NFTs & ART
Interview With Max Kulchinsky
One of the newer terms that seem to be brought up everywhere these days is NFT. Whether you are involved in the art world or not, there’s a good chance that you have had a conversation in which it was mentioned, along with similar terms that are more familiar, like blockchain or Bitcoin. With the rapidly increasing popularity of cryptocurrency, digital artworks known as NFTs seem to be taking over and making us question what it means for the art world’s future.
But what are NFTs anyway? It is the question everyone seems to be asking, as any news involving blockchain tends to be both confusing and highly fascinating at once. The answer, unfortunately, is not a simple one. The acronym stands for Non-Fungible Token, meaning that it is one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable. An NFT can never be copied or changed; cryptocurrency, on the other hand, can be exchanged. After purchasing an NFT, you become the sole owner of a work that isn’t available anywhere else.
In just one year, NFT art has become the rage, with celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Grimes jumping onto the bandwagon or established artists such as Damien Hirst creating works in digital form. NFTs have now also entered the gallery space, both physically and digitally. One of the first NFT exhibits in New York City was held at DorDor Gallery in Bushwick. The show, titled METAPHYSICAL, displayed the work of several blockchain-based artists and combined both physical and digital works. The NFT platform Bitski powered the NFT pieces. The show’s curator, Max Kulchinsky (who was also a featured artist), has been both a creator and a collector of NFTs for some time. I, like most people, have questions about the phenomenon. He kindly agreed to answer some, starting with whether this digital art can take over the art world: “It’s hard for me to imagine NFTs and digital art completely replacing traditional physical art. In the spirit of the show that we did, I think that combinations of both and having experiences of both is going to be important, and I do think that more established artists are going to get into it.” Damien Hirst, for example, is an artist that has already embraced NFTs. “I think it’s incredibly important for the future of art, especially as we become more digitized.”
It is crucial, though, to do thorough research when purchasing an NFT: “Crypto and NFTs are revolutionary and amazing, and open a lot of doors, but there are numerous and endless scams. That’s why it was important to work with a group of artists who have really built credibility, are emerging and are doing great work.” Kulchinsky selected all the artists whose work, along with his own, would be featured in the show: blacksneakers, Sean Williams, Noah Kocher, mew.psd, Soulo Saint, Sophie Sturdevant, Squibs, Bobbi Cai, and Dillon ATM. Each artist contributed one physical piece and one digital piece to be sold as an NFT. The digital works were displayed on a digital frame, and the traditional pieces were hung on the wall. “They’re all really great people that I think are doing great work. I do believe most of these artists will wind up in huge galleries and museums one day.” He speaks of each artist with so much enthusiasm because he is highly passionate about their work.
Apart from creating them, Kulchinsky is an avid collector of NFTs, and understands the thought process behind a purchase: “The first piece I bought was $1 and definitely sent me down a rabbit hole of finding more artists and collecting more work.” However, he adds that, although people are in it for different reasons, the artists that tend to have the support are those that are in the scene and actively supporting other artists “For a lot of people this is their first time collecting art and it has definitely provided a new level of access and a new method to support artists and to collect art so I do think a lot of it is about that.”
Another example of physical art combined with digital art is the recent announcement from Russia’s State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. It will auction off digital copies of artworks in their collection as NFTs. These digital copies are works by Leonardo da Vinci, Giorgione, Wassily Kandinsky, Vincent van Gogh, and Claude Monet. In its announcement, the museum stated that it intended to “provide a new level of accessibility to the Hermitage’s collections” and “emphasize the importance of digitalization as a new stage in the realm of collecting artworks.” The museum’s director, Mikhail Piotrovsky, added that “The NFT is a route that creates democracy, makes luxury more accessible, but at the same time exceptional and exclusive.” He believes that NFTs are not a good way to earn money but are essential as a new way to relate to art.
With how fast this evolves, we can expect much more to come from digital art and experiences. NFTs might not be here to completely take over the art world, but they are here to make a colossal impact.
