Merging Art with Technology
Bringing in the blockchain system into the traditional art market
Article by Hye-Min Park
“Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” — Henry Ward Beecher
We can often hear people say that times have changed. With advancement of technology and introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI), we are living in a world where machines are replacing jobs that used to require man powers. However, one job that machines or AI cannot replace is an artist. To create a work of art with artistic value, an artist not only needs to make his art aesthetically pleasing to the viewers but also needs to make his art be the representation of who he is as an artist, and thus, it is safe to say that an artwork created by an AI lacks the depth and artistic value that of the artwork created by an artist. In a way, art and technology are like polar opposites, and they do not seem to mix well together. At least not until the introduction of the new platform in the art market that implemented the blockchain system in the sales and purchases of the artworks.
Recently, an artwork by an American visual artist, Andy Warhol had been tokenized and sold at a cryptocurrency auction conducted through a platform called Maecenas. It is said that approximately $1.7million USD was raised in the cryptocurrency auction, which consisted 31.5% of the total valuation of $5.6 million USD. This is only a beginning of the art and technology merging to create a new platform for sale and purchase of the artworks. Artwork by Pablo Picasso is also scheduled to be tokenized and sold through blockchain auction. By purchasing a fractional ownership in these artworks, you can own a piece of world famous artist’s masterpiece without having to go to auction houses or art dealers.
Implementing blockchain system in the transactions dealing with art sales and purchases may even resolve the problems in the traditional offline-oriented, closed structured art markets. For example, blockchain system can provide transparency in the art trades. Once an artist registers his artwork with the blockchain system, a provenance record of the artwork is created. Provenance record includes the information of the artist who created the artwork and those who previously owned the artwork, and the record also keeps track of the transactional history and exhibition history of the artwork. This record is then revealed to the public for transparency of the transactions, authenticity of the artwork, but also, to increase the value of the artwork because the fact that the artist who created the artwork, or its previous owner is highly reputable in the art market adds to the value of that artwork.
Another problem that exists in the traditional art markets is the liquidity of the artwork. Even though there is growing number of people who view the artworks as reliable investment assets, not everyone can afford to purchase million dollar art piece. However, tokenizing the ownership of the artwork allows the buyers to purchase fractional ownership in the artwork, which can then be freely traded, sold or purchased. With the availability of this new platform, becoming an owner of “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci, or “The Starry Night” by Vincent Van Gogh may soon become a reality.
While it is true that this growing online art investment platforms addressed and resolved some of the problems in the existing art markets, it has yet to solve one of the art markets’ biggest problems such as stagnant growth in the art markets. Artworks are recognized as valuable investment assets; nevertheless, the volume of transactions in global art market is worth about $62.5 billion USD, which is far below $100 billion USD. Considering that this is from a global stand point, $100 billion USD is not an impossible figure to reach, but the volume of transactions in the global art markets has not yet exceeded $100 billion USD.
ArtBloc is a project that is designed to reform the existing blockchain-based art trade platforms and tackle the issue of stagnant growth in the existing art markets. ArtBloc will create a new tertiary market to promote safer transactions of art sales and purchases, and it will also attract not only art collectors but small-scale investors as well to secure more investment capital into the art market, thereby allow the volume of transactions in global art markets to exceed the goal of $100 billion USD.
To further help your understanding of the relationship between art and blockchain system, here is a link to a video featuring Jess Houlgrave, Co-Founder and COO of Codex Protocol, and her speech on the basic concepts of how blockchain system is changing the art markets: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pNI5MAgT2ys
About ARTBLOC
Opening up art investment for all, ARTBLOC enables micro-art investment by tokenizing the fractionalized ownership of masterpieces. ARTBLOC serves as a community for sharing art world information and critiques as well as a platform for art investment. ARTBLOC aims to drive the growth of the art market in general and support the artists, ultimately bringing art to our everyday lives.
Find us at ▶︎artbloc.io
