An Interview with the World’s Most Expensive Crypto Artist and his Collector

The crypto art auction “Art Evolves With Time” held by CryptoArt.Ai came to a close. Famous crypto artists Pak and SongTing made their first debut in China for a crypto art auction. For 169 ETH, 9 artworks have been sold at 185,900 U.S. dollars. The “Leonardo’s Vision” of PAK was auctioned for 50 ETH; the works of SongTing were sold in total 119 ETH, which includes works “Cyber ​​Wonder Woman: Steel Forest” and “A Space Odyssey 2001” that were sold for 51 ETH.

PAK became the most valuable crypto artist of CryptoArt.Ai after signing up on December 8th, 2020. According to JD, the co-founder of the CryptoArt.Ai Platform, Pak’s artwork Leonardo’s Vision is also the first art piece displayed in the CryptoArt.Ai gallery. JD indicated that the CryptoArt.Ai team had in-depth conversations with Mr. Pak to schedule the auction for Pak and SongTing. This auction demonstrates Pak’s great interest. Following a thorough understanding of the theme of “Art Evolves With Time” and Song Ting’s works, which have been based on the AI models. Afterward, Pak created an exceptionally thematic work entitled “Leonardo’s Vision”

At the auction in Sanya on December 22, PAK’s artwork “Leonardo’s Vision” received significant interest, and the collector who purchased this artwork became the first Chinese man to collect the work of the legendary PAK, “Leonardo’s Vision” started auctioning 8 ETH, and there were bids one after the other. The popular investor Mr. Ren Zheng ended up giving the price of 50 ETH to Pak’s artwork ultimately.

Block INSIGHT is also fortunate to invite the world’s most valuable crypto artist PAK and the collector of “Leonardo’s Vision” Mr. Ren Zheng to participate in our exclusive interview.

“Leonardo’s Vision by Pak for 50 ETH“

Artist: Pak

PAK appeared unexpectedly in the world of crypto art in 2019 and all of its information is hidden. I can tell from the interview that he is a decades-old designer who has worked for many years for many big labels and studios worldwide. 25 years ago he began making visual art, but he definitely has effectively turned himself into a crypto artist in the modern world of crypto.

The total turnover of his artworks is $111,393

Q1: When and how you started working on digital art?
Pak: I’ve been a creator as long as I know myself, have been into the digital mediums since they’re around.

Q2: In your opinion, what changes or advantages has blockchain technology brought to crypto creators or artists?
Pak: A brand new medium that’s backed up by evolving technology.

Q3: At present, your works are all published on the Ethereum network. Will you choose to migrate your work to other public chains in the future?
Pak: Why not.

Q4: Are you willing to educate people outside this field? How are you going to explain what your work or job is to them?
Pak: Defining creativity as a job is not easy. Creatives know why they create. On the other hand, I can happily teach more about the technology behind it. I’ve been welcoming to many familiar faces, I will continue to do so.

Q5: What would you advise artists that are planning to tokenize their artwork?
Pak: Create value, communicate your value, innovate, be (yourself).
Design your art.

Q6: “Design is hack” is the pinned post on your Twitter, could you tell us more about it, please?
Pak: Design provides a solution to a problem. It’s an answer to a question.
In other words, it’s a portal on an existing system that binds two edges together creating a new path of possibilities, almost like a bridge that fixes a traffic jam problem.
A shortcut.
Hack.

Collector: Ren Zheng

Mr. Ren Zheng, the partner of Consensus Lab (fund), partner of Linekong Capital, founding partner of Guanghua Hongren Capital, won the Best Investment Institution Award of Qingting.com 2017, and also a member of the board of directors of Zhongguancun Venture Capital and Fund Association, Beijing Deputy Secretary-General of the Cultural, Creative Investment and Financing Association, director of China Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance, 15th President of Peking University International Investment Management Association, and director of China South Innovation Alliance.

Q1: At present, many people think that digital artworks are very easy to be copied, and there is no collection value at all. What do you think of this?
Ren Zheng: Works of art are also easy to clone, with a high ratio of fake up to 99 percent in the traditional art market. In the world of “Mona Lisa” there are numerous fakes, but they have only ornamental value. The meaning of an artwork cannot be replicated at will in a trivial way. The essence of the collection’s worth lies in its authenticity and whether it contains the artistic work of the author itself. With respect to the issue of authenticity, consultants must be employed in the field of traditional art, and time and labor expenses must be expended. The problem can be solved in the art market of the chain by tokenized the works of art.

Q2: Are all the crypto artworks in your collection stored on the Ethereum chain? If there are other public chains that can publish this work, would you consider migrating to other public chains?
Ren Zheng: The ETH public chain is preferred because tokenized artworks are not like the regular use of tokens, which require constant trades and transfers. No too high TPS or very low gas is necessary for the public chain. The recommended factor is secure and safe for digital works of art with high unit prices. You may pick a lower-cost distribution chain for low-value or new works by artists to make dissemination and liquidity simpler or satisfy attention needs.

Q3: What do you think of NFTs?
Ren Zheng: From a macro-political point of view, the tendency to collect vast sums of funds in the post-epidemical period would contribute to a spike in the expense of core assets. In the top ranges of inflation, high-quality art investments also comprise the monetary liberalization incentive, except for equity assets. Furthermore, artworks will provide an efficient means of fighting inflation and the threats of global structural change.
However, the high barriers to entry in the art market restrict the avenues for ordinary buyers to enter; at the same time, the epidemic has forced galleries to shutter and the number of auctions has declined dramatically, making it more difficult to participate.
The epidemic raised the level of online art sales to 37 percent, with the closing of 97 percent of physical galleries and a 36 percent reduction in sales. Since the 1990s and the Z generation are the key market and acquisition forces, appropriate for new things and ready to transact electronically. These trends are good for NFT business growth. There are actually in the NFT trade market. Platforms like Open Seas topped 20,000 users. With the rate of growth, the potential amount of NFT markets and transactions may surpass the traditional physical arts by the epidemic due to the demand for the commodity.
More as well, NFT (Non-Fungible Token) is a natural entrance in the tokenization and salinization of exclusive lands, with special and indivisible attributes. NFT may also be extended to exclusive properties, such as items, songs, videos, insurance, and even real estate, in addition to artworks. NFT not only generates scarce digital properties but innovatively modifies the perception of asset interaction. The next trend in the cryptocurrency industry may then be NFT.