NFTs get the thumbs-down from some artists

Singapore

WHEN non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, first exploded on to the market last year, proponents touted their potential to democratise art and give emerging artists new ways to earn money.

But these unique representations of digital artworks are increasingly drawing the ire of some artists, who say they exacerbate the commodification of art and are making only very few artists very rich.

Such misgivings come on top of the staggering and widely acknowledged environmental costs of minting NFTs.

"Right now, and increasingly so, the market is dominated by a few big players like Beeple, selling art for huge sums, while most other people aren't making that much more than they were," said Ada, a Singapore-based musician who goes by the moniker Madam Data.

In March last year, an NFT of a digital art piece by Beeple, whose real name is Michael Winkelmann, bagged US$69 million at British auction house Christie's. The winning bid went to Singapore-based Vignesh Sundaresan, better known as MetaKovan.

Participation in the crypto art market surged overnight. But this has also led to a speculation frenzy.

According to blockchain data provider Chainalysis, in 2021 at least US$44 billion in cryptocurrencies were sent across Ethereum smart contracts associated with NFT marketplaces and collections.

"By claiming that they can secure proprietary rights, NFTs draw artists back into their fold. But in reality, NFTs are still subject to the logic of market finance," said writer Lune Loh, who is also a final-year undergraduate at National University of Singapore.

"Artists drawn to NFTs are drawn to the monetary system that is subject to wild speculation and has little to do with the value of their art. NFTs perpetuate the phenomenon of using art as a tool for financial speculation."

Loh is unconvinced of the monetary prospects of NFTs.

"Ultimately, free market economics boils down to a question of power - whoever has the resources in the first place will benefit the most," said the 25-year-old.

In December last year, CoinDesk published a commentary calling out NFT art's "addiction to elitism". Much of the NFT art world parallels how the "real art world" already functions, writer David Morris said while noting that there are NFT gallery shows restricted to people who shell out at least tens of thousands of dollars.

Ada added: "We will continue to see that profiting from NFTs requires promotion, connections, a recognisable and popular style, capital, the time and resources to keep producing content, etc. These are the things that (already) keep marginalised artists out of the game."

Are NFTs art?

For some artists, the financial draw of NFTs corrupts the notion of what constitutes "art" and the work that goes into it.

Jerome Grenda, a digital artist based in France, told The Business Times he is not keen to be associated with this NFT trend.

NFTs should in theory bring more value to digital content by certifying authenticity and originality, he said, but speculators have used them for "bad art".

"A lot of speculators used the NFTs to make real bad art just because some crazy guys bought it at crazy prices... At first it seems like a good idea but people just ruin it only for money. I don't want to be associated with this way of thinking, because it's not my artistic approach," said Grenda, 37, who spells it out on his Twitter and Instagram profiles that he is "not interested in NFT projects".

Like Grenda, Singaporean visual artist Kray Chen pointed out that some digital art associated with NFTs are simply generated with code and basic elements.

"NFTs may not be art. They can be collectibles, just like any other form of luxury commodity," said Chen, 35.

"As with any market, the moment there is a speculative nature and the idea of it being used as a vessel for investment - likewise for physical artwork - there's bound to be overly inflated valuations of art."

Bani Haykal, a musician, artist and poet based in Singapore, said that while some artists rely on blockchain technology to create their works, the vast majority of artworks do not need the blockchain to "exist" except for authentication at sale.

The 36-year-old added: "I think it is disingenuous to participate in such spaces without considering the material repercussions of such tools. It continues to conjoin art making to financialisation, exploiting artists and communities in the name of provenance and visibility."

Centralisation of wealth, power

Singer-songwriter Rene Ann Wong calls the NFT world "an elite boys' club". There are still barriers to entry, she noted.

"You need to have some sort of education as to how to use cryptocurrency and how it works. You need Internet access. You need to set up a crypto wallet and learn how to cash out cryptocurrencies, which also incurs costs," said Wong, 26.

"NFTs don't improve the economics in the art world. If you want to support an artist, you can just buy the artist's work with cash; you don't have to use cryptocurrency to do it."

Although most artists who resist NFTs and the overall cryptocurrency phenomenon make their stand by refusing participation, some have been inspired by their disdain to create art.

Geraldine Juarez is one of them.

In a 2013 performance piece titled Hello Bitcoin, the Swedish-Mexican artist burnt an SD card with wallet and keys to millibitcoins and then grilled marshmallows using its fire and ashes.

Said Juarez: "It was for me a way of saying, 'I'm done with this awful stuff.' But I wasn't. While crypto being a casino for the rich is not surprising at all, I completely forgot to consider how elites and the wealthy influence culture and its production. And here we are."

READ MORE:

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• Are NFT games a fair gig or low-wage exploitation?