4 Ways The Art World Needs Blockchain: NFTs Spurred An Explosion In Digital Art, Christies And Sothebys Make Crypto Sales, And Platforms Like Arcual Put Artists Back In ...

Christie's New York held its first blockchain sale, the 2018 Barney A. Ebswart Collection, for $318 million, before Beeple's $69 million sale changed the industry forever.
Artwork can be registered with Artory, Codex, or Verisart, and NFT kits from CryptoPunks, CryptoKitties, and Bored Ape are sold on marketplaces like OpenSea, Rarity, and Solana.

Blockchain and Bitcoin may go hand in hand, but what do blockchain and art have to do with each other? As a result, it is actually much more than that. From verifying the authenticity and provenance of artworks to creating new forms of digital art using non-fungible tokens (NFTs), blockchain technology is having a big impact on the art scene.

Simply put, blockchain is a secure and transparent e-book that is digitally distributed, decentralized, open source, and publicly available. Each block in a chain contains three things: data, the block's hash (a unique set of numbers and letters created by an algorithm), and the hash of the previous block in the chain. If any of the blocks are broken, the chain of blocks will be broken, which is what makes blockchain technology so secure.

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1. Auction house sale

While Bitcoin was the first blockchain to go mainstream, it wasn't until the launch of ethereum in 2015 that the technology began to be used beyond just cryptocurrency. Shortly after the launch of Ethereum, two of the world's leading auction houses, Christie's and Sotheby's, began using blockchain in their operations.

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Beeple NFT Record Business “Every day. the first 5,000 days.” Photo: Guijarros

In 2018, New York auction house Christie's became the first auction house to sell on the blockchain platform, selling Barney A. Ebswart's collection of more than 90 works of art for $318 million, with all your transactions fully recorded by security. Artori Blockchain Registry. This new technology allows potential buyers to view the entire transaction history of auctioned artworks before bidding, and collectors who list their works can do so anonymously without having their information stored in a database.

However, it wasn't until March 2021 that the blockchain really exploded with a record $69.3 million (£50 million) daily sale of the Beeple NFT in the first 5,000 days of the Christie's auction . Suddenly, everyone was talking about blockchain, NFTs and the art of cryptography.

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2. Keep it real (virtual)

Blockchain has many uses in today's art world, one of the most important being the verification of the authenticity and provenance of works of art. According to a 2014 report by the Fine Arts Institute of Geneva (FAEI), more than half of the artworks verified were fakes or attributed to the wrong artist.

When art is registered on the blockchain through companies such as Artory, Codex or Verisart, data such as art details, previous records of sales, repairs, transfers, exhibition history, ratings and photo hashes are stored in a secure and shareable blockchain. ". In this way, buyers and sellers can trace the entire life cycle of a work of art, verifying its authenticity, provenance and history.

Elite Apes, a fundraiser for Hong Kong's Bored Apes Yacht Club, has partnered with the GOLD4HK NFT Project to celebrate the journey of the Hong Kong Men's Olympic Team. Photo: GOLD4HK

© Bored Apes Yacht Club Asset Raisers by Hong Kong South China Morning Post . Elite Apes is a partner of GOLD4HK, an NFT project celebrating the journey of the Hong Kong Men's Olympic Team. Photo: GOLD4HK

Blockchain technology has also inspired a whole new generation of artists, artisans, collectors and markets, especially through NFTs or non-fungible tokens. For example, the crypto-art craze in 2021: NFTs such as CryptoPunks, CryptoKitties and Bored Ape valued at over $100,000 sold by collectors on NFT markets such as OpenSea, Rarity and Solana. With encryption, digital artists can finally authenticate their artwork, create rarities for it, and sell it directly to consumers.

3. Artistic platforms

There are also new blockchain-based platforms that give artists more control over their artwork. Last November, Art Basel and MCH Group announced the launch of Arcual, a new blockchain ecosystem co-founded by the Luma Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization that supports independent contemporary artists.

With a mission to "put artists at the center of the art ecosystem", Arcual offers solutions for smart contracts for creators, exhibition fees, customized payment terms, sales contracts, verified sources and digital certificates of authenticity.

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"Arcual grew out of a conversation between Art Basel and [Swiss art director] Maya Hoffmann in late 2018, long before the term NFT exploded," says Arcual CEO Bernadine Brucker-Vedder. "Back then it was called art on the blockchain."

Arcual is different in that it was built from the ground up as its own blockchain specifically for the art world, while other companies use existing cryptocurrency-specific blockchains. The company also starts with mass market art and requires verification from both parties, usually the artist and the gallery, to draw up a contract and certificate of authenticity, making things more secure.

Bernadine Broecker Widder, CEO of Arcual. Photo: Arcual

"We are convinced that what happens in the blockchain is real," says broker Wieder, who expects Arcual to become a truly decentralized ecosystem in the future. "We currently have centers managed by MCH Group, Luma and Boston Consulting Group, and we will gradually invite other organizations from the art world to work in our network."

Art Basel Hong Kong is in beta this year and will feature several exhibitions featuring Arcual-approved art, including Galerie Mitterrand, Sabrina Amrani, In Lieu, Commonwealth and Council and Nathalie Obadia.

4. The Art of Blockchain

New technologies continue to inspire new and innovative art forms, such as Henry Chu's Blockchain Piano presented by Ura Ura at Art Basel Hong Kong this year. A digital art installation that combines cryptocurrency with music, where every key pressed at the same time buys cryptocurrency and converts the real-time market price into a musical note. The resulting tune reflects market fluctuations, turning investing behavior into an art.

"As a gallery for more than 10 years, we want to continue to connect with young people, and I think NFTs can break down some barriers," said Henrietta Tsui-Lung, founder of Ora-Ora. "NFT is just one form of blockchain and we are still exploring all kinds of technologies like the creative side of Web 3 and AI."

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In 2021, Ora-Ora will be the first gallery to showcase NFT art at Art Basel, but Cui-Lung believes there is still a long way to go before blockchain-based art overtakes traditional and contemporary art forms.

“Blockchain cannot replace the traditional art market because it is a completely different market,” he said, referring to the difference in collector profiles. "The NFT collector is definitely younger and probably interested in technology, but we're excited to see that these guys are so open to learning about traditional art."

Despite its many immediate applications, perhaps blockchain's greatest impact on art is that it brings increased attention and interest in all its forms.

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