As far as buzzwords go, “metaverse” and “NFT” are dominating 2022. But what does all the hubbub surrounding these abstract concepts mean for the art world? During a panel discussion at the 2022 Investec Cape Town Art Fair, two innovative local artists shared their thoughts.
Rendani Nemakhavhani (AKA PR$DNT HONEY) has been dabbling in the world of NFTs to make revenue in a new way from her illustrations. Alex Coetzee is an artist, architect, gallerist, and co-founder of the online gallery The PLOT.
The PLOT collaborates with artists directly to translate their tangible works into magical experiential ‘events’ that are then sold as NFTs. “We'll have an idea for a particular fair and find an artist whose work we think could really work well with the techniques of 360 image-making.”
Alex believes digital art targets a gap in the traditional art world. “Inevitably, we all live online in some way,” explains Alex. “Even if you're an oil painter, you photograph your work and you present it online; we've been making that experience a little bit more dynamic.”
The PLOT turns these digital artworks into new pieces of art that are then sold on NFT marketplaces, such as OpenSea. The result has been exciting, engaging, and fun, giving the concept of art a fresh coat of paint and making the often-imposing art world that much more accessible to the average person.
Rendani needs no introduction. “I am the president and I'm made of honey,” she declares to a room full of laughs. In her art, Rendani plays with the social structures surrounding money and delves into the politics of what money could look like if it featured women.
“If we're going to include women in the conversation of economics and money, why are we not seeing ourselves in the space?” She first sold her work as an NFT through ART X Lagos and found the process a little daunting. “It was also a very scary experience for me just because it was my first time dabbling in that space.”
Refreshingly, Rendani admits she wasn’t entirely convinced by NFTs at first. “I was so confused. I was just like, I don't get this thing. Like, what's the point of owning a digital thing if you can't have it, when are you gonna look at it? Who are you going to show it to? What are you doing with it?”
They can be just photos on a phone - but NFTs have the potential for so much more. An NFT is not a JPEG or a GIF in and of itself; rather, it is whatever the NFT’s associated smart contract stipulates it to be. Besides the actual value of what the smart contract assigns to its owner, NFTs are valuable because of rarity and utility.
Art is all about freedom of expression, but the art world, ironically, often limits the extent of this expression through rigid ideas about what art belongs in the gallery. "In the art space, we work in movements. Like there's a movement of work that has to have a certain style for it to be popular, for it to be accepted, for it to sell,” explains Rendani.
NFTs subvert this debate by flinging wide the doors for digital artists of all kinds. “It's really important to be in a space where you are able to do whatever you want to and for the work to also live anywhere, which is the really cool thing about NFTs,” says Rendani. “NFTs provide the space where digital artists can actually make actual money from the work that they're doing.”
- H.E. Charlton