Back on track with my schedule!
Last week was full of news, experiments and more or less exciting stories related to NFTs. Nothing new, right? However it is increasingly tough to filter the noise vs. the groundbreaking moments. I’ll try to focus this week’s content around three selected stories.
Let me know if you have any questions! I personally still have a thousand of them.
Recent Stories
1.NFTs are picking up as cool collectibles
Jay Z is auctioning a work by artist Derrick Adams, called “Heir to the Throne” at Sotheby’s to celebrate the 25th anniversary of his album, Reasonable Doubt. [Sotheby’s]
Marvel officially moves into NFTs by launching licensed collectibles on the platform, Veve, ranging from digital comic books, 3D statues, and other coveted items. [HypeBeast]
Reddit is auctioning three cartoon avatar NFTs, called CryptoSnoos, based on early iterations of the company logo on Opensea, and the bids are already between 4 and 11 ETH - auctions end on June 30. [Mashable]
Fashion brands are also getting in: Givenchy with a series of rainbow-colored, animated photography portraits by Rewind Collective for sale on Veve to celebrate Pride Month [Fashion News], Burberry with a vinyl toy and NFT digital toys to be used in a game [WWD], Paris Fashion Week with NFTs offered to selected guests, as part of a pilot program with the company, Arianee [WWD].
2. The Binance NFT situation
In the meantime, while all these brands are so carefully protecting their copyrights and intellectual property, Binance launched their new NFT platform with works by Andy Warhol and Dali, without any respect to the artist’s copyright, mention of their estate, or any other note, except the company that listed the work, ApeNFT, whose mission states that they want to turn “top artists and art pieces into NFTs,[…] transform them from being elite-exclusive items to something that truly belongs to the people and mirrors their aspirations.” The power of money however buys the press, as there is zero mention of these issues, anywhere. And Justin Sun, Tron’s founder, was just announced as the winning bidder of the “Warhol”’s work for $2.8M! Please help us…
See The Genesis collection [Binance NFT]
See my Twitter thread with comments relevant to this situation [Twitter]
See the articles about Justin Sun, the founder of Tron, being the winner of this controversial NFT [Yahoo Finance]
The UK just banned Binance from conducting any “regulated activity”. God saves the Queen. Or should I say “The Queen saves Crypto”? [BBC]
3. The awkward relationship of auction houses and NFT marketplaces
Let’s dive into the short but packed history of NFT artworks sold at auction, from the technical standpoint: where it was minted, where it was auctioned, with what fees attached…
On March 11, 2021, Christie’s auctioned the work by the infamous Beeple on their auction platform, allowing the hammer price + the 14.5% buyer’s premium to be paid in crypto. After the auction, the work was minted by Beeple on Makersplace and then transferred to the winner. This means that the Christie’s auction is not recorded on the blockchain, and therefore does not quite exist for the crypto purists… except in our collective memory. [artnet]
On April 11, 2021, Phillips auctioned on their website Mad Dog Jones’s REPLICATOR, which was minted by the artist himself as “platformless”. The work was transferred by the artist to Phillips and then from Phillips to the winning bidder, which was an improvement in the recording of the sale event. However no auction price is included as bidding and billing were handled on the auction house’s website. [Twitter]
Right after, on April 12-14, 2021, PAK’s auction by Sotheby’s was entirely handled on Nifty Gateway, taking advantage of the fact that the marketplace allowed payments in both fiat and crypto currency. This allowed for the works to be sold and recorded on chain, but without any record of Sotheby’s event, once again.
Fast forward to June 2021, Bonhams partnered with SuperRare for the sale, “CryptOGs: The Pioneers of NFT Art”. The works were minted by the artists on SuperRare and immediately transferred to the @Bonhams1793 SuperRare account, allowing for the Bonhams sale to be recorded on chain. I was quite disappointed to learn that the bidders would not be allowed to bid on SuperRare, which would have allowed the financial aspect to be included on the blockchain, and that bidders would have to go through the Bonhams platform to place their bids and pay the buyer’s premiums. This means that the auction action and result will one more time not be fully recorded on chain. [Bonhams]
Last but not least, Cambi Casa d'Aste, an Italian auction house based in Milan, is also partnering with SuperRare and MoCDA for their first NFT sale, Dystopian Visions, that runs from June 25-July 4, 2021, and is minted and sold on SuperRare, where the sales premium will be shared by the NFT platform and the auction house, allowing for the sale price to be recorded on chain and artists to get resale royalties on the works. However in this case, the works did not go through a Cambi wallet, omitting the auction from being recorded. [Cambi]
We are getting there, but there is still a lot of space for improvement as you can see above. It’s great that auction houses are trying, but they need to keep adapting to really capture and preserve the essence of NFTs.
Available Artworks
Digital art pioneer Anne Spalter presents in collaboration with Playform.io Studio, Crypto Gems, exclusively available on MakersPlace. Utilizing artificial intelligence, Spalter explores the concepts of tokens and virtual gems as it relates to the emergence of NFTs. [Makersplace]
Brendan Dawes, a UK based artist and designer using generative processes, still has some affordable editions available for 0.5 ETH for a collection in collaboration with FITC (FITC is the #Future of #Innovation, #Technology and #Creativity that hosts events that inspire, educate and connect digital creators around the globe.) [KnownOrigin]
Another AI art pioneering artist, Mario Klingemann (aka Quasimondo), released editioned works about reflection, called “In Hindsight”, for the FITC drop. [KnownOrigin]
Tupac Martir, a “lighting magician” renowned in the fashion industry, is selling the Cipi NFT via Gazelli Art House. The NFT comes with a unique physical sculpture upon purchase. [Gazell.io]
Noteworthy Exhibits & Sales
Until July 4: The Milan-based auction house, Cambi, is partnering with SuperRare and MoCDA, for an auction of 18 Italian NFT artists, called “Dystopian Visions”. [Cambi]
Until July 1: Gazell.io gallery presents the ‘.ext’ show featuring both physical and digital works of Brendan Dawes, Claudia Hart and Tupac Martir in their London gallery and on their website. [Gazell.io]
July 3-7: In response to the exceptional Christie’s sale of Head of a Bear by Leonardo da Vinci in London this July, Hackatao have created a digital work inspired by this old master drawing, and bringing the bear majestically to life in the metaverse. The digital work has been donated to The Museum of Crypto Art (MOCA) where it will subsequently appear. [Christie’s]
June 28-: Feral Files’ new exhibit, Fragments of a Hologram Rose, presents “a new digital sculpture and video exhibition of sci-fi, otherworldly plant specimens from 11 groundbreaking digital artists, curated by Rick Silva”. [preview]
Upcoming Events
The Digital Income Summit organized by Museum Next is happening June 28-30, online. It is a unique event looking at how museums can successfully increase revenue online. [buy ticket]
The Museum XR Summit organized MuseumNext is taking place Jul 12-14, online. It will talk about augmented, virtual and mixed reality, with inspiring stories and actionable advice. [buy ticket]
ETHCC (Ethereum community conference) is happening in Paris, France, on July 20-22. The first Ethereum in-person reunion since COVID and after Bitcoin Miami (which was de facto one of the largest Ethereum gatehrings). I’ll speak about the short- and long-term impacts of NFTs on the art market. [buy ticket]
Finishing this week’s email with a personal update. I am now represented by ProjectSpeaker for speaking engagements at conferences and events. Spread the word and the link: https://www.projectspeaker.com/fanny-lakoubay/. Thanks!
Till next week!
Fanny
@Societe LAL Corp, Inc. All rights reserved.