The recent boom in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has changed the art industry. It has marketed millions of people, who now regard a digital artwork as a collector’s item.
The astronomical prices paid for several high-profile blockchain-authenticated works of art have made them a constant topic of conversation.
We’ve seen it all, from projects like Bored Ape Yacht Club to performative gestures like Cassils’ tin poop based on famous artists’ diets. So, what makes NFT artists succeed outside of the art gallery fabric? And how come some of these collections have achieved celebrity status?
Let’s take a look at the Bored Ape Yacht Club. Many celebrities, including talk show host Jimmy Fallon, tennis star Serena Williams and pop star Justin Bieber, bought an NFT from the Bored Ape Yacht Club, or BAYC, in 2021.
The BAYC concept designers conceived the idea of wealthy monkeys living in a swamp clubhouse, hired freelance artists to design the monkeys, and launched the NFT project. There are 10,000 original Bored Ape NFTs available, each with a unique combination of traits such as coat color, background color, clothing and accessories.
However, what gives the Bored Apes their underlying value is the blockchain technology they are built on. The monkeys are NFTs, which means that each monkey is a unique item with one owner. The owner of each monkey is recorded on the blockchain, where everyone can see who owns a particular NFT.
A new item is added to the blockchain when the NFT is bought, sold or transferred, updating the ownership details. Bored Apes prices have risen to six figures thanks to NFT technology, eye-catching art and hype.
Another NFT work by Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist known as Beeple, was sold at a Christie’s auction in March 2021. The NFT, titled “Everydays: The First 5000 Days”, sold for $69 million. Beeple’s fan base, which has more than 2.5 million followers on social media channels, is one of the things that has made his work so lucrative.
When these elements were combined with the popularity of NFTs, the value of his work skyrocketed.
In February 2021, Jaiden Stipp, a teenager from Tacoma, Washington, created his first digital artwork on a whim. It was a moving image of a swinging astronaut-skeleton hybrid. Jaiden is now a full-fledged NFT artist.
He has made eight single NFTs of his work and sold his first edition in October 2021, when he made a new limited edition NFT artwork available to 367 collectors. The limited editions sold out immediately, bringing in nearly $3,50,000 in sales.
Then there’s Cam Rackam, a 42-year-old recording artist from California who sold his NFTs in 32 minutes for $7,38,593.97. Rackam suffered from the COVID-19 pandemic that hit artists hard.
So he switched to digital art. He started making NFTs and reached out to an Instagram meme page to collaborate on an NFT collection. They agreed, and Rackam drew thousands of variations of a Wall Street-themed cartoon bull.
The entire collection of 10,000 NFTs was sold in 32 minutes of its introduction on October 27, 2021, with Rackam pocketing $738,593.97.
Here is one of his artworks:
Artists have found success in the digital market by turning their artwork into NFTs. The NFTs are distinguished in that they are unique, indivisible, transferable and unique.
To create an NFT, you need to mint it or convert it into a digital asset on the blockchain, which you can do on NFT exchanges like OpenSea, Nifty Gateway, and Rarible.
