Art and Blockchain
Thanks to the blockchain, even works of art can now be authenticated and secured like a Bitcoin. After the revolution of currency, it is now the art to be digitized… and it is based on NFT, non-fongible cryptographic tokens. So, after all, what is NFT?
NFT as work of art v.s. Bitcoin as a currency
To make it as simple as possible, we can put this in parallel with video games, where we can usually purchase virtual objects, such as a weapon or armor. A game where the developer would infinitely multiply the same item for each player to buy it represents a scenario of classic cryptocurrencies. Except that, if the developer of this hypothetical title decided to include only one of these items for all players, the selected item would be unique and, inevitably, its value would fly because of the soaring demand.
When it comes to the NFT whose great particularity is non-fungible, the case is similar, but with several particularities. While a Bitcoin can be exchanged with another and the same value is retained, the NFT has yet a unique identifier that distinguishes them from one another. This is the case we can explore on Sorare, a platform that we have the opportunity to test. They are said to be non-fongible because they have their own identity, like a work of art, and these virtual tokens are exchanged according to supply and demand.
NFT are not fungible
The fact that the NFT are not fungible is also the reason why they are not identified as particularly adapted to the art market. The blockchain gives value to the digital item, a certificate of inviolable digital authenticity, at a time when the question of certifying the authenticity of works of art is debated. The digital items can then be exchanged on platforms such as Nifty Gateway, where most of these new crypto-artists offer their works for sale. This success remains in any case a proof that the blockchain can affect many other sectors, starting with art. In any case, this would clearly call into question the thought of Walter Benjamin, famous author of «The Work of Art at the Time of its Technical Reproducibility», who already anticipated the infinite reproduction of digital objects, but had not foreseen the emergence of this technology of the future.
