Should a ‘serious painter’ mess with NFTs? – ARTnews.com
With a world in crisis and an art market spinning out of control, the good art world consultants Chen & Lampert deliver hard truths in response to questions sent by Art in America readers from far and near.
As a serious painter, I have not been aware of the NFT art boom. People in my world keep talking about them, but I hardly understand what NFTs are and can not say that I care much, given that my work has nothing to do with media or video art. I’ve had a couple of encounters with crypto companies just to humor my gallery owner, and each time they talked in circles about a setup that made a bunch of unrecognizable artists millionaires. After checking out the work on their pages, I still have no idea – none of it looks like art to me. Now a curator I admire wants to work with me to launch a collection on yet another unknown new platform. I do not see that the audience for these digital things is interested in my work. If I log in, sell the chips, and then make all the money, that’s great – but how bad would it be for my career if my NFTs were a flop? Will it hurt the sale of my actual paintings? It took me a long time to build up blue-chip prices.
Wow, you have a high rating of your art, and like all painters you are constantly stressed over anything that can spoil your handmade photos. Let us remind you that paintings are the original NFTs. Throughout the ages, they have been hoarded as Pokémon cards by royals, clergy, industrialists and mouth-watering financiers. How is it that you can behave as if you are everywhere? As a market painter who eventually produces money laundering vehicles, you should see NFTs kissing cousins to your rough canvases.
You may not think so, but tweens, twenty-somethings and incels of all ages who paint NFTs deserve a little honor for trying to pioneer a new art form that does not resemble existing models. When they were excluded from your art world, they cleverly figured out a new way to play the game. Sure, their new-fashioned screensavers mostly suck and are devoid of aesthetic value, but at least these people are counting on life in the twenty-first century. Look at it from their point of view: your analogue work looks more like a stillborn than a still life.
It is doubtful that your NFT escapades will hurt IRL art sales. Your serious collectors are probably not in line to buy Yeezy’s latest offer or invest in neo-Nazi GIFs. If anything, the publicity you generate can bring a moment of attention and as many as forty-seven hits to your artist page on the gallery’s website. In the meantime, consider making 1,000 NFT varieties of dancing Rasta dolphins and see if you can live with yourself. But given your active contempt for the medium, it’s easy to see how quickly you are bound to fail in the brave new world.
I’m an artist who’s been making money for the last couple of years despite the pandemic. A poet collaborated with me on titles for two shows, and it has been on my mind lately that I should pay for the help. The poet has not wanted the credit for the work and has never suggested any kind of payment, but it just seems right. Since I get paid for my work, the author should also get paid. Any suggestions on how to calculate how much to give?
An artist in a studio
Writer wants to know
How much they owe
A poet who pours
The title of their show
Poems are not free
And poets are poor
Does anyone read
Chapbooks anymore?
Give them a work
That they will hang with pride
Or maybe offer a piece
They can sell next door
What the hell
You can just give them some money
To score a brick with hashish
Titles are difficult
Which is why
You need a bard
Treat them with courtesy
And they will reward
You verbally
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