A guide to collecting Digital Art

Moving Images is a brand new initiative at Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Autumn (20 – 23 October), which will showcase digital art and NFTs from four innovative artists; Afroscope, Karina Abramova, Cecilia Bengolea and Bob Bicknell-Knight.

We asked JM Finn, Lead Partner of the Fair and experts in wealth management, and LiveArt.io, an online NFT platform and curators of Moving Images to help put together this handy guide to collecting digital artforms. So if you’re considering dipping your toe into the wonderful world of NFTs, this is the perfect place to start.

What is an NFT?

An NFT, or Non-Fungible Token, is a digital record of ownership of an item, such as a digital artwork. NFTs allow collectors to purchase digital artworks securely, and prove their ownership (like a certificate of authenticity).

A token, by definition, is something that grants you access and ownership. Much like a key to a house, an NFT gives you ownership of a digital work. Its non-fungible properties also mean none of these pieces are interchangeable. You can easily trade one bitcoin for another, but an NFT is truly one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable. And so
in the trading of an NFT, you’ll always end up with a different piece of digital work. An NFT is essentially a guarantee of something’s authenticity – a digital file whose unique identity and ownership is verified on a blockchain – or Crypto currency.

While NFTs are culturally significant and collectable objects in their own right, many buyers are also treating them as an investment, speculating on their rising prices. And rightly so. The global NFT market size is expected to grow from USD 3.0 billion in 2022 to USD 13.6 billion by 2027.*

JM Finn say: “NFTs share the same appeals and drawbacks of investing in more traditional alternative unique assets, such as oil paintings or cars. Given their relatively recent invention and their relationship with cryptocurrencies, it is worth seeking investment advice if you are interested in collecting NFTs.”

The global NFT market is expected to grow from $3 billion in 2022 to $13.6 billion by 2027

What is Digital Art?

Digital Art is an umbrella term encompassing Video Art, Generative Art, AI, and Interactive Art.

From Nam June Paik’s experimental use of the television in the 1970’s, to Bill Viola’s electronic, sound, and image technology, the Video Art genre is constantly evolving in the wake of technological advances, such as AI, AR, and VR.

Generative Art is created using predetermined algorithmic processes or computer code to inform creative decision making. Beginning in the late 1950s and into the 1960s, artists like Harold Cohen, who created the AARON machine, and Vera Molnár, one of the first women to pioneer computational artistic programming, began to cultivate the genre of Generative Art that we know today.

How do I collect digital art?

You usually purchase an NFT with Crypto currency, but LiveArt also take credit card payments, making it a super easy process.

To purchase an NFT with crypto you need to have a wallet funded with crypto. The most common crypto wallet is Metamask. On LiveArt, purchasing an NFT with a credit card doesn’t require any crypto knowledge – you just fill out your card details as you would with any other online purchase. Once completed, the NFT will be instantly transferred to a new crypto wallet created just for you.

How to display digital art?

Your Digital Art NFT will live in your crypto wallet. You can then display your NFTs in your home, studio or workspace – or anywhere you can set up a screen. There are a range of screen options to choose from, such as Infinite Objects, Tokenframe, and Muse Frame. In the Moving Images showcase at Battersea Autumn, we’ll showcase how NFTs can be styled in the home on Samsung smart screens. If the digital sphere is more your thing, you can also display your NFT in the metaverse.

Moving Images

The artists in Moving Images have been selected to represent some of the best examples of contemporary Video Art. They are:

Karina Abramova – Las Palmas Doradas Project
The Las Palmas Doradas (golden palms) project explores the relationship between humanity, nature, and technology. The work is a bridge between eco-activism and climate debate with technology as an accelerator. Karina’s works on show in Moving Images are beautiful ‘digital artefacts’ which provoke conversation on the climate crisis.

Afroscope
Nana Opoku aka Afroscope is a multidisciplinary artist and designer. His process is spontaneous and intuitive, resulting in imagery that is often surreal, otherworldly and afrofuturist. He views his work and the world he creates as extensions of his fascination with oneness, meditation and play, reveling in the mystical quality of his art-making process. Afroscope’s works have been showcased across the world, including at the 2022 Venice Biennale, where he represented his native Ghana.

Bob Bicknell-Knight
Bob Bicknell-Knight is a multidisciplinary artist, curator and writer, working across painting, sculpture, video, installation and digital media. His work is inspired by surveillance capitalism, hyper consumerism and internet culture. Bob’s works in Moving Images imagine a future where the internet has collapsed, and people pray to major tech companies, creating shrines to them.

Cecilia Bengolea
Argentine artist Cecilia Bengolea works on a range of media including performance, video and sculpture, and uses dance as a tool and a medium for radical empathy and emotional exchange. Bengolea develops a broad artistry where she sees movement, dance and performance as animated sculpture. Her work in Moving Images, Bubbles, depicts her body in motion, morphing into fantastical creatures. Bengolea’s work is internationally recognized and has been exhibited at Art Basel and recently at the Guggenheim, Bilbao.

About our Partners

JM Finn – Lead Partner of Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Autumn

JM Finn is a wealth management firm that seeks to provide a personalised approach to investment and wealth management for today’s private investors and their advisers, by placing a dedicated investment manager as the central point of contact for all clients. With over 100 investment professionals, JM Finn look after more than £10.2 billion on behalf of over 18,500 clients. Pick up a copy of their guide to collecting art at Affordable Art Fair, Battersea Autumn from 20 – 23 October.

JM Finn is headquartered in London and has four regional offices around the country in Bristol, Bury St Edmunds, Leeds and Winchester. JM Finn is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

LiveArt.io – curators of Moving Images

​​Established by a team of art market insiders and tech innovators, LiveArt is a leading global art platform that blends innovative technology with intimate knowledge of the art market to put collectors and artists in control. LiveArt provides collectors unmatched access to proprietary pricing data and market insights so they can buy and sell artworks with confidence, discretion, and efficiency. The AI-powered data platform is the preeminent destination for art market data and analysis, live auction streaming, real-time and historic pricing information, detailed analysis of artist and market trends, and financial and cultural context. LiveArt’s digital peer-to-peer marketplace provides for ultimate discretion, allowing users to determine how much information about their identity and works of art is disclosed.

*Statistics taken from Research and Markets, May 2022.