Web3, NFTs and the future of art

Throughout history, artists have often been given a rough deal with companies and middlemen who profit from their work long after they have received and used the fees they were paid. Now, many believe that the decentralized world of web3 – and specifically NFTs – offers an alternative. By creating and releasing work as non-fungible digital tokens, they have the opportunity to take back control over how and where their work is used and set payment terms more favorable to them. So how does it all work?

To find out, I spoke with one of the most famous artists working in the NFT space today. Featured on the cover of Vogue Magazine and listed on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list, Pplpleasr, AKA Emily Yang, has been hailed as one of the leaders of the NFT art revolution.

Pplpleasr became involved in NFTs by combining her work as a visual effects artist on films such as Batman v Superman and Wonder Woman with an interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. This led her to sell one of her works – an animation created for cryptocurrency exchange Uniswap – for $525,000. The money raised from this was used to create a community group called Stand With Asians with the aim of promoting artists of Asian descent . Now, in collaboration with Skillshare, she has created an online course to teach other artists how to make their own NFTs and hopefully use them to make a living.

What are NFTs?

NFTs – non-fungible tokens – are tokens that live on a blockchain, much like cryptocurrency. However, how they differ from cryptocurrency tokens is that each one is unique. In short, this means that they can be used to provide that “uniqueness” to other assets with which they are associated. The most popular initial use for NFTs has been digital artwork, with works created by the likes of Grimes, pplpleasr and the artist known as Beeple (Mike Winklemann) becoming popular with online collectors and regularly selling for huge sums.

NFTs most commonly live on the Ethereum blockchain, although other blockchains such as Polygon and the Binance smart chain are also capable of storing them. So if you want to understand the concepts behind NFTs, it is important to remember that NFTs are not the artworks themselves, it is more accurate to say that they are tokens that act as ownership certificates for the artwork.

However, they are not only useful for recording ownership of art. There are so-called utility NFTs that function as everything from event tickets to proof of ownership of rare whiskies. Many believe that the real value of NFTs lies in the metaverse – a term used to describe the interconnected, persistent digital environments that the internet will evolve into as we all get used to spending more and more of our lives in digital worlds. Here, NFTs will be used for everything from proving ownership of virtual land and property to unique collectibles that we will use to decorate our own personal virtual space.

Why are NFTs important to artists?

During our recent webinar conversation, pplpleaser explained to me that there are three reasons why NFTs have had such an impact on the art world since they first appeared.

First, because of their ability to incorporate smart contracts—executable pieces of code that are also included in the blockchain and can perform certain tasks when conditions are met—they could potentially revolutionize how royalties are paid and how artists make a living.

She tells me, “Pre-crypto…it’s all about trust, signing legal papers, chasing payments…often it’s just impossible. And once you sell a piece of art, that’s all you’ll ever get to get.”

Functionality built into the concept of NFTs means that smart contracts can be programmed to execute every time a piece of art is sold and resold among collectors, with the original artist receiving a cut of each sale, not just the first. While that’s great for artists, the potential ramifications go even further, and could even change the way society views the relationship between artists, their work, and those of us who consume it.

Another advantage that NFTs bring to the art world, plpleaser tells me, is provenance. The immutable, encrypted nature of the blockchain means it can be used to prove not only where the artwork came from, but where it has been and who has owned it since it was first sold. This is useful because prestigious owners, such as galleries, renowned collectors or celebrities, can have their own influence on the value of a work of art or the culture built around it.

Third, allowing digital artworks to have value, through their association with an NFT, creates a new class of assets that can fit well with the lives of generations who live in the digital world as much as they do in the physical world.

“Ten years ago we took a break by spending some time on the internet,” Yang tells me, “today it’s the other way around – we take a break from the internet by going out… and most of the time we’ve on the Internet.

“If you recognize that this is the path society is on, whether you like it or not … the digitization of assets is only a matter of time … you’re going to start realizing that you have less and less desire and need for physical possessions … they’re easy to lose and take up space … with digital art it’s a different story, you can just keep it in your wallet.”

How can artists enter NFTs?

An important tip that pplpleaser has for all artists who want to get involved in NFTs is that it is important to understand the culture. As with anything related to crypto and blockchain, users can be somewhat tribal, and there is often distrust of people or organizations deemed to have an interest solely because of the potential to make money.

“You’ll find that your life will be much easier if you bring authenticity to the room,” says pplpleaser.

“A lot of companies think they want the ‘coolness’ of being associated with NFTs, or maybe they have a monetary incentive. They usually don’t sit well with the crypto community…which can smell a mile away if they’re not” crypto-native”. I think it’s a good tip to do extensive research on it before you even think about getting into the NFT space.”

Environmental impact

There has been harsh criticism of the NFT ecosystem due to the fact that the blockchain technology used to enable it is often very energy inefficient. This means that it can be harmful to the energy when non-green energy sources are used to power it. The environmental impact of the NFT industry is something that cannot be ignored or overlooked – especially if it is to scale beyond the relatively niche use cases we have for it today. Here pplpleaser tells me that the most important thing is to “DYOR” – do your own research. Not all blockchains or NFT platforms have the same impact on energy use or CO2 emissions, and it is critical to take responsibility for the impact of your own actions. She says: “There’s a lot of information out there and it’s really down to personal judgment – research how energy is used and what you’re comfortable with… there’s a lot of misinformation out there too.”

You can click here to watch my full webinar discussion with pplpleaser.