch with many other artists, including Raoul Marks, who is involved in the sale. David has always been this super helpful and nice person.

Ryan Hawthorne and Jia Aili, Occurrence (2022). Courtesy of Triple X.

Would you say that there is a common thread between ashakes you have chosen to work with?
Yes, definitely! This current collection is called “On Sparks and Souls”, and one of the main intentions is to show the artistic essence of these NFTs and raise the standard of the artistic conversation around them. I asked these NFT artists to create works that in some way correspond to Jia Aili’s paintings. They could explore ways to understand the paintings, have conversations with them and combine elements of his work with their own in refreshingly new ways, while staying close to their roots. The overarching common thread between these artists, including Aili, is the vibration they have with the essence of art, which is where true creativity comes from.

So the NFTs in the exhibition are directly inspired by 2D paintings? Why did you choose to pursue this way of building an NFT collection?

Yes. All the digital works of art are inspired and based on at least one painting by Jia Aili, which each artist in the collection chose. The final digital works of art are mixtures of Aili’s visions, philosophy of art and artistic input from him directly, together with each artist’s personal input, media, styles, interpretations and “signatures”, which are then marked as NFTs. Through this process, the meaning of the symbols in the original paintings was expanded.

Since the original paintings played a major role in this collection, I am considering planning and curating an exhibition next year that brings these paintings into conversation with the digital works of art – although there would be many steps, including loans from collectors, to make it possible. The paintings are already home, but it would have been a nice conversation between the works.

There is a lot of volatility in the NFT area right now. What do you think about this?
This is the consequence of non-stop speculation in the NFT area, which just happened to collapse during cryptocurrency. Am I worried about the market? No. Am I worried about people? Yes. We need more accurate information and education in this area.