Blockchain x Artists: NFTs, Digital Art and a Major Paradigm shift
An Interview with Zack Yanger
The recent NFT boom has made noise throughout the world. And what is better, the capacity for innovation behind these three letters is more than can ever be summarized in one article. So, I sat down with Zack Yanger, the Senior Vice President of Business Development at SuperRare, to discuss the future of the world of Digital Art.
But first, let’s backtrack for a quick minute.
What is an “NFT” and where do they come from?
NFT stands for “Non-Fungible Token”. And what does that mean exactly?
Imagine this: You and your mate pull up to a Starbucks drive-through to buy coffees. The employee hands over your order: two grande soy lattes. You ask your friend which one he wants.
“I don’t care, they’re the same.”
Fungible VS Non-Fungible
As explained in the example above, the two Starbucks coffee’s could be considered fungible. A “fungible” asset can be replaced by another identical item. A Bitcoin (BTC), for example, is a fungible asset; one Bitcoin has no major distinction from the next. They can be swapped or traded for the exact same value as each other.
A “Non-Fungible” asset is a unique, digital item held on the blockchain. Different types of NFTs have emerged, including digital art, game items, event tickets, music, and other various forms of IP.
In short, NFTs on the blockchain are essentially traceable, unique, immutable, and secure DIGITAL RECEIPTS. These capabilities allow for online assets to have provable scarcity and ownership that can not be manipulated. Imagine uploading the Mona Lisa as a digital file and having the ability to track its’ every move, send it across the world and collect royalties and prove ownership at any given time.
Any paradigms shifting yet? If not, that’s okay, keep reading we are just at the beginning.
Each day, we see a new article about a blockchain company. A few household names include decentralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase, infrastructure platforms like Alchemy, and creator platforms like Bitski, NBA Topshot, Audius, SupeRrare, Nifty Gateway, Opus, and most recently Axie Infinity. These platforms are all shaping a more equitable future in which we can not truly imagine.
Let’s see what Zack had to say regarding the future of SuperRare and Crypto art as a whole.
Please share a little about your experience leading up to working in blockchain, how were you introduced? And how did you end up at SuperRare?
Zack’s background is in marketing and advertising. He began his career working for large advertising agencies in NYC before starting his own video production company out of Brooklyn doing extensive commercial work for large brands before joining SuperRare in 2018. Now almost 3 years later, he is leading the Business Development and Art Advisory team as Senior Vice President.
“I first got introduced to Bitcoin in mid-2016 — and fell fully into the rabbit hole in 2017. Around 2018 was when I started learning more and more about Ethereum.
I attended a blockchain seminar where I was lucky enough to see Charles Crain (SuperRare CTO) and Jonathan Perkins (SuperRare Chief Product Officer) presenting their latest project they had just launched on the Ethereum mainnet — SuperRare. I was immediately sold on the concept of NFTs and feel incredibly lucky that I instantly saw how big of an opportunity this could be for digital creators.
Even crazier, while walking my dog in Greenpoint, Brooklyn the following week I saw Charles and Jonathan on the street loading surfboards into a van. Long story short, I introduced myself, told them how much I love what they are doing, and offered to produce a video to help market SuperRare. Within a couple of months, I had joined the team to lead the marketing charge.”
What do you think is the secret sauce that has kept SuperRare at the top of the list for all-time sales and volume?
SuperRare has dominated the CryptoArt market for some time, sitting consistently on the list for top NFT projects. Currently -July 2021- SuperRare sits at #3 for all-time NFT sales volume with over $80,700,000 (Behind only CryptoPunks and Meebits).
“There can only be one first — and that is SuperRare. SuperRare was the first digital art platform that allowed creators to mint NFTs directly themselves and sell them directly to collectors in a 100% peer-to-peer manner. We invented the concept of both artist & collector royalties which I think get’s us a lot of credit with the community. I think what stands out the most is that we’ve worked very hard to become the most trusted and authentic platform for artists and collectors. Provenance is recorded on-chain, artists mint their work themselves, it’s all single edition. Therefore, Super. Rare.
That being said, I believe the future of this space is not going to be so scattered. Right now, “labels” and galleries that control the flow and distribution of art don’t interact with one another, they are really quite siloed. One of the big changes I believe we will see is aggregation. Collectors want their fine art pieces to be in one place, and they want to be able to see and track cumulative artist statistics. I see SuperRare becoming the place where collectors can trade and collect all of their artworks from all trusted platforms.”
What is the status of NFTs becoming mainstream?
For those who haven’t been tracking, the market for crypto art has grown drastically. From April 5, 2018, through April 15 of 2021, 6,158 artists sold 191,208 pieces of NFT-based art for a total of $541,378,383, according to Crypto Art, a website that tracks sales. And usually, the art market works in secret, but with increased transparency and accessibility, we can now track and understand the flow of digital (crypto) art in real-time.
In fact, the team at the New York Times took a deep dive into the ecosystem of the NFT art market and found that an interesting pattern had emerged: right now, the crypto art market is largely supported by only a few MAJOR collectors. Arguably, they are the OG Crypto investors.
(More on that in their full article here.)
“I don’t think everyone will own NFTs, but it will be huge. For the time being and in the near future, it’ll mainly be crypto collectors. Right now, there are many barriers to entry; making the leap from seeing the artwork on your computer to understanding why an NFT has value and how Ethereum works add layers of complexity to make the leap into mainstream waters. A requirement of understanding the technology will not be a permanent thing. In the next 5 years, I believe using Web3 platforms will be no more complicated than using Web2 platforms like Instagram and Facebook. This will support the leap to mainstream adoption.”
Interoperability and NFT’s, where is that going?
If you are one of the many people asking, “Okay I own a Cryptokitty, now what?”, you are not alone.
Let’s backtrack though before we get into Zack’s answer.
Historically, selling any kind of art- across ALL mediums- has been competitive and relatively inaccessible- the most successful artists are chosen and controlled by a handful of powerful institutions. This has been the case for musicians, artists, and even actors. For all the artists out there, take a step back and imagine the possibilities of being able to pull your art from whichever platform it is hosted on, and displaying and selling that art in a digital world- at any time you please, collecting royalties, accessible to anyone.
Here is how that could look:
Imagine you own land and a home in a virtual world like Decentraland or CryptoVexels. That night, you are hosting a virtual event; you invite all of your friends and a few notorious collectors to showcase and sell your new NFT art pieces that are operable directly from SuperRare. Better yet, you decide you want to showcase all of your work so you throw up some of your pieces from Nifty Gateway. You sell a few pieces and make December’s rent, all from the comfort of your couch. This may be a little extreme and idealistic of a vision, but a future like this may not be too far off. Why not, right?
For now, here is what Zack had to say about the short-term.
“We will see a lot more interoperability with display solutions in the near term. Right now the display solutions are not Web3 enabled. Soon display solutions will integrate with Metamask and other wallets, allowing for solutions where you will need to own the work to display it.”
How crazy is that?
A future where all creators have the capability to protect and track all of their media and collect royalties in a timely and efficient manner — all with Web3 solutions.
What excites you most about the future of Crypto Art and NFTs?
“For me what really excites me is the work we have done these last 3 years. it has actually brought digital artists to the forefront of the conversation. For years, digital creators have been paid pennies to do commissioned hourly projects and now we are seeing the Christies and the Sothebys focusing on NFTs more than anything else.
The fact that artists across the world are having their lives changed by this is really empowering. It is also connecting artists and creating communities all based on mutual love and understanding of NFTs and this new technology.”
There is much to be discovered in the world of blockchain x creators. And slowly but surely, these changes are happening every day. For artists, collectors, or crypto lovers out there, the excitement is growing as technology and art collaborate in an effort to effectively empower. I look forward to reporting more updates in this space.
Stay up to date! Free resources
NonFungible.com : Track NFT Sales and News
Coindesk: Crypto News
Cointelegraph: Crypto News
Follow SuperRare and Zack on Twitter
Check out my NFT report.
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Claire Mirran
Senior @ USC, writing and researching about blockchain, innovation, and Virtual Worlds.
