Hello dear reader!
I am so glad that you are making some time to read this! Did the title of this blog post inspire you to be a little curious? If so, I warmly welcome you to read on as curiosity is a fabulous thing for us peeps to follow. I like to think of the path of curiosity like a path of bread crumbs in the universal shape of a spiral.
I will start with this: What is Web 3.0? Web 3.0 will bring us a fairer internet by enabling the individual to be a sovereign. True sovereignty implies owning and being able to control who profits from one’s time and information. Web 3.0’s decentralized blockchain protocol will enable individuals to connect to an internet where they can own and be properly compensated for their time and data, eclipsing an exploitative and unjust web, where giant, centralized repositories are the only ones that own and profit from it.
So, the big question, what are NFTs? First to answer this, we must explore the world of cryptocurrency. Essentially, a cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. A cryptocurrency is a tradable digital asset or digital form of money, built on blockchain technology that only exists online. Cryptocurrencies use encryption to authenticate and protect transactions, hence their name. There are currently over a thousand different cryptocurrencies in the world.
Okay, so now that we have touched on Web 3.0 and crypto, what are the three interesting facts about NFTs?
Fact #1: NFTs are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. They let us tokenise things like art, collectibles, even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time and they’re secured by the Ethereum blockchain – no one can modify the record of ownership or copy/paste a new NFT into existence.
Fact #2: NFT stands for non-fungible token. Non-fungible is an economic term that you could use to describe things like your furniture, an original physical painting, or your computer. These things are not interchangeable for other items because they have unique properties.
Fungible items, on the other hand, can be exchanged because their value defines them rather than their unique properties. For example, ETH or dollars are fungible because 1 ETH / $1 USD is exchangeable for another 1 ETH / $1 USD.
Fact #3: NFTs ensure authenticity and provenance of a unique digital creation. NFTs solve a public, trackable, verifiable, history of ownership. Provenance helps create a sense of history and authenticity to the artwork and as an artist this is extremely important.
Why, is this so important to the NFT creator? This is important to creators/artists who choose to earn a living (or at least earn an partial income) through their work. Sharing art images on the internet exposes the art and IP (even small files and social media sharing) for anyone to use without giving credit and/or compensation to the artist/creator. Art is in reality, intellectual property (IP) and holds tremendous value. And this fact is very valuable and important to me as an artist who creates original mixed media paintings, unique physical and digital creations.
I am thrilled about new ways for us artists sharing our artwork with the public, the NFT spaces and Web 3.0 are a natural segue for my art on my path as a contemporary artist. And, what’s so exciting is that I have launched my original mixed paintings as rare NFTs on three different NFT platforms.
Take a look and explore!
Lórien Eck Art & Design on:
MakersPlace- a curated NFT platform.
Prism NFTs- a new platform for artists by artists
OpenSea- the largest NFT platform
In the next blog posts, I will be exploring the questions around why would an art appreciator want to invest in NFT art? And, what about the environmental impact of NFTs and Co2 offset?
Feel free to comment below and connect with me via social media or better yet, share and subscribe to this blog and my art newsletter to stay in touch and be the first to know about my art announcements, NFT drops and in real life events.
In love, gratitude and beauty…
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/01/06/what-is-web-3-0/?sh=6888855258df
What Is Web 3.0? The Fundamental Guide To The New Era Of Digital Data Ownership
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency
Research the history of art and blockchain in general, check out this journal article Art and Blockchain: A Primer, History, and Taxonomy of Blockchain Use Cases in the Arts
Disclaimer:
The views expressed here do not represent those of any past, present, or future employer of mine, or represent the views of the other people and companies I may discuss. They may not even represent my own views, I am exploring these ideas in the spirit of curiosity and sharing this with you here because I can and choose to. None of this is financial advice, legal advice, or art career advice.
An Invitation to Inspiration 