hope or hype for art

• an [[dweb]] [[meetup]]
  • about [[nfts]]
  • on [[2021-05-04]]
  • [[go]] https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-meetup-may-2021-nfts-hope-or-hype-for-art-tickets-152562471459

Notes

• got here late
  • [[speakers]] https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-meetup-may-2021-nfts-hope-or-hype-for-art-tickets-152562471459
• [[zoom]] really has very very poor screencast quality it seems? I can't even read the text on the screen.
  • nevermind, it was likely an issue with the first presenter
• [[jin]] presenting
  • https://webaverse.com/accounts/0x31e4ca4c07aeb731183334532e80e273d34c47af
  • [[webaverse]]
  • [[cryptovoxels]]
• [[molly mackinlay]] from [[protocol labs]]
  • an [[nft]] is just a contract in a blockchain.
  • it doesn't solve the problem of hosting the content you are acquiring with the contract.
  • sometimes people sell NFTs that just refer to a centralized URL that breaks/can be made to serve other content
  • [[ipfs]] allows you to refer to a fingerprint that will remain constant
  • [[nft storage]] offers a simple API for storing NFTs
    • uses [[ipfs]] and [[filecoin]] under the hood
• [[sarah friend]]
  • dispelling NFT myths
    • "nfts represent art"
      • they can represent game assets, non fungible things off blockchain (real estate for example)
    • "nfts are new"
      • 2014-2015
    • "nfts are ethereum specific"
      • they can run on any blockchain that supports contracts
    • nfts only make up 2-3% of ethereum contracts approx.
    • "nfts change the copyright status of items"
      • nope, they don't interact with copyright. even if you buy an NFT, the copyright stays with the artist.
      • note this is true also of physical artworks.
• [[ruth catlow]]
  • we are seeing the art world and crypto economics colliding
  • the art world faces awkward problems:
    • reconciling the value of a work of art within a social context vs its economic value
    • funding -- many sources, but not enough to fund every artist to a reasonable lifestyle
    • art being a vehicle for speculation and money laundering
  • the crypto world has many problems of its own:
    • diversity problems -- the more prominent proponents are rich men
    • exclusionary
  • what can NFTs do for us?
    • create new funding models
    • redefine ownership
    • define new relationships between artists, patrons and ecosystems
  • common mistakes
    • artists as producers of items of high value
      • causes confusion and tension
      • many artists bring high value to the nft ecosystem
  • [[async art]], [[hen]] were mentioned
• [[wendy hanamura]] is the moderator
• Q: what's been happening inside the nft world?
  • [[jin]]
    • (who made more money with one nft that during five years of producing digital content previously)
  • [[sarah friend]]
    • in february this year an artist made a website called [[cryptoart wtf]], you could type the name of any artist and see their [[carbon footprint]]
    • never thought she would spend so much time fact checking this kind of thing
• [[wendy hanamura]] perhaps the reason that people are anti-nft is environmental mostly?
  • [[jin]] the ethereum community is solving this with proof of stake. layer2 is also rolling out.
  • [[sarah friend]] true that PoW is expensive
  • [[wendy]] is it true you haven't built on PoW for a while?
  • [[sarah friend]] yes, haven't worked on a [[pow]] blockchain since 2017. have found it not even difficult to avoid [[pow]].
  • [[molly mackinlay]] we have to perhaps do a better job at communicating that [[nfts]] are not the artwork, they are more like a receipt.
• [[wendy hanamura]] question on the chat; people think perhaps the panel is too one-sided (positive) and were expecting pros/cons
  • [[ruth catlow]] the environmental impact question steamrolled over the fact that many artists in this field are very much socially aware; the moral panic prevented us from having a more interesting conversation
• [[wendy hanamura]] question from chat: why do we need to introduce scarcity? why isn't patreon good enough?
  • [[ruth catlow]] patreon works well for some things
  • [[sarah friend]] one of the things patreon is critized for is (...)
• (dropping out due to conflict, check notes in [[@vera/2021-05-04]] for more)
• how do [[nfts]] rank for [[dweb principles]]?