T:>Works dives headlong into NFT world

T:>WORKS is set to become Singapore’s first performing arts company to launch non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The first of its NFT series will comprise creations by artist Brian Gothong Tan, who has been working in the digital space for over 20 years. Artists for the subsequent series have not yet been named – though the company, in recent times, has been cultivating relationships with well-regarded visual artists such as Shubigi Rao and Ho Rui An.

The company, formerly called TheatreWorks, is diving into the metaverse despite the controversy surrounding NFTs’ environmental costs and market volatility. T:>Works’ artistic director Ong Keng Sen says: “Digital content is so often expected to be free, especially in the post-pandemic era. It becomes dangerous for artists if people don’t want to pay for ideas and art. Hence, we want to look into the sustainability of artists and their practices in the digital realm. We want to develop a kind of process where we try and safeguard the artists and their interactions with the market.”

Ong adds: “We have to engage with the fact that NFTs exist. We have to step up to what is happening digitally. If we don’t do anything about it, we and our audience will remain ignorant of it.”