Art collecting has traditionally been not just about the art itself, but the story behind the creation and its artist. With the emergence of NFTs attributing provenance to digital objects, the landscape has seen an explosion of interest, even amidst looming lulls where some NFT spaces are reportedly down 95% from their all-time highs.
In an interesting twist to this trend, Grails by PROOF challenges the conventional art collecting paradigm by abstracting the artist’s identity. It perturbs the market mechanics by revealing 20-25 pieces of art to 1000 selected collectors before the minting window, but the artists behind these pieces remain a mystery. The essence of the art then becomes the spurring factor for the acquisition, lending to unique speculative tendencies, some collectors resorting to guesswork to surmise the potential artist behind each piece.
This innovative concept was formulated by PROOF co-founder Kevin Rose. Eli Scheinman, head of art at PROOF, explains that the objective was to engage collectors in a unique manner that moved away from the financialization of NFT collection.
The recent three seasons drew some prominent names in the NFT universe like Snowfro, Larva Labs, Alexis Ohanian, and Gary Vaynerchuk. The impending fourth season shows promise with Scheinman elaborating on securing the uniqueness of the experience through constant innovation and enhancement.
There lies an under-addressed question in the midst of the NFT slump; how does it nurture value for holders of PFP collections? Luca Netz, CEO of Pudgy Penguins, counters this dilemma by outlining a future that many NFT collectors are ready to endorse; global brand recognition, he specifies, is the key to accruing value for NFT holders. Brands that are building prospective household names are diversifying their brand offerings and ensuring many more touch points outside of the NFT ecosystem.
Despite the skepticism surrounding the NFT realm, some players, like Amazon Prime, are marking their presence. Prime’s partnership with Mojo Melee to release NFTs for their subscribers shows a sneak peek into potential future endeavors.
With such radical ideologies raising questions in the world of NFT collection and technology, it’s hard not to ponder if this seemingly unlikely relationship between art and technology might be the golden ticket to redefine art as we know it.
Source: Cointelegraph
