This was great! I stumbled onto NFT Art Twitter a while back and the manner in which people were describing themselves as “NFT Artists” was fascinating. The most interesting thing was the way in which, as you mention here, they speak as though it changes something about the art itself but it simply doesn’t; your illustration/gif/video is still the same!
Very interesting thanks, but I think you are making a CRITICAL mistake. The main problem IS value as seen by the theory of marginal utility, that's what allows all the non sense behind NFTs (and big part of the nonsense behind our society too :)
@@CatherineGraffam Very interesting thanks, but I think you are making a CRITICAL mistake. The main problem IS value as seen by the theory of marginal utility, that's what allows all the non sense behind NFTs (and big part of the nonsense behind our society too :)
Are you going to throw shade at bitcoin because right wingers like it? You do realize that the "capitalists'" hate that they can't control bitcoin, right?
One major problem I have with NFTs is the lack of verification. Recently a famous illustrator (Qinni) had NFTs made and posted. Here's the problem: Qinni died last year. Someone took her art, posted it, and is selling the NFT for a LOT of money. No, it's not her family doing it. Yet another avenue for people to sell stolen art.
Her own family spoke out against it I believe. It wouldn't have been something that she would have supported had she still been with us (RIP Qinni). Yet they couldn't take it down or do anything about it.
I agree with the problem. NFTs, in my opinion, somewhat a good idea but it comes in a wrong time. There's still no technology to ensure that the owner of the NFT is the actual artist or if they're an art thief and there's still no technology to improve the environmental problem it causes. If it comes when these problems have been solved, I would support NFT. But currently, I really cannot support it.
Some merch company also stole her art and claimed that she agreed to this because the way she turned them down was 'I'll think about it' or something along the lines. It's disgusting! Yes, the theft is outrageous when it comes to art, especially online!
If you are a historian , please take note of how the crypto generation. love their disruptive art technology. it is easy to dissmis nfts, nfts are here to stay for ever, and it is going to be a trillions of dollar market, I am an artist and I am challenge by the idea of what kind of nfts can I create, not just taking pictures of my art and making a nft, I would love to join with a coder and explore all the creative posibiities that I can use to create and nft, I want to creat and nft the grows ,that changes with location , with seansons , etc,
@@Rokvtm If you want transformative artwork, that's existed arguably as long as art has. You don't *need* the blockchain for this. The blockchain doesn't inherently give the ability to manipulate a piece of art in relation to outside factors. NFTs are woefully unnecessary. They are a certificate that in and of themselves hold no value. If NFTs were required in order to actually create transformative pieces of digital art, digital goods wouldn't have such a huge market. What you want to accomplish (art that "grows" or "changes" based on location and season) could be a lot easier to accomplish just by learning to program in Java or Kotlin and making a mobile app that can access geolocation data from someone's phone. While you may be challenged by the idea of "what NFTs can I create?" you can easily counter that challenge with "Okay, but can this be created without NFTs?" The answer is always yes. Any programmer worth their salt will tell you that NFTs aren't what give digital good their functionality.
@@TheAmazingSpiderPunk Look NFTs are more than just selling and buying a piece of art. there are innovative brains within the space trying to fight the negative stigmas by creating a play to earn crypto games, new ways of connecting with a community (around the world), and generating wealth for those underprivileged that have access to tech and so much more it's like social media on steroids depending on which projects you look into. You really just have to be aware of the scams out there and actually do your research on certain projects and their utility at the end of the day the media just liked highlighting the hype projects that have been in it for years please don't fall for headlines & have a great day
@@ThatYoungGuy4 You seem to be conflating NFTs and blockchain technology in addition to acting like I never heard of what NFTs were before this video and haven't been using cryptocurrencies since 2014. Again I ask: What can these do inherently that regular forms of digital media can't? An NFT is just the record on the blockchain of an action, a non-fungible token. No more, no less. The art itself is not the NFT. The game itself is not the NFT. The wealth generation is more or less just through market manipulation as the NFT itself holds no intrinsic value, because, again, it is not the piece of media that is bought or sold using the NFTs. To make real profit using NFTs as well, you NEED capital. While on paper it's easy to say it opens up the international market allowing underprivileged folks to earn, this doesn't really work out in practice. There are definitely different innovations in cryptocurrencies that do innovative things such as Fetch.AI which uses the work behind its coin generation to power and further research machine learning and artificial intelligence algos. But that is a cryto, not an NFT. The NFT is just a ledger. The blockchain can have some practical applications, but art is not one of them. And NFTs being just a token or ledger certainly cannot build a community. A community is built around them, sure. But I wouldn't say that Pogs built a community in the 90s, and NFTs are essentially the same as pogs only digital: objects that do not hold any intrinsic value but that people interested in the thing ascribe value to and build a trading community around. It's a microcosm of the art world's economy. No more, no less.
As someone who has worked in a museum and seen how corrupt the traditional art world can be, NFTs just feel literally the same but in a digital market. I'm tired of seeing this hivemind cult mentality people in the space of and I really am thankful for you to be someone to actually speak about a lot of things people in the space refuse to when questioned. I full heartily agree with you about how NFTs aren't changing how we make art, it's changing how they want money.
Indeed, it change nothing. If anything NTFs is the pinnacle of mechanical reproduction, in terms of Walter Benajmin. It's the perfect copy of the object of art (and the copy of the copy, very Baudrillard too in this sense). The true is that art in Capitalism is just another form of commodity, devoid of all revolutionary or sacred meaning. Cheers!
Crypto enthusiast who's researched this here, you're spot on. The world of NFTs are terrible for policing art theft (hell marketplaces like opensea let you do it for free) and while crypto could legit make the world a better place, NFTs will only ever be used by people with too much money or who have money to hide. Before people accuse me of being a capitalist scumbag, I'm socialist.
@@DaengieDraws Nothin really, just dont worship him because he likes memes, t the end of the day he is a businessman and you are a customer, he will think of you as such, so why put him on pedestal? (speaking about his "cult" at this point)
@@DaengieDraws There's a lot. He's anti union. Back when covid was still much worse, he kept trying to get everything reopened just to make money. Plus he said a lot of stupid stuff about covid (not confirmed but I assume this was also to downplay the problem for monetary reasons). He parades around the fact that he's a founder of Telsa, when he just paid extra money to be retroactively considered such. He also likes to pretend that he built his fortune from the ground up, even though he had money from his rich dad. NASA at one point said that the stuff he was sending into space was actively screwing up satellites and weren't properly sanitized. Plus entirely subjectively, he's just a dick.
You do realize that the "capitalists'" hate that they can't control bitcoin, right? It's why Elon suddenly turned on it. He's been in bed with the government/market since the beginning. No bitcoin, no alternative to what capitalist want. Elon is not a "Free market" guy, as he has *deep* ties to DARPA, and Bitcoin is not favored by capitalists.
When the discussions of NFTs for art started circulating, I really saw it as some kind of money laundering, and I'm glad to know that wasn't an entirely baseless assumption! NFTs are the MLMs of the art world 😩
You're REALLY uninformed, haha. You simply are scared of them because you don't understand them. That's the exact same thing people said about the literal internet - yes, the one you're using - back in the 90s, lol. If I asked you how NFTs are the "MLMs" of the art world, I bet you couldn't even explain it, lol. And if you tried it would probably be majority things that you've either made up or read someone else say. NFTs have allowed me to quit one of my two jobs, and I am on track to quit my other if I keep my consistency up. I've made entire month's rent in 2 weeks of sales, while I did something else with my time, like producing my art. An artist can be working entirely with and for themselves, with no middle-men - it literally does not make any sense how it would be an "MLM" - an artist doesn't need anyone else for the first time. It's literally the exact opposite of what you think it is, and that's the funniest part.
@@syzygy4365 If you build it they will come. If seasonal gifts don’t sell, don’t blame an imaginary enemy, find better products to make that people want or use. Others are able to sell theirs and you can too. Re-evaluate your product honestly and look for other means to sell it by. Art doesn’t sell itself anymore than seasonal gifts, get out and promote yourself in every possible way including those you haven’t thought of yet.
the way minting NFTs eats up computer parts, making it harder for everyo e across the spectrum to build computers, is reason enough to reject it. otherwise what, are only millionaires able to afford even basic computers next??
@@AmandaVieiraMamaesouCult I really hope so because I'm realizing my computer needs some of the parts updated in order to fully get the most of the art programs I'm learning without it causing it to crash
Rarible just launched a "Lazy Minting" feature less than 2 weeks ago - the Buyers pay the gas fees and the pieces are not minted until they are purchased- which saves resources at least on minting thousands of pieces which will likely never sell. I mean - it makes it greener, at least and easier for artists without funds for gas fees can show and possibly sell their work.
I follow so many people that support NFTs I thought I was going *INSANE*. Thank you for this, I've been feeling like old man yells at clouds for the past few months and I was needing someone that felt the same way about NFTs as me
@@aristideregnier4883 they didnt say that u just assumed that. btw how are ur crypto investments going. u surely must be one rich bird that didnt get their money scammed from them, right?
A lot of ppl buy art, not for art, but as a tax writeoff They don't want the art, they want the reciept showing they paid 2k for it so they can write it off. Those are the ppl NFT's attract.
Funny how techno-optimists in the late 90s though the internet would be the first step in creating a post scarcity society, where everyone has equal access to an endless amount of knowledge. Well, look where we are now :/
Yes!! I've been watching Gary Vaynerchuck talk about NFTs, and he keeps saying how it democratizes opportunities for artists and then in the next breath how anyone who gets on board early will reap huge rewards. It can't be both, folks!! There are built-in mechanisms we've seen before, which sooner than you'd wish create giant wealth gaps.
Anyone with half brain should've seen after a few years that the internet is the most vicious centralizing tool ever. But people are so braindead they can't make the distinction between how the technology functions (decentralized) and how it works in society/economy.
I’m so grateful this popped up for me. My husband kept saying “you’re an artist, sell an NFT” and I’m like I don’t GET IT! I make a quilt I sell it, they have it. I make a figurine or other item it exists....even a print or pdf is an item. What exactly am I selling here but kudos?! Lmao anyway glad to get the breakdown.
A line on a ledger. Crypto currencies are a system of accounts. You buy a bond and the thing of value us not the peice of paper, it is the record of ownership. Art is just a super early use case for NFTs and kind of dumb like using architecture only for monuments
I remember when the Annoying Orange started making a remastered version of the first episode as an NFT, I remember they linked a page talking about how NFTs are not problematic for the environment. Everyone knew it’s all bull so a lot of people copied and pasted the remastered episode on TH-cam to get back at them. After lots of copyright claims of those posts, the Annoying Orange gave up and just uploaded the remastered episode on TH-cam for free. XD
Is Peter Coffin in that episode lmao? Or did they join the show later? I hate them like you wouldn't believe. They're one of the worst, most self-aggrandizing, smug and divisive people in the online leftist community, (a community they consider themself almost too good for) and if their voice acting was in an NFT that would be fantastic irony.
If you think NFTs are bad for the environment i'm going to assume you have no bank account and any USD? How do you live then? (Conventional finance takes magnitudes more energy than any crypto.)
I'm an art teacher at a university in Thailand. While I realize it's very subjective, you should also have mentioned that a lot of cryptoArt is just truly awful. All these Adobe After Effects animated doodles of bad anime or Robert Crumb knock-offs and the endless gifs are not art. That the scam that is CryptoPunks sold at Christie's for $17 million illustrates everything that you're saying.
Hey, I don't know if you'll be able to read this (in that case I might contact you on another platform) but I was wondering the if I could provide you with some sort of scrip or Spanish subtitle for the video mainly cause I believe you've explained the subject magnificently and I belive more Spanish-speaking artists could gain access to this information, specially those who want to comprehend this matter more fully. But in any case: thanks for bringing light into this matter, I have no idea that the negative impact that NFTs have other extended beyond the environmental issues
Pero eso no es cierto que lo explico bien😂Un NFT es us un archivo de una transacción cuyas descripción existe en un libro mayor seguro y accesible a todo el mundo. Los NFTs no son arte son contabilidad. El pedo es que usar NFTs para arte es medio pendejada. Es como usar el conocimiento de la durabilidad de materias para construir monumentos falicos. El arte puede ser algo bien maravilloso pero no es la única que existe la ingeniería y arquitectura
Museums existed before the internet cool now try and take your digital picture and connect it to an AI personality platform whose economy uses NFTs to prove ownenrship and crypto as its medium of exchange. If having a digital picture that can learn to talk back to you is not your thing then that is you and you don't have to buy 🥰
NFT pretty much expose how the art world became inaccessible to the people. The High Class Art World, the Gallery art was no different from NFTs, but people didn't seem to care then, and this is just a worrying trend that seems to have gained traction without criticism.
I don't get this whole "inaccessible to the people" thing - could you elaborate? Maybe it's a region thing, but where I live I can easily commission an artist to do art for me. I had a craftsman build a table for me, was a couple of 100€, had some paintings/images made (my avatar for example) - all less than 100€. Or does that not count as art because it was not made by a "big", known artist? I don't consider myself to be knowledgeable in the art world, so maybe I am just missing a point.
@@stylesuxx Let me explain. While I believe that artist deserve to be paid for their work. But I'm on disability in America. I get 94 u.s. dollars for an entire month to afford what I need. I don't even have the money to afford 100 dollar art commissions let alone 60 dollars. That's what I mean. Sure artist can set their own prices but art is only accessible for the rich.
@@WulfLovelace Hmm, OK - I see, I guess that's then a matter of definition of "rich". I would not consider myself rich, maybe lower middle class. But yeah, from your point of view I am probably in a better position. I am wondering, what kind of solution are you envisioning to make art more accessible to people in general. I mean, you can "consume" art without having to pay or own it. I for one like Graffiti and street art a lot and it's a totally free for of art, you don't even have to pay for a museum ticket. I don't quite understand - how is it possible to live from $94 per month? Is this your expandable money, or do you have to pay for rent and food from that? I understand this is a very personal question so feel free not to answer, but it seems more like a broken system and less of an inaccessibility to art problem.
@@stylesuxx Well the Broken System still makes Art Inaccessible and people who make Art Commissions in this broken system are still supporting/contributing to the inaccessible of art. I'll further expand on this, what I mean is this mentality - it's at least an American Mentality I have seen around where if people complain about the price of the commissions you're often met with, "You Don't Need Art" and "If you're poor you shouldn't be worried about affording art". You have to realize that the System itself is Intersectional and there is a huge Classism within the art community itself. In America at least, we're not allowed to paint our apartments if we're renting, we're not allowed to put holes in the walls for portraits and art frames, and a lot of low income people cannot even afford art to put on their walls. We pretty much live in barren houses with white walls for an entire year until we move onto the next. Moving outside of Independent Artist, to big box stores, most mass on print paintings are still 30 dollars each. The 94 dollars is what I am left after every bill is paid on Disability, I do not get any more income than that. I get the state max which is just shy of 794 and rent here is much higher than the state max. Edit - And as far as I know here in America at least we do have to pay for admission for most museums unless they are host some kind of free day, which is once a year. Edit 2- and that is if you even live near a museum, Remember American Infrastructure is built for driving, and not everyone drives and some cities barely have accessible transportation. The inaccessibility goes beyond just monetary.
literally nothing you're saying makes sense. NFTs has decentralized everything to where a common pizza delivery driver, can sell their art for thousands. Your brain has completely inverted reality.
o mighty algorithm, please accept this offer you also articulated what bothered me about NFTs that i couldn't find the words for before. it felt callous for me to say i didn't care about the environmental impacts as much as the other bad vibes i was getting from the system overall, because even if they "fixed" that one aspect of it, i would still find the practice repulsive. it's so very much just leaning into the toxic parts of the art world without bringing anything valuable to the table.
It's so annoying trying to explain my concerns of art theft a'la NFT to these tech bros on Twitter because their solution to someone using my work without my permission is to mint my own oil-powered pog to prove I'm the real artist. I'm not interested in crypto and refuse to be forced into their grift to protect my IPs. Also, as far as I understand it, once it's on the blockchain it's there forever... unless a server goes down, in which case there have been cases of people's NFTs just blipping out of existence. Regardless, the implications of something being unable to be removed is pretty bad. I can see revenge porn being a huge problem on a platform with such bad regulation.... Anyways, I'm a big fan of this crash they're having, hope it continues.
The blockchain stores the transaction record, not the art. How do you currently protect your art? This could be a new way to do that with code enforcing that protection. Not a replacement, but an option that can work in parallel to or in alternative to. There is still a lot of work to be done, but a verified smart contract that issues the NFT and verifies minter has license to reproduce the asset is totally a thing. Can't say enough that NFTs are not art. NFTs are an accounting entry on a secure ledger that the whole world can see.
@@oldmanmillennial1980 It’s been a year, there’s really nothing you or anyone else can tell me that will change my opinion on NFTs. I already know that the art (in most cases) isn’t stored on the blockchain, not that I’d care either way, I’m still not interested. I don’t need a new way to protect my art, it’s already protected by copyright the second I make it and I don’t have to pay a dime in minting or gas fees. That’s why I can go to platforms like OpenSea and send them a takedown notice if someone steals my art. So far I have not seen much utility or worthwhile innovation in NFTs or smart contracts that weren’t already possible or better on web2 in my opinion, so lots will have to change before I ever consider poking my nose into that market, like almost every part about it. I’m not interested in sullying my reputation by getting into the current market awash in Ponzi schemes and rug pulls just to make $100 or less at the end of the day and then lose it all on gas fees. If I wanted to gamble, I’d go to Vegas.
You might be young and now kno this, but it can't be "annoying" trying to explain something to others. If you purposely decide to spend your time trying to convince anyone of anything, that's entirely on you.
This is such a clear-eyed and well-done explanation of NFT’s!! Wow!! Thank you for putting into words all of the reasons why, in my gut, I’ve felt that NFTs are so icky and awful (even though I couldn’t explain it). I can’t wait to hear more of your thoughts in future videos!! I majored in art history and it was my goal to work in museums forever, but after working in a major NYC museum’s fundraising department, and seeing the dirty awful business of the art world, I left it altogether. I couldn’t find a way to participate in the system that didn’t make me feel like I was contributing in some way. But I am so grateful for people like you who are creating both beautiful art, and an alternate vision for the future of the art world. Thank you for all you do!
Did you know that you can actually donate art from the fine art market for a tax write off? How convenient (for the rich). I still believe that the best way for an Artist to make money is in commissions. Great video, though I would've loved to see some of your sources in the description or in a pinned comment.
Not only that, the value of the artwork that they write off their taxes does not necessarily need to be appraised by the museum but by an appraiser the donator hires. So the value is very likely inflated.
Thank you for this I was tearing my hair out trying to figure out why I've been working so hard to become an artist and nft's just come out of nowhere and make millions. It looked fishy from the start and it felt like money laundering. I'm going to continue my journey to becoming a great 3D artist and 2d artist.
Hello! I just wanted to thank you. I've been trying to educate myself on NFTs for the last month but my mind just couldn't wrap around the idea. I watched many videos on the topic and yours is definitely IT. so smart, easy to understand and on point. Also I wanted to say that you seem to be a lovely person with the most pleasant aura. Your whole vibe is just so good, listnening to you is an amazing experience. Im so happy I've come across your chanel.
I appreciate your point of view, and kudos for stating your case in this forum. I'd like to add to the discussion by offering a position on the banana and duct tape piece in question, Marizio Cattelan’s "Comedian" (aka the banana duct taped to the wall at Art Basel Miami). By writing this, it's not my intent to refute anything you've said, but to add some context and an alternative point-of-view. The title "Comedian" could refer to the artist as well as the piece itself. And the title, I believe, does a fantastic job of letting the audience know how to approach it. I believe that whatever absurd price that was put on the piece was intentional. Imagine that you are watching a comedian, who gives a set-up (the title "Comedian"), then a punch line (the price)...and then the hope is that the audience response will allow what comedians refer to as the second punch....getting more laughs. The 'second punch' of the Cattelan piece was that SOMEBODY BOUGHT IT. And the buyer, in on the joke, gets the satisfaction of keeping the joke going. I see it as a conceptual piece that utterly worked. Like it, hate it, shake your head at it. None of this means that the thing was worth 150K to me. But the joke was worth it to somebody, and the artist can live off of the stunt for a while, and thumb his nose at the same time.
The Comedian was a mock of modern art, a satire And it became the thing it mocked Irony, which ironically adds to the value xD High modern art is a mess
An argument I hear a lot from well-meaning people is that they like buying NFT as a way to support artists, but I still don't understand why that has to involve the blockchain? How about people just .. buy paintings/originals/posters/ceramics, etc. or support someone's Patreon, OR EVEN JUST SEND SOME MONEY if you feel like you want to support someone?? Like even without the environmental implications; I don't understand what the blockchain part actually adds for an actual artist or someone who wants to support the arts. The other thing I found interesting is the person who actually bought the Beeple thing. It's someone called "Crypto whale". Mmmm wonder if they have any interest in "buying" some cool PR to get a bunch of people money h*rny so they will also get interested and rake up those ETH prices.
I read that some of the contracts behind a token can still pay royalties to the "minter". As if, every time a transaction regarding that token is made, a fraction of it, predefined by the contract, will be given to the minter. This means that if somewhere along the line the piece spikes in value, for whatever reason, the author will still benefit directly.
@@matilozano96 Which is AMAZING, but I can't really see why thats not possible with say; a contract? What if galleries etc. also started putting this rule in place? It woulod be amazing! Do we need the blockchain for it to work? Also I wonder what happens if the piece is sold UNDER the price it originally was?
As an artist in india following so many artists on twitter and instagram who live v far away I cannot buy their prints and posters and merch. So yeah I'd like the opportunity to digitally buy them. It's a global market. I'm not defending NFTs, but defending being able to buy and support my fav artists and owning some stake in their work.
This was the most informed video on the negatives of NFTs, especially going beyond just the environmental aspects and discussing how this potentially is creating a virtual version of a failed existing traditional art marketplace.
Kind of reminds me when Jay Leno would do these segments with absurd purchased items bought on eBay for a ridiculous amounts of money like a left over Brussels sprout, or an empty PlayStation box. Definitely an interesting topic though. The TH-cam content creator Tenhun was planning on creating a NFT original piece of art before starting doing some research on the environmental effects and sketchy aspects of this type of art. He decided not to create one.
ahh when you connected the dots of the anti-money laundering act and NFTs I was literally going :ooo it makes so much sense when it's laid out like that!!! I hope this video really catches so as many people as possible can see it, it's a really important conversation!!
The thing that gets me about the banana is that it's just gonna rot in a few days. That's an art piece with a seriously short shelf life. Also, the artist didn't personally tape it to your wall, so...
I loved this video!!! I've been wary of nfts since they popped up and this still taught me a lot about them! one of my major concerns was when originally they first blew up was when people on Twitter would comment a string of code under a person's comment, usually with the tag of a Twitter bot as well, that would convert the image into an nft. a whole bunch of artists, popular or not, got art directly stolen from them and turned into profit and it was super scary! I remember I got a blocklist of like. 500 people out of fear of my art being stolen
This was brilliant, informative, and often funny. I came across it because I've been seriously considering getting into NFTs as a way to pay my bills while doing less client work. You've done a lot to pull me back from the idea. I already knew about the environmental impact and money laundering, but not being a big name artist with existing wealth and fame the most likely outcome of me getting involved is that I just make someone else even richer... and the world doesn't need that. Also the more I've been looking into what sort of stuff really sells big in NFT land the more disappointed I am in humanity.
Hi, just wanted to say that whenever I'm explaining NFT's to someone and I don't have the energy to write, I share your video because it's so well-made! It has everything I and people that I'm introducing NFT's to need. Have a nice day!!
So glad you ended it how you did. Couldn't agree more. The environmental concerns of NFTs are often hand waived away by saying 'we're switching to greener minting' etc etc. The more fundamental issue of the increasing financialisation of art (and sadly, everything) is a much better angle to take.
@@owowowdhxbxgakwlcybwxsimcwx Yall bring up mining like it's the infinity stone. WE DONT GIVE A FUCK. When I hear claims tell me 1 Ethereum transaction is equivalent to the electricity used by the average size house in the US for two days, you think I'm gonna believe that? All your arguments here are fucking straw. Let me hear a bit about hashrate, sharding, different consensus mechanisms, etc. Maybe then I'll actually take you seriously. You're so biased here that it's hard for me to even consider your technical claims because I know you've never looked into this shit at all.
I've been loving this series so much Catherine - really looking fw to what's coming up next. As an artist, it's great to see an actual artist talking about these issues instead of someone from the outside.
i wish the system that supports this concept wasnt so obviously and clearly broken... in my heart i will continue to dream of a more efficient and less problematic way for artists to be paid with visibility
Your voice is amazing and I really enjoyed your analysis. Well-thought out, easy to comprehend/understand, blunt but not unnecessarily snarky. Glad I found your channel. Seriously love listening to your voice.
The blockchain does not contain any images, it only contains the code for the token. It seems that the token is what is bought and sold, the rights (copywrite/IP etc) stay with the artist. The buyer of the token owns the token, but not the rights to the artwork. I would be keen to hear more info on this.
Even with physical art, there is a certain logic to the way monetary value can differ from personal value. A print of a painting and the actual original painting should add the same amount of enrichment to your life hanging your wall, but the fact that the original is one of can add something to it. NFTs are a way to add artificial scarcity to a medium of art that is otherwise infinitely reproducible. And all it costs is using the environment as fuel.
Wow thank you for this video. I love your explanation and your point of views. On a personal side I used to really enjoy painting but I got discouraged with what my idea of an artist was. I thought the main way to actually make a living was only for the very few really famous artists selling their works for crazy amounts at auctions and I thought a lot of that art was so horrible and the people where so pretentious. After watching a different TH-cam video that talked about the art world as a big money laundering scheme for rich people to avoid taxs and such as you talked about in this video, it really opened my eyes. That stuff is not really what I consider art. Same with NFTs being an unregulated market ideal for criminals with lots of money. Seeing this video has given me new hope that people see this is a scam and maybe the future of art will be a more personal thing were you buy from someone you know in your community because you like and cherish the work. That's honestly been the way it has been ever since people started putting their stuff on the internet. Idk I am rambling but your video is awesome! Thank you!
I greatly appreciate this content. As an artist that has worked for art galleries before, what you're saying about the art world is totally true. Collectors often buy work that sits in a warehouse because it was purchased for investment or tax evasion. I still have major hang ups about showing through a gallery because of the way I've seen gallery owners treat artists and in exploring the NFT market I am appalled at the horrible "art' that's being sold at such high prices.
Thanks for this, Cat! I've a gallery owner friend who's been trying to sell me on NFT's, and initially I was sold...even started writing up a kind of business model to raise money for a film production partially with sales of NFT's. I've been through streaky periods of researching, and of course the Kool Aid was sounding too sweet to be real so listening to your presentation helped a lot. Although I'm still hanging on a bit; but then I'm an artist creating works and not interested in this business of the buying and trading of NFT's which is what truly smacked sour. Just subscribed to your channel here...tnx again! (maybe later I'll throw up some questions here but for the time being they're prob too naive ... need to learn about this minting process and why it's not possible to create our own proprietary storefront for the sales / "auctioning" of NFT's)
Really excellent video, and well explained. I've been trying to get my head around NFT's for ages, and you've confirmed my original skepticism. Thank you.
Excellent insight and video! The way you tied everything together was brilliant and enlightening. I am sitting on my hands so I don't write a completely unnecessary essay right now but I especially enjoyed this breakdown: "Manufacturing scarcity on the internet for the means of making rich people even richer + using the art world as a playground for investors is just... gross" Thank you for summing up these feelings so well. Truly love your art and this series
Great video! Another note about buying NFT, is that a buyer does not buy the "art" it self, but rather the "smart contract" (the token) which contains the link to where this art is located. The art is not stored on the blockchain, but on a google drive or anywhere else. So in other words, a buyer will only be the owner of a token with data but not the art itself. Personally, I think NFTs are being used wrong as the technology is not quite ready yet. I see potentials for this type of technology being used for something else than art. For example, domains. A domain name and settings can be stored on a blockchain. It can point to websites, IP addresses and even crypto wallets. The domain needs to be minted for this to work though, and with the current price of gas fees it can be expensive. But at least it's only a one-time payment and you will have the domain for life-time.
I can't tell you how disheartening this whole NFT rise has been to me, seen artists and author whose I've admired and even bought work from them jumping on this trend just because it's seems a quick buck that doesn't hurt anybody makes me puke, heck, even Naomi Osaka who's been vocal about many other ways capitalism harms people jumped on this and tried to launder it saying it will be donated to an art school. But from the ashes heroes like you rise up.
Unfortunately now a few jpegs are going to ruin the entire planet, how dismaying!!! How could we have made such a blunder to try and allow digital artists the same access to selling their works than physical artists.
NFTs are not disheartening, they have their flaws just like the regular art market which is sinister as hell and has gatekept the art world for a century. It's a new trend and hot shit, and the environmental impact is already being dealt with with new updates to ethereum coming in and platforms like hicetnunc, cryptos like Polygon and Tezos that do not waste energy. Taking half baked information and then getting emotional about it isn't very advisable.
The banana duct taped to the wall is pretty much Marcel Duchamp signing a urinal. There's nothing new or particularly shocking about that. I mean, it sucks that fine art eventually devolved into that kind of bullshit, but I don't see the banana as the step that leads us towards NFTs. And I can't even say that rich people buying art is necessarily the reason why art has devolved into bullshit: most artists had to rely on rich patrons to survive. Like Singer Sargent wasn't painting all these socialites for fun. For me, the biggest problem with modern art is the devaluation of skill: it takes no skill to sign a urinal, it takes no skill to tape a banana.
When the news of nfts came out I was confused. And something in me said that a person making millions off one poorly drawn image is too good to be true. There's always good and bad. Everyone's talking about the good with nfts because it's the next get rich quick. The way it's being promoted is just giving me pyramid scheme vibes.
It’s probably the intent, to sell the benefits of NFTs while downplaying the negatives to get more people in. It’s pure marketing. The value of NFTs grow when more people participate, and increased traffic can give NFT platforms justification to increase their fees. It’s not so dissimilar to MLMs and pyramid schemes in behavior. I don’t know if you’ve observed it yourself, but social media has become littered with NFT and crypto accounts. Some of them operated by actual people who come off as extremely pushy, their socialization revolves around selling NFTs. Their pitch is often the same, regurgitated talking points that glamorize the benefits one can reap from NFTs. When declined or criticized they often become belligerent and belittling. Mocking the class/income or the intelligence of the person they interact with. The Venn diagram of an NFT supporter and a hunbot (MLM member) is a circle. The end goal, and more profitable result, isn’t to sell goods/services, it’s recruitment.
Catherine, thank you so much for coving this topic so well. It’s hard to get my head around an art investment that lacks tangible value. I had never even heard of NFTs until last week and no one could really answer my questions as to what it was and why it came into being. Keep up the great work! I will be watching!
NFT's, while infamous for being 2D graphics, actually take on many other forms which are widely demanded. In-game skins for avatars and items are a great example of NFT's that are both seen as valuable by entire communities and are constantly being bought, sold, and used. Similar assets have already been seen as downloadable content and modifications for games like Second Life, VR Chat, The Sims, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, and basically any other game that either has its own marketplace or the ability to modify. There will soon be many more freelance opportunities for digital artists with the popularization of NFT's (art, music, in-game items and clothing, collectables, clips, animations, poses, models, domain names, etc.), which is exciting to me at least. This has already existed for some time and the currently well-known NFT's (like the cartoon monkey guy that goes for $1000's) are here to establish the NFT market as a freelance digital artists' opportunity to make a real income; but looking at the 2D graphics alone can make it very easy to underestimate how already popular NFT's have been for the past 10 years. It doesn't lack value by being digital and copy-able unless someone believes it does, but a community of people wanting access to a licensed asset makes a copy-able item highly valuable. NFT's have in increasing personal and cultural enrichment; expensive 2D art with a certificate of authenticity sounds like a weird scam for targeting art lovers with money.
There are several galleries inside the MOMA which can only be referred to as "tax write-off rooms". They're not there for the public benefit, but for... other reasons.
Value is subjective And it’s always been an investment since the dawn of time. The NFT space just like Cryptocurrency will have its Major Correction and then readjust just like physical art sales.
I appreciate the supporting information you have included in your argument. I was aware of a few of the issues you brought up, but now I have a heavier understanding why NFTs are being shilled so intensely to our minds and daily lives. Thank you for your efforts. 💕
As soon as NFTs became news, a bunch of friends and family messaged me "You need to get in on this!". My gut instinct was Nope. Now I can show people this video to explain why this bugged me from the start. Very well done! Thank you!
Great video! Your explanation at the very beginning is the clearest one I’ve heard. Unfortunately I had to stop watching because I was getting so angry my pressure spiked. I can’t believe this, but at the same time I can believe it.
i was so weirded out by nfts, i only have not even 4000 followers on my art instagram, and still i had 3 seperate people in my dms asking to make my art into nfts or whatever. it sounded sus as fuck and im glad i was right xD
@@ccs4959 You are correct in that this video did contain several opinions. However, those opinions were supported by factual evidence. To summarize: 1. With NFTs and in the traditional high art world, buyers tend to treat art more as an investment to make money off of rather than a purchase which holds any intrinsic value to them. NFTs make that even more obvious, since owning the actual token part of the NFT does nothing to alter the experience of viewing the art as owning a physical art piece would, and therefore can only ever have monetary value, not societal or enrichment value. 2. Money laundering in the art world is rampant, and NFTs make that process significantly easier while still being almost entirely unregulated. 3. NFTs for the most part do not help support any artists that are not already well established, and in fact smaller artists are more likely to actually lose money trying to sell NFTs. Meanwhile, other, more efficient ways of making money off of art already exist for those artists who actually need the support. They aren't perfect, but they are still more effective than selling NFTs. 4. NFTs are damaging to the environment do to their massive energy consumption. All of that was in the video. If that isn't enough evidence for you, I don't know what is. Unless, of course, you would like to present some of your own, in which case, fire away.
"I don't understand something so it's bad" The sad part is you could be making what you deserve off your art. Or I guess one could argue because of your mental folly about them, not making money is what you deserve 🤷
@@aristideregnier4883 I assume you are referring to the original comment, and it seems you have misunderstood it. The only implied lack of understanding was in the past, and even then, it does not seem to have been complete obliviousness, but was instead colored by a reasonable skepticism of what appeared to be a scam. Now, however, op has obtained a greater understanding of what nfts are thanks to the video, and has come to the conclusion that their initial reaction was correct, as evidenced by the phrase "im glad i was right". The only one who does not seem to understand nfts is you, since you refuse to acknowledge them for the complete and utter filth they are. However, I would hazard a guess that your error comes not from genuine stupidity, but from the fact that you most likely own nfts yourself, and therefore stand to profit from people believing they hold value, regardless of whether any actual value exists for them beyond what people are willing to pay.
Good insight. I tell others nfts are pretty limited. It cost as much to create as to make a piece of art, and no guarantee anyone will buy it if you don't have a massive online presence and following. I'm not messing with it. Not unless something changes in my career
Hey Cat! Loved the video! I manage a couple of independent music artists in my nearest major city. I enjoyed the fact that you gave actual facts about what an NFT is and amongst the majority of TH-cam creators praising NFTs for being the “next big thing”; I give kudos to you for giving your viewers an example on how NFTs could be very risky. My question to you, if you have any knowledge about the matter; do you believe your heeded warning applies to musical artists as well? If so/not, why do you believe so?
This is the perfect thing to throw at anyone who's interested in NFTs, especially since the standard bad for the environment talking points are a little too difficult for some folks to grasp or care about.
Excellently succinct breakdown of how this new market is harmful on multiple levels. I appreciate that the core of your statement isn't just about it's environmental impact (which obviously is a massive problem), I feel like it devalues art and creates whole new problems with how people perceive art as being merely an object of investment rather than something that they would want to own because it truly brings them joy. On which note I will say: your art always brings me joy 💕
Thank you so much for taking the time to make these awesome informative videos about the art world! They’re so helpful, insightful, and I always look forward to seeing more discussions like this! (Also I’ve followed you for a while on twitter because I LOVE your work, but I didn’t realize you made videos until recently, I feel so bad! Please keep up the amazing work!!)
Amazing video, thank you. And thanks for your brutal takedown of the winklevoss - as a museum studies student, specifically studying digital access to museum resources, his statements were outrageous!
i love your videos so much-- i also love your art! i saw your work at Clark University when I was student there and it really inspired me, thanks for sharing this amazing content
Not done with the video, but I want to thank you so much for this easy-to-grasp explanation of something I could never understand. So very well done ❤️
Good video but I have a few points about NFT and Art. Im an artist who does not own NFT but has a BF that owns a few. I am also a professional software engineer so I hear about the craze a lot. I usually play devils advocate for the people who love NFT but im doing the opposite now. 1. NFT isnt about art. NFTs of minecraft chunks are being sold so people can play on them and upload the world. Some NFTs are 3d models that are for the 3d printing audience. Some are playable characters. Some showcase a different blockchain mechanic. Art is not the center of the NFT universe. 2. Crypto is just money, its not the cause for environmental disasters. Id rather have a rich person buy 1000 NFTs than 1000 pieces of real-estate on my city which consequently will increase the house prices and have worse impacts. If rich people want a place to play, give it to them because im 100% sure their money will not be sitting in the bank without the NFT craze. It will be used to make rockets, drill mountains, build homes out of concrete or expand their companies which brings more carbon footprint than any crypto ever can. 3. We should be thankful crypto is energy dependent and is not like investing in a mining firm, logging corp, or a cow farm where even using green energy, will harm the environment. The existing energy infrastructure is what needs to be fixed, erasing crypto will not fix the environment. It will not even put a dent because iceland is just composed of 300k people. You can erase iceland and argentina and its just a drop in the sea. 4. Crypto cannot be used to launder money. Peer to peer exchange is untraceable but you cant cash that BTC to a Dollar without showing your valid ID. Converting crypto to cash is as hard as cleaning money. Also more laws are being implemented to make it harder to attempt to launder, like in india they banned crypto in any financial institution. So the longer their money sits in the cryptospace, the more its likely it will stay that way. Laundering through crypto is not smart. 5. NFT is more about gambling than art. Most NFTs have "features". Rarer features are of higher value. Much like pokemon cards. So until its minted you dont know the rarity of your card and you can take a gamble. NFT is exactly the same as the pokemon card unboxing but no one is talking about highly expensive pokemond cards as compared to NFTs. 6. Even if NFT is artful, its audience arent. NFT and crypto are consumed by those who are tech savvy, not by the artistically enthusiastic. And I think theyre allowed to consume that. Like how old ugly art works, old frescos, or broken statues that have historial value are catered for historians and not artists. 7. The argument that it consumes as much electricity as a country is a weird statistic because we never look at how much megawattts electric cars consume. People can drive teslas guilt free but cant buy NFTs without people shaming them for their footprint. In reality the cobalt and rare earth elements used in microchips and batteries on electricc cars are not only more environmentally devastating, there is also a lot of child labor going into that as seen in multiple documentaries, but there is no guilt in using them.
thank you so much for this. I'm an artist who is trying to get their foot in the door and finally make some money and someone suggested I make NFTs. I only learned what an NFT was just a month ago but already felt uneasy with them. this helped me understand what is going on and why I should avoid that at all costs lol. I only ever hear about NFTs and crypto from techbros and billionaires so its good to hear a perspective that I actually respect lol
Great points here, and you make a lot of sense. I would point out that in investigating the market, artists do indeed tailor their art to the marketplace, and thus new styles of sorts have evolved. For instance, most NFT art I see is now produced in a square format -- ideal for online viewing in various platforms -- which is quite odd for visual art outside of that venue. You will see a lot of flat color backgrounds, and for lack of a better word, "bling". A lot of it is slipshod 3D art, but 3D art nonetheless. People feel compelled to ad some minimal animation, like a turntable style rotation. People will make series with variations on a theme. Like it or not, NFT art doesn't look like digital art looked a couple years ago, IMHO. However, many digital artists who couldn't make enough money to support their coffee habit, even if they were resorting to flavor crystals only consumed at home, are now able to make a living, or at least sip their brew in coffee shop of choice. There has been quite a lot of antipathy towards digital art and digital artists in the past. And while I think I'm in almost complete agreement with everything you said, there might be some good in this in allowing digital artists to have an "original" to sell, that can go up in value. The banana is junk. See my channel for a video about why contemporary artists don't make money for other artists or themselves, if you want my scathing but humorous take on it.
I really liked the take of an artist on this. Finally someone with a bit of sense. For me the worst part about it is the artificial scarcity. The great benefit the digital world has is that inside it there is no scarcity as anything can theoretically be dublicated infinitely. A digital copy of a picture is always the exact same as the original. A good example are old flash animations, which are based on vector graphics. They can even be upscaled to satisfy our modern needs for HD (th-cam.com/video/1pDM6fQUfJs/w-d-xo.html). This inherent feature of the digital world is being fought constantly, because of capitalism (and obviously there is nothing wrong with wanting money for something you put hours, days and weeks of your live into, when money is the most usefull thing in this world; also there is the aspect of intellectual property). This is just another way people try to fight it, just a pretty dumb and harmful one.
I should point out a small flaw. Most rich people don't buy banana duck taped to a wall because they value it, they buy it only to get it appraised for a lot more, give it away then write the appraisal value off taxes as a charity deductable. It's a method of mitigating income and capital gains taxation.
Thank you for talking about this. It's been kind of frustrating seeing the conversation online focus almost entirely on the environmental impact, making it seem like NFTs will be fine as soon as they're powered on renewables. There is no fix that will make NFTs good. The very concept is rotten.
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This was great! I stumbled onto NFT Art Twitter a while back and the manner in which people were describing themselves as “NFT Artists” was fascinating. The most interesting thing was the way in which, as you mention here, they speak as though it changes something about the art itself but it simply doesn’t; your illustration/gif/video is still the same!
I’m glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Very interesting thanks, but I think you are making a CRITICAL mistake. The main problem IS value as seen by the theory of marginal utility, that's what allows all the non sense behind NFTs (and big part of the nonsense behind our society too :)
@@CatherineGraffam Very interesting thanks, but I think you are making a CRITICAL mistake. The main problem IS value as seen by the theory of marginal utility, that's what allows all the non sense behind NFTs (and big part of the nonsense behind our society too :)
Are you going to throw shade at bitcoin because right wingers like it? You do realize that the "capitalists'" hate that they can't control bitcoin, right?
@@johnnonamegibbon3580 Right, that's why all the workers of the world are rich now, thanks to bitcoin.
One major problem I have with NFTs is the lack of verification. Recently a famous illustrator (Qinni) had NFTs made and posted. Here's the problem: Qinni died last year. Someone took her art, posted it, and is selling the NFT for a LOT of money. No, it's not her family doing it. Yet another avenue for people to sell stolen art.
Her own family spoke out against it I believe. It wouldn't have been something that she would have supported had she still been with us (RIP Qinni). Yet they couldn't take it down or do anything about it.
That is horrifying, to say the least. ☹
That’s horrible, hopefully they’re suing the platform who did not double check?
I agree with the problem. NFTs, in my opinion, somewhat a good idea but it comes in a wrong time. There's still no technology to ensure that the owner of the NFT is the actual artist or if they're an art thief and there's still no technology to improve the environmental problem it causes.
If it comes when these problems have been solved, I would support NFT. But currently, I really cannot support it.
Some merch company also stole her art and claimed that she agreed to this because the way she turned them down was 'I'll think about it' or something along the lines. It's disgusting! Yes, the theft is outrageous when it comes to art, especially online!
I'm an art historian and I've been telling everyone who'll listen that NFT art is problematic and scammy. You've explained it really well.
If you are a historian , please take note of how the crypto generation. love their disruptive art technology. it is easy to dissmis nfts, nfts are here to stay for ever, and it is going to be a trillions of dollar market, I am an artist and I am challenge by the idea of what kind of nfts can I create, not just taking pictures of my art and making a nft, I would love to join with a coder and explore all the creative posibiities that I can use to create and nft, I want to creat and nft the grows ,that changes with location , with seansons , etc,
@@Rokvtm If you want transformative artwork, that's existed arguably as long as art has. You don't *need* the blockchain for this. The blockchain doesn't inherently give the ability to manipulate a piece of art in relation to outside factors. NFTs are woefully unnecessary. They are a certificate that in and of themselves hold no value. If NFTs were required in order to actually create transformative pieces of digital art, digital goods wouldn't have such a huge market.
What you want to accomplish (art that "grows" or "changes" based on location and season) could be a lot easier to accomplish just by learning to program in Java or Kotlin and making a mobile app that can access geolocation data from someone's phone. While you may be challenged by the idea of "what NFTs can I create?" you can easily counter that challenge with "Okay, but can this be created without NFTs?" The answer is always yes. Any programmer worth their salt will tell you that NFTs aren't what give digital good their functionality.
@@TheAmazingSpiderPunk Look NFTs are more than just selling and buying a piece of art. there are innovative brains within the space trying to fight the negative stigmas by creating a play to earn crypto games, new ways of connecting with a community (around the world), and generating wealth for those underprivileged that have access to tech and so much more it's like social media on steroids depending on which projects you look into. You really just have to be aware of the scams out there and actually do your research on certain projects and their utility at the end of the day the media just liked highlighting the hype projects that have been in it for years please don't fall for headlines & have a great day
@@ThatYoungGuy4 You seem to be conflating NFTs and blockchain technology in addition to acting like I never heard of what NFTs were before this video and haven't been using cryptocurrencies since 2014. Again I ask: What can these do inherently that regular forms of digital media can't? An NFT is just the record on the blockchain of an action, a non-fungible token. No more, no less. The art itself is not the NFT. The game itself is not the NFT. The wealth generation is more or less just through market manipulation as the NFT itself holds no intrinsic value, because, again, it is not the piece of media that is bought or sold using the NFTs. To make real profit using NFTs as well, you NEED capital.
While on paper it's easy to say it opens up the international market allowing underprivileged folks to earn, this doesn't really work out in practice. There are definitely different innovations in cryptocurrencies that do innovative things such as Fetch.AI which uses the work behind its coin generation to power and further research machine learning and artificial intelligence algos. But that is a cryto, not an NFT.
The NFT is just a ledger. The blockchain can have some practical applications, but art is not one of them. And NFTs being just a token or ledger certainly cannot build a community. A community is built around them, sure. But I wouldn't say that Pogs built a community in the 90s, and NFTs are essentially the same as pogs only digital: objects that do not hold any intrinsic value but that people interested in the thing ascribe value to and build a trading community around. It's a microcosm of the art world's economy. No more, no less.
@@TheAmazingSpiderPunk Thanks for enlightening me on the specifics but we’ll see where it goes I have other plans
As someone who has worked in a museum and seen how corrupt the traditional art world can be, NFTs just feel literally the same but in a digital market. I'm tired of seeing this hivemind cult mentality people in the space of and I really am thankful for you to be someone to actually speak about a lot of things people in the space refuse to when questioned. I full heartily agree with you about how NFTs aren't changing how we make art, it's changing how they want money.
Indeed, it change nothing. If anything NTFs is the pinnacle of mechanical reproduction, in terms of Walter Benajmin. It's the perfect copy of the object of art (and the copy of the copy, very Baudrillard too in this sense). The true is that art in Capitalism is just another form of commodity, devoid of all revolutionary or sacred meaning. Cheers!
The more the world becomes connected the more hive-like we will be for better or worse
🙌💖
Crypto enthusiast who's researched this here, you're spot on.
The world of NFTs are terrible for policing art theft (hell marketplaces like opensea let you do it for free) and while crypto could legit make the world a better place, NFTs will only ever be used by people with too much money or who have money to hide.
Before people accuse me of being a capitalist scumbag, I'm socialist.
@@ballsticseal How would crypto make the world a better place?
Honestly, it's refreshing to hear info about NFTs from an artist instead of a capitalist, Elon-Musk-loving tech bro.
I mean...not that you’re wrong but what’s wrong with Elon musk?
@@DaengieDraws Nothin really, just dont worship him because he likes memes, t the end of the day he is a businessman and you are a customer, he will think of you as such, so why put him on pedestal? (speaking about his "cult" at this point)
@@DaengieDraws There's a lot. He's anti union. Back when covid was still much worse, he kept trying to get everything reopened just to make money. Plus he said a lot of stupid stuff about covid (not confirmed but I assume this was also to downplay the problem for monetary reasons). He parades around the fact that he's a founder of Telsa, when he just paid extra money to be retroactively considered such. He also likes to pretend that he built his fortune from the ground up, even though he had money from his rich dad. NASA at one point said that the stuff he was sending into space was actively screwing up satellites and weren't properly sanitized. Plus entirely subjectively, he's just a dick.
ikr
You do realize that the "capitalists'" hate that they can't control bitcoin, right? It's why Elon suddenly turned on it. He's been in bed with the government/market since the beginning.
No bitcoin, no alternative to what capitalist want. Elon is not a "Free market" guy, as he has *deep* ties to DARPA, and Bitcoin is not favored by capitalists.
When the discussions of NFTs for art started circulating, I really saw it as some kind of money laundering, and I'm glad to know that wasn't an entirely baseless assumption! NFTs are the MLMs of the art world 😩
Sounds the same as the fine art world tbh 😅
The School Of Hard Knocks has endless gifts for the gullible & the arrogant.
You're REALLY uninformed, haha. You simply are scared of them because you don't understand them. That's the exact same thing people said about the literal internet - yes, the one you're using - back in the 90s, lol.
If I asked you how NFTs are the "MLMs" of the art world, I bet you couldn't even explain it, lol. And if you tried it would probably be majority things that you've either made up or read someone else say.
NFTs have allowed me to quit one of my two jobs, and I am on track to quit my other if I keep my consistency up. I've made entire month's rent in 2 weeks of sales, while I did something else with my time, like producing my art. An artist can be working entirely with and for themselves, with no middle-men - it literally does not make any sense how it would be an "MLM" - an artist doesn't need anyone else for the first time. It's literally the exact opposite of what you think it is, and that's the funniest part.
Yep, figured that out when someone bought an invisible statue. Here I am a real artist and can't even sell seasonal gifts now. 😥💔
@@syzygy4365 If you build it they will come. If seasonal gifts don’t sell, don’t blame an imaginary enemy, find better products to make that people want or use. Others are able to sell theirs and you can too. Re-evaluate your product honestly and look for other means to sell it by. Art doesn’t sell itself anymore than seasonal gifts, get out and promote yourself in every possible way including those you haven’t thought of yet.
"I mean it's one banana Michael, how much could it be worth? $150,000?" I CHOKED
oh my god every single part of this video is so fucking iconic. Your dry humor is so so so appreciated
hehehehe
3 Times! That’s what kills me. People will spend stupid money on stupid but unique things. But it’s not unique. There are 3 of them.
Didn’t someone eat the original banana too?
@@dubspool yep!
the way minting NFTs eats up computer parts, making it harder for everyo e across the spectrum to build computers, is reason enough to reject it. otherwise what, are only millionaires able to afford even basic computers next??
This problem will be solved in July. Ethereum will have an update that will ditch miners for good.
@@AmandaVieiraMamaesouCult I really hope so because I'm realizing my computer needs some of the parts updated in order to fully get the most of the art programs I'm learning without it causing it to crash
Rarible just launched a "Lazy Minting" feature less than 2 weeks ago - the Buyers pay the gas fees and the pieces are not minted until they are purchased- which saves resources at least on minting thousands of pieces which will likely never sell. I mean - it makes it greener, at least and easier for artists without funds for gas fees can show and possibly sell their work.
@@cloudycolacorp Its projected to be solved by mid this year, but it has a likely chance it could be delayed
@@megoldfishes Mid this year? Bruh, the year's almost over.
Kind of incredible how in the end capitalism figured out a way to sell, trade, and commodify essentially... Nothing.
For you the work of a teacher is nothing? It basicaly sells informations like art but matericaly it's nothing
Or Isn't just music and exemple?
They found a way to make _nothing_ destructive. Now that's innovative!
Reminds me of that dystopian joke of some corporate CEO convincing people to buy air in a bottle. Oh wait, that wasn't just a joke...
@@FrankLeeYoung you will want to buy authentic air in a bottle soon because of what we let the actual cost do to the air
I follow so many people that support NFTs I thought I was going *INSANE*.
Thank you for this, I've been feeling like old man yells at clouds for the past few months and I was needing someone that felt the same way about NFTs as me
So you're admitting you know nothing about them and yet developed an opinion, and then want someone to reaffirm that opinion. Good golly.
@@aristideregnier4883 bingo
@@aristideregnier4883 they didnt say that u just assumed that. btw how are ur crypto investments going. u surely must be one rich bird that didnt get their money scammed from them, right?
"And this video will be available as an NF---"
BWHAHAHA! Sigh... that killed me.
just like itll kill the earth!
A lot of ppl buy art, not for art, but as a tax writeoff
They don't want the art, they want the reciept showing they paid 2k for it so they can write it off. Those are the ppl NFT's attract.
Funny how techno-optimists in the late 90s though the internet would be the first step in creating a post scarcity society, where everyone has equal access to an endless amount of knowledge. Well, look where we are now :/
Yes!! I've been watching Gary Vaynerchuck talk about NFTs, and he keeps saying how it democratizes opportunities for artists and then in the next breath how anyone who gets on board early will reap huge rewards. It can't be both, folks!! There are built-in mechanisms we've seen before, which sooner than you'd wish create giant wealth gaps.
All NFTs will do is giving countless rich people debt.
Cat videos and memes
Anyone with half brain should've seen after a few years that the internet is the most vicious centralizing tool ever. But people are so braindead they can't make the distinction between how the technology functions (decentralized) and how it works in society/economy.
I'm gen x.and an artist...grown up parallel w the internet. Desperately Holding on to the last few threads of my techno- optimism.
I’m so grateful this popped up for me. My husband kept saying “you’re an artist, sell an NFT” and I’m like I don’t GET IT! I make a quilt I sell it, they have it. I make a figurine or other item it exists....even a print or pdf is an item. What exactly am I selling here but kudos?! Lmao anyway glad to get the breakdown.
A line on a ledger. Crypto currencies are a system of accounts. You buy a bond and the thing of value us not the peice of paper, it is the record of ownership. Art is just a super early use case for NFTs and kind of dumb like using architecture only for monuments
Same I remember a lot of people saying they were a bad idea but I never research why.
I remember when the Annoying Orange started making a remastered version of the first episode as an NFT, I remember they linked a page talking about how NFTs are not problematic for the environment. Everyone knew it’s all bull so a lot of people copied and pasted the remastered episode on TH-cam to get back at them. After lots of copyright claims of those posts, the Annoying Orange gave up and just uploaded the remastered episode on TH-cam for free. XD
Now that's what I call irony!
When you said annoying orange I literally only thought of Trump
Is Peter Coffin in that episode lmao? Or did they join the show later?
I hate them like you wouldn't believe. They're one of the worst, most self-aggrandizing, smug and divisive people in the online leftist community, (a community they consider themself almost too good for) and if their voice acting was in an NFT that would be fantastic irony.
That's a great example of how "NFTs protect ownership of intellectual property" is a bunch of BS
If you think NFTs are bad for the environment i'm going to assume you have no bank account and any USD? How do you live then?
(Conventional finance takes magnitudes more energy than any crypto.)
I'm an art teacher at a university in Thailand. While I realize it's very subjective, you should also have mentioned that a lot of cryptoArt is just truly awful. All these Adobe After Effects animated doodles of bad anime or Robert Crumb knock-offs and the endless gifs are not art. That the scam that is CryptoPunks sold at Christie's for $17 million illustrates everything that you're saying.
I agree. But even if they were the “best” art pieces in the world, they would still never be worth 2 million dollars in my opinion.
everything is art, your self centered "art definition" is absurd. shame if you're even calling yourself an artist
@@mattheweleasarmalasarte9222 sure it is art, but no way in hell is it worth THAT amount of money. ever
EVERYBODY CAN BE AN ARTIST! Sure.
Try art school, bet they don't have the discipline. Nobody is saying people can't LEARN to be artists.
@@mattheweleasarmalasarte9222 I guess. I had an art professor many years ago say the same thing, except his caveat was, a lot of art is just bad.
just wanna shoutout my man David Datuna, who walked into the gallery with the duct tape banana and ate it in front of the entire museum.
A legend among men.
Hey, I don't know if you'll be able to read this (in that case I might contact you on another platform) but I was wondering the if I could provide you with some sort of scrip or Spanish subtitle for the video mainly cause I believe you've explained the subject magnificently and I belive more Spanish-speaking artists could gain access to this information, specially those who want to comprehend this matter more fully. But in any case: thanks for bringing light into this matter, I have no idea that the negative impact that NFTs have other extended beyond the environmental issues
Yes, please! I have a couple of friends I'd love to show this to, but they don't speak English.
I would like to second this idea
Pero eso no es cierto que lo explico bien😂Un NFT es us un archivo de una transacción cuyas descripción existe en un libro mayor seguro y accesible a todo el mundo. Los NFTs no son arte son contabilidad. El pedo es que usar NFTs para arte es medio pendejada. Es como usar el conocimiento de la durabilidad de materias para construir monumentos falicos. El arte puede ser algo bien maravilloso pero no es la única que existe la ingeniería y arquitectura
Museums existed before the internet cool now try and take your digital picture and connect it to an AI personality platform whose economy uses NFTs to prove ownenrship and crypto as its medium of exchange. If having a digital picture that can learn to talk back to you is not your thing then that is you and you don't have to buy 🥰
NFT pretty much expose how the art world became inaccessible to the people. The High Class Art World, the Gallery art was no different from NFTs, but people didn't seem to care then, and this is just a worrying trend that seems to have gained traction without criticism.
I don't get this whole "inaccessible to the people" thing - could you elaborate? Maybe it's a region thing, but where I live I can easily commission an artist to do art for me. I had a craftsman build a table for me, was a couple of 100€, had some paintings/images made (my avatar for example) - all less than 100€. Or does that not count as art because it was not made by a "big", known artist? I don't consider myself to be knowledgeable in the art world, so maybe I am just missing a point.
@@stylesuxx Let me explain. While I believe that artist deserve to be paid for their work. But I'm on disability in America. I get 94 u.s. dollars for an entire month to afford what I need. I don't even have the money to afford 100 dollar art commissions let alone 60 dollars. That's what I mean. Sure artist can set their own prices but art is only accessible for the rich.
@@WulfLovelace Hmm, OK - I see, I guess that's then a matter of definition of "rich". I would not consider myself rich, maybe lower middle class. But yeah, from your point of view I am probably in a better position. I am wondering, what kind of solution are you envisioning to make art more accessible to people in general. I mean, you can "consume" art without having to pay or own it. I for one like Graffiti and street art a lot and it's a totally free for of art, you don't even have to pay for a museum ticket.
I don't quite understand - how is it possible to live from $94 per month? Is this your expandable money, or do you have to pay for rent and food from that? I understand this is a very personal question so feel free not to answer, but it seems more like a broken system and less of an inaccessibility to art problem.
@@stylesuxx Well the Broken System still makes Art Inaccessible and people who make Art Commissions in this broken system are still supporting/contributing to the inaccessible of art. I'll further expand on this, what I mean is this mentality - it's at least an American Mentality I have seen around where if people complain about the price of the commissions you're often met with, "You Don't Need Art" and "If you're poor you shouldn't be worried about affording art". You have to realize that the System itself is Intersectional and there is a huge Classism within the art community itself. In America at least, we're not allowed to paint our apartments if we're renting, we're not allowed to put holes in the walls for portraits and art frames, and a lot of low income people cannot even afford art to put on their walls. We pretty much live in barren houses with white walls for an entire year until we move onto the next. Moving outside of Independent Artist, to big box stores, most mass on print paintings are still 30 dollars each. The 94 dollars is what I am left after every bill is paid on Disability, I do not get any more income than that. I get the state max which is just shy of 794 and rent here is much higher than the state max. Edit - And as far as I know here in America at least we do have to pay for admission for most museums unless they are host some kind of free day, which is once a year. Edit 2- and that is if you even live near a museum, Remember American Infrastructure is built for driving, and not everyone drives and some cities barely have accessible transportation. The inaccessibility goes beyond just monetary.
literally nothing you're saying makes sense. NFTs has decentralized everything to where a common pizza delivery driver, can sell their art for thousands.
Your brain has completely inverted reality.
Nailed it!! "INVESTMENTS" not ART. Money needs to move from one point to another and artists are simply facilitators through their "product".
o mighty algorithm, please accept this offer
you also articulated what bothered me about NFTs that i couldn't find the words for before. it felt callous for me to say i didn't care about the environmental impacts as much as the other bad vibes i was getting from the system overall, because even if they "fixed" that one aspect of it, i would still find the practice repulsive. it's so very much just leaning into the toxic parts of the art world without bringing anything valuable to the table.
It's so annoying trying to explain my concerns of art theft a'la NFT to these tech bros on Twitter because their solution to someone using my work without my permission is to mint my own oil-powered pog to prove I'm the real artist. I'm not interested in crypto and refuse to be forced into their grift to protect my IPs.
Also, as far as I understand it, once it's on the blockchain it's there forever... unless a server goes down, in which case there have been cases of people's NFTs just blipping out of existence.
Regardless, the implications of something being unable to be removed is pretty bad. I can see revenge porn being a huge problem on a platform with such bad regulation....
Anyways, I'm a big fan of this crash they're having, hope it continues.
Why don't you go explain what you think you know to all the artists and not "tech bros"?
The blockchain stores the transaction record, not the art. How do you currently protect your art? This could be a new way to do that with code enforcing that protection. Not a replacement, but an option that can work in parallel to or in alternative to. There is still a lot of work to be done, but a verified smart contract that issues the NFT and verifies minter has license to reproduce the asset is totally a thing. Can't say enough that NFTs are not art. NFTs are an accounting entry on a secure ledger that the whole world can see.
@@oldmanmillennial1980 It’s been a year, there’s really nothing you or anyone else can tell me that will change my opinion on NFTs.
I already know that the art (in most cases) isn’t stored on the blockchain, not that I’d care either way, I’m still not interested.
I don’t need a new way to protect my art, it’s already protected by copyright the second I make it and I don’t have to pay a dime in minting or gas fees. That’s why I can go to platforms like OpenSea and send them a takedown notice if someone steals my art.
So far I have not seen much utility or worthwhile innovation in NFTs or smart contracts that weren’t already possible or better on web2 in my opinion, so lots will have to change before I ever consider poking my nose into that market, like almost every part about it.
I’m not interested in sullying my reputation by getting into the current market awash in Ponzi schemes and rug pulls just to make $100 or less at the end of the day and then lose it all on gas fees.
If I wanted to gamble, I’d go to Vegas.
You might be young and now kno this, but it can't be "annoying" trying to explain something to others. If you purposely decide to spend your time trying to convince anyone of anything, that's entirely on you.
This is such a clear-eyed and well-done explanation of NFT’s!! Wow!! Thank you for putting into words all of the reasons why, in my gut, I’ve felt that NFTs are so icky and awful (even though I couldn’t explain it). I can’t wait to hear more of your thoughts in future videos!!
I majored in art history and it was my goal to work in museums forever, but after working in a major NYC museum’s fundraising department, and seeing the dirty awful business of the art world, I left it altogether. I couldn’t find a way to participate in the system that didn’t make me feel like I was contributing in some way. But I am so grateful for people like you who are creating both beautiful art, and an alternate vision for the future of the art world. Thank you for all you do!
The Sophie painting is so beautiful...
Did you know that you can actually donate art from the fine art market for a tax write off? How convenient (for the rich).
I still believe that the best way for an Artist to make money is in commissions.
Great video, though I would've loved to see some of your sources in the description or in a pinned comment.
Not only that, the value of the artwork that they write off their taxes does not necessarily need to be appraised by the museum but by an appraiser the donator hires. So the value is very likely inflated.
Tons of artists that did commissions stopped because they are making way more on NFTs. This video is a possibly paid for shill video
Thank you for this I was tearing my hair out trying to figure out why I've been working so hard to become an artist and nft's just come out of nowhere and make millions. It looked fishy from the start and it felt like money laundering.
I'm going to continue my journey to becoming a great 3D artist and 2d artist.
nfts literally sound like something a supervillain would do like you couldn’t make this shit up
commissions but make it evil >:D
Hello! I just wanted to thank you. I've been trying to educate myself on NFTs for the last month but my mind just couldn't wrap around the idea. I watched many videos on the topic and yours is definitely IT. so smart, easy to understand and on point. Also I wanted to say that you seem to be a lovely person with the most pleasant aura. Your whole vibe is just so good, listnening to you is an amazing experience. Im so happy I've come across your chanel.
Another gem
Cat, or this vid?
Kidding, obvs both.
This video is truly helpful, enjoyed every part of it. Good job bringing truth to the world!
I appreciate your point of view, and kudos for stating your case in this forum. I'd like to add to the discussion by offering a position on the banana and duct tape piece in question, Marizio Cattelan’s "Comedian" (aka the banana duct taped to the wall at Art Basel Miami). By writing this, it's not my intent to refute anything you've said, but to add some context and an alternative point-of-view.
The title "Comedian" could refer to the artist as well as the piece itself. And the title, I believe, does a fantastic job of letting the audience know how to approach it. I believe that whatever absurd price that was put on the piece was intentional. Imagine that you are watching a comedian, who gives a set-up (the title "Comedian"), then a punch line (the price)...and then the hope is that the audience response will allow what comedians refer to as the second punch....getting more laughs. The 'second punch' of the Cattelan piece was that SOMEBODY BOUGHT IT. And the buyer, in on the joke, gets the satisfaction of keeping the joke going. I see it as a conceptual piece that utterly worked. Like it, hate it, shake your head at it.
None of this means that the thing was worth 150K to me. But the joke was worth it to somebody, and the artist can live off of the stunt for a while, and thumb his nose at the same time.
The Comedian was a mock of modern art, a satire
And it became the thing it mocked
Irony, which ironically adds to the value xD
High modern art is a mess
i cannot thank you enough for this video
Im really glad you enjoyed it!!
An argument I hear a lot from well-meaning people is that they like buying NFT as a way to support artists, but I still don't understand why that has to involve the blockchain? How about people just .. buy paintings/originals/posters/ceramics, etc. or support someone's Patreon, OR EVEN JUST SEND SOME MONEY if you feel like you want to support someone??
Like even without the environmental implications; I don't understand what the blockchain part actually adds for an actual artist or someone who wants to support the arts.
The other thing I found interesting is the person who actually bought the Beeple thing. It's someone called "Crypto whale". Mmmm wonder if they have any interest in "buying" some cool PR to get a bunch of people money h*rny so they will also get interested and rake up those ETH prices.
Because in reality they don't care about the artist or the art they just want to treat the NFT as an investment. Sorta like a trading card.
I read that some of the contracts behind a token can still pay royalties to the "minter". As if, every time a transaction regarding that token is made, a fraction of it, predefined by the contract, will be given to the minter.
This means that if somewhere along the line the piece spikes in value, for whatever reason, the author will still benefit directly.
@@matilozano96 Which is AMAZING, but I can't really see why thats not possible with say; a contract? What if galleries etc. also started putting this rule in place? It woulod be amazing! Do we need the blockchain for it to work?
Also I wonder what happens if the piece is sold UNDER the price it originally was?
@@frederiquepng a tradition contract needs to be enforced. with a blockchain contract, it's enforced automatically
As an artist in india following so many artists on twitter and instagram who live v far away I cannot buy their prints and posters and merch. So yeah I'd like the opportunity to digitally buy them. It's a global market. I'm not defending NFTs, but defending being able to buy and support my fav artists and owning some stake in their work.
This was the most informed video on the negatives of NFTs, especially going beyond just the environmental aspects and discussing how this potentially is creating a virtual version of a failed existing traditional art marketplace.
Kind of reminds me when Jay Leno would do these segments with absurd purchased items bought on eBay for a ridiculous amounts of money like a left over Brussels sprout, or an empty PlayStation box. Definitely an interesting topic though. The TH-cam content creator Tenhun was planning on creating a NFT original piece of art before starting doing some research on the environmental effects and sketchy aspects of this type of art. He decided not to create one.
ahh when you connected the dots of the anti-money laundering act and NFTs I was literally going :ooo it makes so much sense when it's laid out like that!!! I hope this video really catches so as many people as possible can see it, it's a really important conversation!!
So we've swapped aircraft hangars full of art for aircraft hangars full of electronics that burn down the rainforest.
The thing that gets me about the banana is that it's just gonna rot in a few days. That's an art piece with a seriously short shelf life. Also, the artist didn't personally tape it to your wall, so...
So
This is the most sensible and insightful explanation of this I have seen.
It's full of lies, lol. Don't be a small brain and watch videos that reaffirm your ill founded stance.
I loved this video!!! I've been wary of nfts since they popped up and this still taught me a lot about them! one of my major concerns was when originally they first blew up was when people on Twitter would comment a string of code under a person's comment, usually with the tag of a Twitter bot as well, that would convert the image into an nft. a whole bunch of artists, popular or not, got art directly stolen from them and turned into profit and it was super scary! I remember I got a blocklist of like. 500 people out of fear of my art being stolen
This was brilliant, informative, and often funny. I came across it because I've been seriously considering getting into NFTs as a way to pay my bills while doing less client work. You've done a lot to pull me back from the idea. I already knew about the environmental impact and money laundering, but not being a big name artist with existing wealth and fame the most likely outcome of me getting involved is that I just make someone else even richer... and the world doesn't need that.
Also the more I've been looking into what sort of stuff really sells big in NFT land the more disappointed I am in humanity.
Your videos are witty and informative. I'm a new subscriber and digital artist. I love your personality. 💕
Hi, just wanted to say that whenever I'm explaining NFT's to someone and I don't have the energy to write, I share your video because it's so well-made! It has everything I and people that I'm introducing NFT's to need. Have a nice day!!
So glad you ended it how you did. Couldn't agree more. The environmental concerns of NFTs are often hand waived away by saying 'we're switching to greener minting' etc etc. The more fundamental issue of the increasing financialisation of art (and sadly, everything) is a much better angle to take.
Ethereum update in July will ditch miners for good. As in, no need for mining at all.
I also think NFTs are not good for art, btw. It's an industrial solution, not an artistic one
@@owowowdhxbxgakwlcybwxsimcwx Yall bring up mining like it's the infinity stone. WE DONT GIVE A FUCK. When I hear claims tell me 1 Ethereum transaction is equivalent to the electricity used by the average size house in the US for two days, you think I'm gonna believe that? All your arguments here are fucking straw. Let me hear a bit about hashrate, sharding, different consensus mechanisms, etc. Maybe then I'll actually take you seriously. You're so biased here that it's hard for me to even consider your technical claims because I know you've never looked into this shit at all.
I love how thorough this video is. I wasn’t very clear on what NFTs are and you cleared it all up for me. Thank you so much.
I've been loving this series so much Catherine - really looking fw to what's coming up next. As an artist, it's great to see an actual artist talking about these issues instead of someone from the outside.
Thank you so much!!
i wish the system that supports this concept wasnt so obviously and clearly broken... in my heart i will continue to dream of a more efficient and less problematic way for artists to be paid with visibility
Keep dreaming because tons of artists are getting paid fair and square. You are in a fantasy
Possitive comment for the algorithm to feast on!!
bless
Your voice is amazing and I really enjoyed your analysis. Well-thought out, easy to comprehend/understand, blunt but not unnecessarily snarky. Glad I found your channel. Seriously love listening to your voice.
The blockchain does not contain any images, it only contains the code for the token. It seems that the token is what is bought and sold, the rights (copywrite/IP etc) stay with the artist. The buyer of the token owns the token, but not the rights to the artwork. I would be keen to hear more info on this.
I really love the fact you have an artwork of SOPHIE behind you in these videos, may they rest in peace.
Even with physical art, there is a certain logic to the way monetary value can differ from personal value. A print of a painting and the actual original painting should add the same amount of enrichment to your life hanging your wall, but the fact that the original is one of can add something to it.
NFTs are a way to add artificial scarcity to a medium of art that is otherwise infinitely reproducible. And all it costs is using the environment as fuel.
Wow thank you for this video. I love your explanation and your point of views. On a personal side I used to really enjoy painting but I got discouraged with what my idea of an artist was. I thought the main way to actually make a living was only for the very few really famous artists selling their works for crazy amounts at auctions and I thought a lot of that art was so horrible and the people where so pretentious. After watching a different TH-cam video that talked about the art world as a big money laundering scheme for rich people to avoid taxs and such as you talked about in this video, it really opened my eyes. That stuff is not really what I consider art. Same with NFTs being an unregulated market ideal for criminals with lots of money. Seeing this video has given me new hope that people see this is a scam and maybe the future of art will be a more personal thing were you buy from someone you know in your community because you like and cherish the work. That's honestly been the way it has been ever since people started putting their stuff on the internet. Idk I am rambling but your video is awesome! Thank you!
The part about money laundering are my👏🏾exact👏🏾thoughts 👏🏾 like seriously, we can’t deny it.
@@jcrowviral oh no it definitely is, that’s the reason why I believe it’s happening for crypto art as well. No where in the comment does it deny this.
I greatly appreciate this content. As an artist that has worked for art galleries before, what you're saying about the art world is totally true. Collectors often buy work that sits in a warehouse because it was purchased for investment or tax evasion. I still have major hang ups about showing through a gallery because of the way I've seen gallery owners treat artists and in exploring the NFT market I am appalled at the horrible "art' that's being sold at such high prices.
"I hope our future contains much less bananas" - here we are 6 months in the future - monkey pic nfts are now all the rage.
I sooooo love your transparency!!! Subscribed!!!
Thanks for this, Cat! I've a gallery owner friend who's been trying to sell me on NFT's, and initially I was sold...even started writing up a kind of business model to raise money for a film production partially with sales of NFT's. I've been through streaky periods of researching, and of course the Kool Aid was sounding too sweet to be real so listening to your presentation helped a lot. Although I'm still hanging on a bit; but then I'm an artist creating works and not interested in this business of the buying and trading of NFT's which is what truly smacked sour. Just subscribed to your channel here...tnx again! (maybe later I'll throw up some questions here but for the time being they're prob too naive ... need to learn about this minting process and why it's not possible to create our own proprietary storefront for the sales / "auctioning" of NFT's)
Really excellent video, and well explained. I've been trying to get my head around NFT's for ages, and you've confirmed my original skepticism. Thank you.
Excellent insight and video! The way you tied everything together was brilliant and enlightening. I am sitting on my hands so I don't write a completely unnecessary essay right now but I especially enjoyed this breakdown: "Manufacturing scarcity on the internet for the means of making rich people even richer + using the art world as a playground for investors is just... gross" Thank you for summing up these feelings so well. Truly love your art and this series
Great video! Another note about buying NFT, is that a buyer does not buy the "art" it self, but rather the "smart contract" (the token) which contains the link to where this art is located. The art is not stored on the blockchain, but on a google drive or anywhere else.
So in other words, a buyer will only be the owner of a token with data but not the art itself.
Personally, I think NFTs are being used wrong as the technology is not quite ready yet. I see potentials for this type of technology being used for something else than art.
For example, domains.
A domain name and settings can be stored on a blockchain. It can point to websites, IP addresses and even crypto wallets.
The domain needs to be minted for this to work though, and with the current price of gas fees it can be expensive.
But at least it's only a one-time payment and you will have the domain for life-time.
I can't tell you how disheartening this whole NFT rise has been to me, seen artists and author whose I've admired and even bought work from them jumping on this trend just because it's seems a quick buck that doesn't hurt anybody makes me puke, heck, even Naomi Osaka who's been vocal about many other ways capitalism harms people jumped on this and tried to launder it saying it will be donated to an art school. But from the ashes heroes like you rise up.
Unfortunately now a few jpegs are going to ruin the entire planet, how dismaying!!! How could we have made such a blunder to try and allow digital artists the same access to selling their works than physical artists.
Not a single person is exempt from greed. Humanity is awesome.
Some people really don’t realize when they are getting sucked into a Capitalist scheme largely because it’s shown as the only natural way of life.
@@u_ub exactly, why do us digital artists have no marketplace
NFTs are not disheartening, they have their flaws just like the regular art market which is sinister as hell and has gatekept the art world for a century. It's a new trend and hot shit, and the environmental impact is already being dealt with with new updates to ethereum coming in and platforms like hicetnunc, cryptos like Polygon and Tezos that do not waste energy. Taking half baked information and then getting emotional about it isn't very advisable.
The banana duct taped to the wall is pretty much Marcel Duchamp signing a urinal. There's nothing new or particularly shocking about that. I mean, it sucks that fine art eventually devolved into that kind of bullshit, but I don't see the banana as the step that leads us towards NFTs. And I can't even say that rich people buying art is necessarily the reason why art has devolved into bullshit: most artists had to rely on rich patrons to survive. Like Singer Sargent wasn't painting all these socialites for fun. For me, the biggest problem with modern art is the devaluation of skill: it takes no skill to sign a urinal, it takes no skill to tape a banana.
When the news of nfts came out I was confused. And something in me said that a person making millions off one poorly drawn image is too good to be true. There's always good and bad. Everyone's talking about the good with nfts because it's the next get rich quick. The way it's being promoted is just giving me pyramid scheme vibes.
It’s probably the intent, to sell the benefits of NFTs while downplaying the negatives to get more people in. It’s pure marketing. The value of NFTs grow when more people participate, and increased traffic can give NFT platforms justification to increase their fees. It’s not so dissimilar to MLMs and pyramid schemes in behavior.
I don’t know if you’ve observed it yourself, but social media has become littered with NFT and crypto accounts. Some of them operated by actual people who come off as extremely pushy, their socialization revolves around selling NFTs. Their pitch is often the same, regurgitated talking points that glamorize the benefits one can reap from NFTs. When declined or criticized they often become belligerent and belittling. Mocking the class/income or the intelligence of the person they interact with. The Venn diagram of an NFT supporter and a hunbot (MLM member) is a circle. The end goal, and more profitable result, isn’t to sell goods/services, it’s recruitment.
Great, thanks for this. My students are talking about this like gold..
Catherine, thank you so much for coving this topic so well. It’s hard to get my head around an art investment that lacks tangible value. I had never even heard of NFTs until last week and no one could really answer my questions as to what it was and why it came into being. Keep up the great work! I will be watching!
the sophie painting at the back
NFT's, while infamous for being 2D graphics, actually take on many other forms which are widely demanded. In-game skins for avatars and items are a great example of NFT's that are both seen as valuable by entire communities and are constantly being bought, sold, and used. Similar assets have already been seen as downloadable content and modifications for games like Second Life, VR Chat, The Sims, Counter-Strike Global Offensive, and basically any other game that either has its own marketplace or the ability to modify. There will soon be many more freelance opportunities for digital artists with the popularization of NFT's (art, music, in-game items and clothing, collectables, clips, animations, poses, models, domain names, etc.), which is exciting to me at least. This has already existed for some time and the currently well-known NFT's (like the cartoon monkey guy that goes for $1000's) are here to establish the NFT market as a freelance digital artists' opportunity to make a real income; but looking at the 2D graphics alone can make it very easy to underestimate how already popular NFT's have been for the past 10 years. It doesn't lack value by being digital and copy-able unless someone believes it does, but a community of people wanting access to a licensed asset makes a copy-able item highly valuable. NFT's have in increasing personal and cultural enrichment; expensive 2D art with a certificate of authenticity sounds like a weird scam for targeting art lovers with money.
There are several galleries inside the MOMA which can only be referred to as "tax write-off rooms". They're not there for the public benefit, but for... other reasons.
Value is subjective And it’s always been an investment since the dawn of time. The NFT space just like Cryptocurrency will have its Major Correction and then readjust just like physical art sales.
Absolutely
Articulated eye opening analysis about NFT(New-Found Trickery, in my words). Great work Catherine!
I'd love to hear more about Zoom. I loved that show as a kid.
I appreciate the supporting information you have included in your argument. I was aware of a few of the issues you brought up, but now I have a heavier understanding why NFTs are being shilled so intensely to our minds and daily lives.
Thank you for your efforts. 💕
As soon as NFTs became news, a bunch of friends and family messaged me "You need to get in on this!". My gut instinct was Nope. Now I can show people this video to explain why this bugged me from the start. Very well done! Thank you!
Great video! Your explanation at the very beginning is the clearest one I’ve heard. Unfortunately I had to stop watching because I was getting so angry my pressure spiked. I can’t believe this, but at the same time I can believe it.
This whole video was great, but the biggest gut punch came from mentioning you were in an episode of ZOOM.
Listen it was only for like 3 seconds
Love that you covered several points that I rarely see mentioned elsewhere in the general NFT discourse, thank you!
Yas i have been hyped for this one
NFTs make me really angry
I think I love you. Thank you for keeping it real, breaking all claims down to easily understand. Much appreciated
i was so weirded out by nfts, i only have not even 4000 followers on my art instagram, and still i had 3 seperate people in my dms asking to make my art into nfts or whatever. it sounded sus as fuck and im glad i was right xD
@@jcrowviral Did you even watch the video?
@@machinedramon3532 "Did you even listen to this persons subjective opinion which is certainly right and the most virtuous?"
@@ccs4959 You are correct in that this video did contain several opinions. However, those opinions were supported by factual evidence. To summarize:
1. With NFTs and in the traditional high art world, buyers tend to treat art more as an investment to make money off of rather than a purchase which holds any intrinsic value to them. NFTs make that even more obvious, since owning the actual token part of the NFT does nothing to alter the experience of viewing the art as owning a physical art piece would, and therefore can only ever have monetary value, not societal or enrichment value.
2. Money laundering in the art world is rampant, and NFTs make that process significantly easier while still being almost entirely unregulated.
3. NFTs for the most part do not help support any artists that are not already well established, and in fact smaller artists are more likely to actually lose money trying to sell NFTs. Meanwhile, other, more efficient ways of making money off of art already exist for those artists who actually need the support. They aren't perfect, but they are still more effective than selling NFTs.
4. NFTs are damaging to the environment do to their massive energy consumption.
All of that was in the video. If that isn't enough evidence for you, I don't know what is. Unless, of course, you would like to present some of your own, in which case, fire away.
"I don't understand something so it's bad"
The sad part is you could be making what you deserve off your art.
Or I guess one could argue because of your mental folly about them, not making money is what you deserve 🤷
@@aristideregnier4883 I assume you are referring to the original comment, and it seems you have misunderstood it. The only implied lack of understanding was in the past, and even then, it does not seem to have been complete obliviousness, but was instead colored by a reasonable skepticism of what appeared to be a scam. Now, however, op has obtained a greater understanding of what nfts are thanks to the video, and has come to the conclusion that their initial reaction was correct, as evidenced by the phrase "im glad i was right". The only one who does not seem to understand nfts is you, since you refuse to acknowledge them for the complete and utter filth they are. However, I would hazard a guess that your error comes not from genuine stupidity, but from the fact that you most likely own nfts yourself, and therefore stand to profit from people believing they hold value, regardless of whether any actual value exists for them beyond what people are willing to pay.
Good insight.
I tell others nfts are pretty limited. It cost as much to create as to make a piece of art, and no guarantee anyone will buy it if you don't have a massive online presence and following.
I'm not messing with it. Not unless something changes in my career
Hey Cat!
Loved the video! I manage a couple of independent music artists in my nearest major city. I enjoyed the fact that you gave actual facts about what an NFT is and amongst the majority of TH-cam creators praising NFTs for being the “next big thing”; I give kudos to you for giving your viewers an example on how NFTs could be very risky.
My question to you, if you have any knowledge about the matter; do you believe your heeded warning applies to musical artists as well? If so/not, why do you believe so?
As someone who graduated in art school in the early 80s your video was very informative on a subject that wasn't very clear in my mind. Thank you.
This is the perfect thing to throw at anyone who's interested in NFTs, especially since the standard bad for the environment talking points are a little too difficult for some folks to grasp or care about.
the hand painted sophie really let me know what i was getting into
Excellently succinct breakdown of how this new market is harmful on multiple levels. I appreciate that the core of your statement isn't just about it's environmental impact (which obviously is a massive problem), I feel like it devalues art and creates whole new problems with how people perceive art as being merely an object of investment rather than something that they would want to own because it truly brings them joy.
On which note I will say: your art always brings me joy 💕
Thank you so much for taking the time to make these awesome informative videos about the art world! They’re so helpful, insightful, and I always look forward to seeing more discussions like this! (Also I’ve followed you for a while on twitter because I LOVE your work, but I didn’t realize you made videos until recently, I feel so bad! Please keep up the amazing work!!)
My videos are relatively new! Definitely don't feel bad, haha. Thank you for the kind words
Amazing video, thank you. And thanks for your brutal takedown of the winklevoss - as a museum studies student, specifically studying digital access to museum resources, his statements were outrageous!
i love your videos so much-- i also love your art! i saw your work at Clark University when I was student there and it really inspired me, thanks for sharing this amazing content
Ah that Clark show was so good, I am really glad it made an impact. Thanks for watching~
Not done with the video, but I want to thank you so much for this easy-to-grasp explanation of something I could never understand. So very well done ❤️
I finally understood what a video essay is. Just discovered you. You just got a new sub.
Good video but I have a few points about NFT and Art. Im an artist who does not own NFT but has a BF that owns a few. I am also a professional software engineer so I hear about the craze a lot. I usually play devils advocate for the people who love NFT but im doing the opposite now.
1. NFT isnt about art. NFTs of minecraft chunks are being sold so people can play on them and upload the world. Some NFTs are 3d models that are for the 3d printing audience. Some are playable characters. Some showcase a different blockchain mechanic. Art is not the center of the NFT universe.
2. Crypto is just money, its not the cause for environmental disasters. Id rather have a rich person buy 1000 NFTs than 1000 pieces of real-estate on my city which consequently will increase the house prices and have worse impacts. If rich people want a place to play, give it to them because im 100% sure their money will not be sitting in the bank without the NFT craze. It will be used to make rockets, drill mountains, build homes out of concrete or expand their companies which brings more carbon footprint than any crypto ever can.
3. We should be thankful crypto is energy dependent and is not like investing in a mining firm, logging corp, or a cow farm where even using green energy, will harm the environment. The existing energy infrastructure is what needs to be fixed, erasing crypto will not fix the environment. It will not even put a dent because iceland is just composed of 300k people. You can erase iceland and argentina and its just a drop in the sea.
4. Crypto cannot be used to launder money. Peer to peer exchange is untraceable but you cant cash that BTC to a Dollar without showing your valid ID. Converting crypto to cash is as hard as cleaning money. Also more laws are being implemented to make it harder to attempt to launder, like in india they banned crypto in any financial institution. So the longer their money sits in the cryptospace, the more its likely it will stay that way. Laundering through crypto is not smart.
5. NFT is more about gambling than art. Most NFTs have "features". Rarer features are of higher value. Much like pokemon cards. So until its minted you dont know the rarity of your card and you can take a gamble. NFT is exactly the same as the pokemon card unboxing but no one is talking about highly expensive pokemond cards as compared to NFTs.
6. Even if NFT is artful, its audience arent. NFT and crypto are consumed by those who are tech savvy, not by the artistically enthusiastic. And I think theyre allowed to consume that. Like how old ugly art works, old frescos, or broken statues that have historial value are catered for historians and not artists.
7. The argument that it consumes as much electricity as a country is a weird statistic because we never look at how much megawattts electric cars consume. People can drive teslas guilt free but cant buy NFTs without people shaming them for their footprint. In reality the cobalt and rare earth elements used in microchips and batteries on electricc cars are not only more environmentally devastating, there is also a lot of child labor going into that as seen in multiple documentaries, but there is no guilt in using them.
Much text, but very wrong. And 1. Is still art
@@Moon-ci9ev Reason? I mean point 1 is the most subjective of all the points. Its like arguing if vanilla is better than chocolate.
I almost gave up searching for comprehensible content regarding this matter but here you came. Immediate sub, of course. Thank you 🙏
thank you so much for this. I'm an artist who is trying to get their foot in the door and finally make some money and someone suggested I make NFTs. I only learned what an NFT was just a month ago but already felt uneasy with them. this helped me understand what is going on and why I should avoid that at all costs lol. I only ever hear about NFTs and crypto from techbros and billionaires so its good to hear a perspective that I actually respect lol
Great points here, and you make a lot of sense. I would point out that in investigating the market, artists do indeed tailor their art to the marketplace, and thus new styles of sorts have evolved. For instance, most NFT art I see is now produced in a square format -- ideal for online viewing in various platforms -- which is quite odd for visual art outside of that venue. You will see a lot of flat color backgrounds, and for lack of a better word, "bling". A lot of it is slipshod 3D art, but 3D art nonetheless. People feel compelled to ad some minimal animation, like a turntable style rotation. People will make series with variations on a theme. Like it or not, NFT art doesn't look like digital art looked a couple years ago, IMHO.
However, many digital artists who couldn't make enough money to support their coffee habit, even if they were resorting to flavor crystals only consumed at home, are now able to make a living, or at least sip their brew in coffee shop of choice. There has been quite a lot of antipathy towards digital art and digital artists in the past. And while I think I'm in almost complete agreement with everything you said, there might be some good in this in allowing digital artists to have an "original" to sell, that can go up in value.
The banana is junk. See my channel for a video about why contemporary artists don't make money for other artists or themselves, if you want my scathing but humorous take on it.
I really liked the take of an artist on this. Finally someone with a bit of sense.
For me the worst part about it is the artificial scarcity. The great benefit the digital world has is that inside it there is no scarcity as anything can theoretically be dublicated infinitely. A digital copy of a picture is always the exact same as the original. A good example are old flash animations, which are based on vector graphics. They can even be upscaled to satisfy our modern needs for HD (th-cam.com/video/1pDM6fQUfJs/w-d-xo.html). This inherent feature of the digital world is being fought constantly, because of capitalism (and obviously there is nothing wrong with wanting money for something you put hours, days and weeks of your live into, when money is the most usefull thing in this world; also there is the aspect of intellectual property). This is just another way people try to fight it, just a pretty dumb and harmful one.
I should point out a small flaw. Most rich people don't buy banana duck taped to a wall because they value it, they buy it only to get it appraised for a lot more, give it away then write the appraisal value off taxes as a charity deductable. It's a method of mitigating income and capital gains taxation.
Thank you for talking about this. It's been kind of frustrating seeing the conversation online focus almost entirely on the environmental impact, making it seem like NFTs will be fine as soon as they're powered on renewables. There is no fix that will make NFTs good. The very concept is rotten.
I have shared this with some family to explain what NFTs are & why they're bad. Thanks so much. Your hair is really beautiful!
As a digital artist, I find NFTs horrifying.
Because you’re the one in the crosshairs, not the one meant to benefit
the fact that you've been on the show Zoom genuinely made me think you were way cooler as if I were still a five year old watching PBS