{"id":10089,"date":"2022-04-15T00:13:25","date_gmt":"2022-04-15T00:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/the-nft-community-is-split-over-the-utility-of-art\/"},"modified":"2022-04-15T00:13:26","modified_gmt":"2022-04-15T00:13:26","slug":"the-nft-community-is-split-over-the-utility-of-art","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/the-nft-community-is-split-over-the-utility-of-art\/","title":{"rendered":"The NFT Community Is Split Over the Utility of Art"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What is a non-fungible token (NFT)? Is it a vehicle that helps us support creators and circulate songs, photos, images, and other digital artworks that inspire us? Is an NFT a digital asset to be used for profit? Is it both? <\/p>\n

Once, NFTs were a subculture about community. Now, they hold a unique position at the intersection of the finance, tech, and creative industries and exist in a class of their own. Ultimately, NFTs hold this unique position because they can be attached to a wide and diverse array of songs, gaming assets, photographs, videos, event tickets, and even real-world physical assets like yachts. As a result, they have brought together a remarkably diverse range of communities and industries, all with vastly different backgrounds, goals, and values. <\/p>\n

And this week, value became a major topic of debate within the NFT ecosystem. <\/p>\n

Specifically, the upheaval is centered on the utility of art NFTs \u2014 on tokens that feature photography, music, poems, and so on. Is the value of these kinds of NFTs inherently tied to the piece of digital art represented within the token? Or is the value the incentives (financial or otherwise) that are offered to those who own the token?<\/p>\n

These are just a few of the questions being asked by artists, collectors, and developers. <\/p>\n

The discussion stems from First Day Out, a recent NFT release from prominent photographer and crypto-artist Isaac \u201cDrift\u201d Wright<\/a>. First Day Out was minted on Drift\u2019s customized Manifold smart contract as an ERC-721. Collectors who already had NFTs featuring Draft\u2019s work were able to mint early, and public minting was then opened for a period of 24 hours.<\/p>\n

The project raised millions, and then things got heated. <\/p>\n

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. @DrifterShoots<\/a> sold a breath taking picture to 10,400 investors for over $6.4 million and now tells them to GTFO \ud83e\udd37\u200d\u2642\ufe0f <\/p>\n

If you just want to sell a picture, sell the picture, why sell an NFT? You are just exploiting crypto\/NFT investors for liquidity. https:\/\/t.co\/Xa7Ik1hdnf<\/p>\n

\u2014 Boring Ape (@Boring_Ape) April 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

This entire discussion surrounding Drift\u2019s First Day Out collection comes down to one word: utility.<\/p>\n

Utility is a major buzzword within the NFT ecosystem. Broadly speaking, the utility of an NFT refers to the usefulness, profitability, and benefit that it affords its owner.<\/p>\n

The utility of an NFT can be a multitude of things: membership to an exclusive community or DAO, a ticket to a virtual or physical event, and much more. With the rise of the PFP (profile picture) NFT market, it has become commonplace to base the value of a project on its roadmap, deliverables, and community initiatives rather than the quality of the art itself (or the artist).<\/p>\n

So, what happened? Why is the discussion resurfacing now? <\/p>\n

As noted, Drift had a 24-hour public sale. In the NFT ecosystem, this kind of sale is known as a \u201climited open edition.\u201d It\u2019s basically a free-for-all where anyone can purchase an edition of the same NFT for a certain amount of time. Drift sold over 10,000 NFTs by the close of the sale, raking in more than $6 million. In response, some collectors started to ask Drift about what comes next i.e., about what utility he plans to add (free airdrops? live meet-and-greets?) to reward those who supported him. <\/p>\n

However, Drift has been adamant that he doesn\u2019t owe anyone who buys his work anything. To him, and many others within the NFT community, art can just be for art\u2019s sake. It doesn\u2019t need to have any underlying utility beyond that. Others are underwhelmed by this ideology. They believe that NFT creators should support their community by giving back, especially when their project is so fantastically successful. <\/p>\n

And this is where the debate stems from. Is it right for Drift to make that much money without giving anything back to his collectors? Or does he truly have no obligation because the art itself is the utility and benefit?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a sample of what the community is saying:<\/p>\n

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As artists, our entire lives are dedicated to our art.<\/p>\n

The utility is that you get own a piece of that.<\/p>\n

Pretty remarkable, really.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Ravi Vora (@RaviVora) April 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Artists want to charge 10x as much as traditional artists, then get mad when people ask for utility. If you are gonna play in web3 sandbox with web3 prices then you need to play by web3 rules. You want to create only art? Lower price or sell physicals\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 mrjosco \ud83c\udf4c (@mrjosco) April 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

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I hate to be the bearer of bad news.<\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t got a roadmap, I can\u2019t promise you riches if you buy my art & I don\u2019t know what utility you expect of me\u2026<\/p>\n

But that won\u2019t stop me from releasing art in all the mediums that I am exploring & push myself further\ud83d\udc9b pic.twitter.com\/lKphxMcUeJ<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Billelis (@billelis) April 14, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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I don’t agree with you. This is a market most of us aren’t millionares that can afford to lock away crazy amounts of money on jpegs. It’s on the artist to make his collection worth more every year if by making utility or being active on Twitter or having a great story.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Nakanamakeit (@chibiapegang) April 13, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Some thoughts on NFTs and utility <\/h2>\n

In 2022, the NFT market stands in stark contrast to what it was even a year prior. At the start of 2021, the NFT ecosystem seemed to be solely about digital art. Artists were finding that NFTs were a new way to sell art and connect with their fans. Collectors were finding that trading NFTs was a new way to collect digital art and accrue a profit.<\/p>\n

But the truth is, things have changed. Since NFTs when mainstream, a number of new individuals and communities have entered the space, and many artists are making millions (so are many collectors).<\/p>\n

Yet, it wouldn\u2019t be an overgeneralization to say that art<\/em>, the actual application of creative skill (drawings, paintings, animations), still runs the NFT market. It\u2019s not all money and profit. After all, Bored Apes, Cool Cats, Doodles, Cath Simard, and Drift wouldn\u2019t have become successful by selling blank NFTs. But this doesn\u2019t mean artists<\/em> are at the center of the ecosystem. <\/p>\n

That said, artists have been creating and selling art for hundreds of years. History has shown that art, in and of itself, has value. Why now must an artist provide more <\/em>to their collectors than the product of their years of dedication to their craft?<\/p>\n

Again, things have changed. NFTs have changed things. They provided a way for collectors to both own a piece of art and<\/em> gain access to unique incentives. They provided a way for artists to make millions from their work and <\/em>become a rising tide for all ships \u2014 to share the wealth with their collectors when their project is successful. These changes brought with them a host of new questions, and it\u2019s unlikely that the debate will be settled anytime soon (if ever). The debate that unfurled this week and started to cause ripples will very likely lead to some pretty big waves. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n