NFTs: The booming world of digital art

This week The Cultural Frontline is looking into the art world’s latest phenomenon…NFTs or Non Fungible Tokens. And if you’re wondering exactly what that means, join Sophia Smith Galer to find out more about this new form of digital art.

NFTs hit the headlines this year when an NFT artwork by the American digital artist Beeple sold at auction for a record breaking $69.3 million. So what are NFTs and how do they work? NFTs use a lot of energy which is bad for the environment, but they can open up new possibilities for artists. Tim Schneider, Art Business Editor at Artnet News, explains the pros and cons.

Despite million pound sales from the likes of Canadian singer Grimes and American celebrity socialite Paris Hilton, the majority of artists commanding high sales from NFT artworks are men. Scottish art collector and co-founder of international collective Women of Crypto Art Etta Tottie and Senegalese artist and member of Her Story DAO Linda Rebeiz explain how they’re working to make the world of NFT art more diverse.

Artists can sell NFTs via online platforms and they are attracting a new type of buyer: young, digitally savvy and familiar with crypto currency. Now the art world is getting involved with an exhibition of NFT art at UCCA Lab in Beijing and the launch of Institut, an “art world” platform to exhibit and sell NFTs. American writer, artist and NFT expert Kenny Schachter explains how the traditional art world feels about this digital disruption.

NFTs have made headlines for big sales and celebrity connections but one creative couple in Indonesia is using an NFT to raise money for charity. In April 2021, the Indonesian navy submarine, KRI Nanggala 402, sank off the coast of Bali, killing all 53 crew members. Sound designer Ruanth Chrisley Thyssen and illustrator and influencer Cindy Thyssen have joined forces do something to mark the event with an artwork, 53 Never Forgotten.

(Photo: NFT titled 'CryptoPunk 7523' by Larva Labs. Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty Images)