Original Title: “NFT Players: Nobody has it before, we are just passing by”

March 11, 2021 may be a day that can be recorded in art history. On the same day, Christie’s auctioned an NFT work by an artist named Beeple, and the final sale price was 69.34 million US dollars. This number surprised the art circle and shocked the world. You know, in 2015, a painting of “Water Lilies” by Impressionist Monet was sold for only 54 million U.S. dollars.

Who is the little-known Beeple? And what is the so-called NFT? All kinds of information gradually fermented from the blockchain circle and penetrated to a wider group of people. Behind the wave of NFT auction news, what kind of artists and collectors are playing?

The work to be auctioned on March 11 was called “Everydays-The First 5000 Days”, with a base price of $100, and it quickly exceeded $1 million within ten minutes of being on the shelves. By the deadline, the price soared from $10 million to $20 million. To the surprise of many participants, a mysterious buyer used a price of close to 60 million at the last moment to overwhelm the crowd.

And the author of this work, Beeple, was a designer who drove a second-hand Toyota not long ago. His real name is Mike Winkelman. Since May 2007, he has insisted on creating one painting every day, mostly design sketches completed with Cinema 4D. The theme has gradually changed from a rough cube to a future vision with antitopian colors. The first 5000Days sold at sky-high prices is just a compressed pixel map of his 5000 works created day and night. Through this auction, Beeple became the world’s third most valuable living artist, followed by Jeff Koons and David Hockney. The former set several times the world’s auction records of living artists, and the latter is as famous as Andy Warhol and is known as the “Godfather of British Art.”

Many people don’t understand that traditional art auctions mostly sell real objects, while Beeple sells a digital picture. Buying a picture that can be copied indefinitely, is the buyer’s brain flooded? Insiders will tell you that, to be precise, what is bought with so much money is not this digital picture, but an NFT.

The full name of NFT is Non-fungibleToken (non-fungible token). As far as NFT auctions are concerned, what the buyer buys is actually a proof of ownership. If the “property certificate” proves that you legally own a certain house; then, NFT is a technical method to prove that you own the right to a certain artwork. This right is recognized and granted by the author, and its authenticity is guaranteed by the immutable blockchain technology. A painting can be enjoyed by thousands of people for free, but this is only a right to use, and a painting has only one ownership, which can only be sold by the author to the buyer, and the buyer can transfer it to the next. The NFT is the proof of this ownership.

Following this line of thinking, all symbols with symbolic meaning can be turned into NFTs for auction. Therefore, in recent times, we have seen that everything from wonderful photos of NBA stars to the first tweet of the founder of Twitter, from the cover of a certain issue of TIME magazine to an article in the New York Times, can all be transformed into NFT. Come to auction.

Another noteworthy information is that most NFT auctions are priced in ETH (Ethereum, a cryptocurrency). The subtext of the sky-high transaction is that most of the buyers are big crocodiles in the crypto circle, and they don’t care about this small amount of money. However, Beeple at the center of the vortex has less confidence in crypto assets. After the auction, he immediately cashed out all the crypto assets he obtained into U.S. dollars. In an interview with Fox, he said that the price of NFT is definitely a bubble.

There are also many players in China participating in NFT games. Below are the stories of two artists and a collector we interviewed.

Sleepy: At least I can do better than those works

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

Satoshi Nakamoto’s Whimsical Ideas

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

Trapped Sou

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

World War III

Sleepy pointed to the tattoo on his hand and explained that the calla lily symbolizes purity and eternity, which is his view of love. The swash character “WRATH” refers to the “anger” in the seven deadly sins, reminding him to observe the world with a sharp eye. The tiger head is because his zodiac is tiger. Sleepy, who was born in 1998, is a typical generation Z. He grew up in Haidian and went to university in Fengtai. He speaks with a Beijing accent.

Like many young people, he has hip-hop music in his headphones. He has been listening to Hiphop since he was a child, and he started applying for the establishment of a Hiphop club at school in the first year of the junior high. However, six years later, he still did not apply after graduation. After going to college, Sleepy continued to apply, but the negative news in the entertainment industry became a new obstacle. So he and his friends set up an underground Hiphop organization, which grew and became famous throughout the campus of Capital University of Economics and Business. Can the Hihpop singers that I like be lifted, and can juniors and sisters form an official Hihpop club? Slowly, he no longer cared about these issues.

When I was in college, Sleepy majored in auditing. The teacher told them a little bit of blockchain knowledge in class, and he remembered it in his heart.

The auditing major of Capital Economics and Trade is one of the school’s flagship majors. It is also located in Beijing. The annual employment rate and whereabouts are good. He started his internship in his junior year and went to a famous accounting firm to do annual audit work. This internship opportunity is a rare opportunity for most students. But Sleepy experienced it and found that outsiders saw the aura and beauty of this profession, while what he felt was exhaustion from work, and there was no interest in life from it.

After thinking about it for a long time, Sleepy felt that writing articles and outputting opinions can make me happy, so I turned to work as a reporter for a blockchain media. In 2020, Sleepy, who had just entered the workplace, heard the term NFT for the first time due to work. Curious, he ran to the NFT auction platform and took a look, and suddenly said, “Many people’s works are so bad, why can they still be sold?”

NFT artwork is a new creature, aside from those cumbersome concepts, its production threshold is not high. Many people even took some “works” that were not even considered as graffiti and put them on the auction platform to join in the fun, and most of the platforms did not strictly review artists and works in the initial stage, and naturally they would not refuse to come.

Sleepy feels that he can also create, “At least I can do better than their works.” He taught himself drawing software in college and picked up these skills. In September 2020, Sleepy put his first NFT work on the auction platform. Like those NFT works that can only be called emoticons and ghost paintings, after the auction began, his works gradually sank into the vast ocean of works. But Sleepy was not much disappointed. As he said, this is just one of his hobbies, and he does not rely on NFT for food.

On weekdays, he continues to pay attention to the crypto art circle, which is one of the areas that needs to be covered in his work.

In February 2021, the joy from the sky, his first NFT work was sold, followed by the second and third pictures. The Mona Lisa wearing the code, the huge whale flying in the sky, and the oil painting version of Satoshi Nakamoto, these NFTs full of cryptopunk flavors were picked one by one by buyers. He began to rank among NFT artists and also received tens of thousands of yuan worth of crypto assets, which surprised his mother.

Sleepy not only makes NFTs, but also collects works he likes. “There is no trick, just collect the ones that are cute or you like.” He thinks that the NFT market will slowly start to differentiate like Taobao in the future: there are high-end and expensive luxury goods, and there are also mass crafts. Regarding the wealth effect of NFTs, he said, “A person earns 1 million US dollars from 10 dollars. This is a story that everyone loves to read and the media loves to write.” He does not reject these simple and crude narrative techniques. “I think What NFT needs now is to allow more people to come in, just like an e-commerce platform, when more users come in, the ecosystem will be perfect.”

As a creator, Sleepy believes that NFT is just a platform to showcase their creations. He doesn’t want to make money from it. Compared with most young people who are caught in an involutionary dilemma, he grew up in Beijing with much less pressure. “A job that is not too stressful and space to do what I like is my ideal life.”

On March 15th, he posted a circle of friends. Among NFT artists, he is currently ranked 1829, and his next goal is the top 1500.

Reva: I understood the first time I saw the “Bitcoin White Paper”

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

For the first interview with Reva, she declined. Later she told me that she had some symptoms of anxiety disorder at the time, so she refused all invitations and returned to her home in Shenzhen. After the new thing of NFT became popular, people who asked her to interview and ask her flocked. “This makes me very stressed and even scared.” After a period of rest, Reva chose to face these external prying eyes again.

In the lens, Reva wears a color-blocked headscarf, and the big thin-framed glasses make her smile a little shy. She is a Hakka. She called her father but likes to use the northern people’s “daddy”. You can find a lot of small thoughts in the seemingly simple makeup. Celadon earrings, light eye makeup, and a voice in the voice. This kind of juvenile feeling, can not guess the age.

In the already niche NFT art circle, Reva lives in a more niche field. In August 2020, she officially started to produce NFT. She called her creative direction algorithm art: a series of art works were synthesized through computer code. There are very few artists in this field. In September, the first NFT work of her creative career went on the shelves. One day later, a mysterious collector bought it for 0.5 ETH (about two hundred US dollars at the time). Since then, her works have been sold one by one. Out. A while ago, an Indian artist who also likes algorithmic art contacted her on Twitter. Coinciding with the changes in the situation between China and India, the two sides hit it off and decided to conduct an international exchange and cooperation in the field of art.

She went to the front door to shoot some footage, find a crowded place, and use the noise of the crowd to make music. I also photographed the white snow in Beijing, wanting to reflect the natural scenery of India. When the work came out, none of the favorite materials were used. When she talked about this experience, there was regret in her voice. And when she mentioned interactive artistic creations that she especially wanted to try, such as writing code to control the light show on the spot, or even writing music, she would laugh happily.

Reva’s pursuit of creation comes from an obsession in my heart. When she was young, she was studying painting in the Children’s Palace, and other classmates left one after another, but she kept holding on. She was the last student of the same batch. In the kindergarten, other children drew a small house with blue sky and white clouds. She drew her favorite Japanese girl. The teacher complained to her parents: “The child who painted the person with thin arms and legs must be corrected.” She changed it back in class and took pictures privately.

The teacher who taught her once asked her if she wanted to take an art exam. Reva, who was facing a junior high school exam, didn’t understand what an art exam was and didn’t tell her parents, so she chose the normal exam. After middle and high school, her parents were more concerned about her study, and painting became a little secret in the rebellious period.

When she was in college, she studied information security, which had nothing to do with art, but the word “blockchain” entered her world for the first time. A large number of cryptographic theories involved in the information security major are also the basis of blockchain technology, which paved the way for her to quickly understand NFT. In her words, “I understood it at first sight of the “Bitcoin White Paper”.”

Painting never stops. Before 2008, “Renren.com” was popular. She created a character named “Son of Summer” on it. She updates a stick figure every day and adds some strange ideas of her own, such as “Eternity is composed of countless moments.” Composed, but every moment is eternal”. During the university, as long as it was activities and clubs related to painting, she never left behind.

When she was in graduate school, her art skills finally came into play. She took the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ virtual reality class admissions examination, and her written test results were not good. During the interview, she took her tutor to browse some of the works she had done in college. The other brothers are all typical programmers who focus on algorithm technology and theoretical knowledge, and the models they make are not aesthetically pleasing. Good art skills make Reva’s work stand out.

In 2012, Reva graduated from the virtual reality master’s program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and worked as an algorithm engineer in China Film Group. 2016 was called the first year of VR. Venture capital poured in. She joined a start-up company for technology development. The VR craze has passed, and the capital that could not find the opportunity to land has poured into the AR field, and Reva has also changed its direction. After working for two years, when AI became a new outlet, she chose to resign, become a freelancer, and want to turn to the art field.

In her opinion, if VR turns to AR, the development direction can be said to be in the same line, but it is technically impossible to change from AR to AI. “Is this kind of transformation really making technology right? I’m a little disappointed.”

In addition, programmers often have a 996-style work rhythm, and it is late at night when she goes home every day. Having lost her living space, she can only get the feeling of being in control of her life by staying up late to watch videos. During overtime and running around, she can’t care about things outside of work. “I feel that I have lost my humanity.”

Even though algorithm engineers are scarce, and even with six years of technology development experience, Reva resolutely gave up the high salary and accumulated resources in the past. After thinking about it for more than a year at home, she decided to dive into the field of fine art—the world she had been dreaming of since she was a child. It’s just that in the past it was called art or design, but today it is called NFT art. She still remembers that “Sailor Moon” premiered in Hong Kong in 1994, and Japanese anime became popular in Shenzhen. Reva, who is in the second grade of elementary school, went to the Children’s Palace to learn painting. Father asked, can you stick to it? She said, I can.

Cao Yin: My current profile picture is Yayoi Kusama

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

Empty house

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

green bottle.gif

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

Song Ting-The Tower of Babel

NFT 玩家:谁都不曾拥有,我们只是过客

WHY HAVE THERE BEEN NO GREAT ARTISTSWOMEN.gif

Beijing, shrouded in sandstorms, exudes some sci-fi staleness, while Dali in the southwest is as clear as the blue water and blue sky.

Cao Yin was in a hurry and was interviewed in a hotel. As one of the most influential figures in the circle, he has many titles: founder of a fund, digital currency consultant of the Central Bank of Estonia, NFT evangelist, senior media reader… There is also a rare name in the Chinese world—— NFT collector.

“Art works have two lives, once in the creation artist and once in the collector artist.” Cao Yin said. NFT artists are mostly devoted to creating, and whether the works can be sold after they are put on the shelves, you need to consider the taste of collectors. One is the creator and the other is the ferryman.

Because of his in-depth understanding and rich experience of NFT artworks, Cao Yin is very popular among NFT artists at home and abroad, and some foreign artists even sell their works to Cao Yin. “They are very concerned about who their works are being photographed. Some artists actually don’t need money at all, they lack people who can appreciate their works.” Every day emerging artists send messages to Cao Yin on Twitter or telegram, telling him With his own creative concept, I hope he can give these abstract works a textual interpretation.

Regarding the NFT art collection, Cao Yin initially established several focus directions. In his mind, NFT is about the innovation of art history, and his collection of works are full of his understanding of beauty. Therefore, the avatar of his social account becomes a display window, where he will put his own collection of artist works. The current head portrait is Yayoi Kusama, a legendary Japanese artist. “Popular dots” often appear in her works, which are psychedelic and dizzy. Cao Yin does not hesitate to praise her.

Cao Yin was born in the financial industry and worked for Cinda Securities for many years. In 2015, the National Energy Administration asked him to do a research project combining the energy industry and the Internet model. He took the lead in adding the concept of blockchain technology to the research topic. After the project was over, Cao Yin and his colleagues started a blockchain entrepreneurship, and later cooperated with IBM to establish one of the earliest blockchain energy laboratories in China.

Applying blockchain technology to the energy field is an opportunity with great potential, but the timing is too early. Coinciding with the market downturn, Cao Yin took advantage of the trend to research in Europe, write books, study tours, and invest. From Berlin to Estonia, he met many friends who were avant-garde art and began to collect encrypted artworks. He loves Berlin the most and thinks the artistic atmosphere there is great. After the epidemic broke out, people couldn’t move anything, and online encryption art attracted his attention.

Talking about the historical significance of NFT, Cao Yin has made frequent remarks. He tried to understand the birth and enthusiasm of NFT and encryption art from the perspective of human art history. He believes that this is a paradigm revolution, breaking the traditional art circle pyramid level. The structure promotes the development of equal rights in art, and becoming a collector is one of the best ways to witness history.

“Green Bottle” is a work in his collection, created by a Nigerian artist Osinachi. Osinachi is both a painter and a writer. His works have themes such as homosexuality, women and people of color, and the characters in them often have no eyes.

Cao Yin made an in-depth interpretation of this work. He believes that expressing alcoholism and music choices have a deep influence on the formation of male behavior. He also quoted Toxic·Masculinity (a hot vocabulary on American social media) “toxic masculinity” Concept.

“At first glance, Osinachi’s work is similar to another African portrait artist, Amoako Boafo. But the difference is that Osinachi created a new visual language, not only because the work is very rare to use office word (office software) and photos More importantly, the themes of protest and struggle permeate all his paintings. If the art of the 19th century emphasizes the presentation of aesthetics, and the art of the 20th century emphasizes the integration of various complex concepts, then the emerging art era The collective consciousness of the 21st century determines that contemporary art in the 21st century should strive for freedom of identity. Osinachi’s works of art are just like his novels: they are new ways of expressing, recording, displaying and letting people come into contact with contemporary Nigeria and Africa. Although he None of the characters in the works have eyes, but it seems to open a window for people. His works allow us to see through his perspective the experiences of ordinary Nigerians and Osinachi himself.”

There are many professional terms in Cao Yin’s art criticism, which should be an expression style that both the art circle and the crypto circle yearn for. Of course, he also said that these are all his hobbies. His main identity is the founder of the Digital Renaissance Foundation, and investment and incubation are his main business.

Is NFT a hobby or an investment? Cao Yin replied that he once taught a friend how to collect, but the other party is more concerned about whether there can be a huge return on income. “I never think this is investment behavior, because I start from personal preferences.”

He believes that art is something related to sensibility, but investment requires rationality. At night, in the online mutual help community, Cao Yin said that he would hold an NFT exhibition in Shanghai and invited everyone to participate. The excited artists suddenly opened the chat box and asked about registration requirements and related matters. Cao Yin replied one by one, Kusao Yama’s portrait kept appearing, and his red hair was particularly eye-catching.

Some people call NFT “encryption art”, which is a moving “concept”. The first book on this field has not yet appeared, and there is no history to record. We have seen many people emerging from places such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, digital art, cyberpunk, new media, etc., squeezing into the crowded NFT community. They are young, talented, well-dressed, and enjoy themselves…