NFT.NYC 2022 Panel: “The Bridge Between Traditional Art and NFT Art” Recap
On June 23, 2022, I had the honor and pleasure to moderate the The Bridge Between the Traditional Art and NFT Art panel at NFT.NYC conference. The speakers comprised of distinguished leaders in the creative industry and art world, including David Moore, CEO of KnownOrigin, Mary Lai, Founder of Hungry Artist, and Craig Gould, Head of Content and Partnerships at Canvia. We went deep-dive and offered diverse perspectives on the disconnect and challenges in adopting Web3 in traditional art spaces and practices. During our discussion, we've deconstructed some misconceptions about NFTs (more in my previous article, More than Just an Image) and ways to close the gap between traditional art and NFTs.
As the NFTs became mainstream, the art world, especially the traditional art institutions, have been more hesitant to adopt Web3 and skeptical about NFTs. The slow adoption has been attributed to conservation challenges of rapidly changing technology and the board members of institutions unfamiliar with the new technologies. In addition, despite the blockchain's promise to alleviate some pain points in the art world, its solutions have been diluted by the headlines of scams and "bad" art flooding the marketplace.
One of the main criticism of the art world has been gatekeeping. The emergence of Web3 offered some solutions to this dilemma--the technology made art more accessible and enabled artists to connect directly with their audience. Even the artists have the opportunity to play the role of collectors to support fellow artists in the ecosystem and understand the process of collecting art.
On the flip side, utility is one of the criteria that can break and make NFT art. Digital art without a well-throughout utility or experience is just a jpeg. Web3 has shifted our mindset and narrative on the value of art and the role of an artist. The artists in Web3 have more ownership of their work and are no longer bound to the "controlled" narrative of "starving" artists from history. Thus, many thriving artists have adopted the mindset of an entrepreneur in their creative practice. Mary's upcoming collection, Hungry Artist, exemplifies the future of artists. She well summarized our panel and the current state and future vision of an artist:
“It is incredible to be an artist right now and [artists] have two lanes to connect with a new community of art appreciators and collectors with physical art and added lane of NFT Art.”
So how can we bridge these two lanes into one?
Throughout the ages (even today), many artists have struggled with the business side of their careers. When it comes down to physical art, utility is rarely mentioned or considered. Instead, the value of physical art has been measured based on aesthetics and cultural significance (see more in my previous article on the Value of Art). In some cases, "high-end" art ownership represented a status symbol. The transaction in the traditional art has been linear--the exchange of ownership occurs one at a time in a single occurrence, and there are no further obligations between the artist and the collector. In Web3, the NFTs are representations (and records) of the art, granting special access to additional "perks" beyond the work itself.
The main takeaway of the NFT NYC conference was creating the bridge between the physical and digital worlds, or the "digital twin." We're still in the early stages of Web3 development, where education and thoughtful curations are essential. Think of our earlier days of the internet, it took some time and many iterations to become the "norm" in our daily lives (we don't even think about how it works). Although art is subjective, the hype has clouded our judgments on what constitutes "good" art versus "bad" art. The best way to navigate the space is to do your own research (DYOR) and focus on building your vision, especially in the bear market.
Tune in here to watch the replay of the panel discussion.