The evolving world of NFT’s

We, at Affordable Art Fair strive to bring you cutting edge developments and break down barriers into the art market. Since its inception, one of the goals of the Stockholm fair has been to bring art, in all its formats, to the people – this is part of what makes us unique.

At the 2021 fair, we’re delighted to bring you a phenomenon from one of the hottest art markets, which has recently broken into into the main-stream – NFT (non-fungible-tokens). Hinder, Co-Founder of Nfinitymarks, our partner for NFT’s and Digital Certifications, breaks them down for us.

Background

Digital technology is re-defining several aspects of the art world, including how art is created, bought, sold and displayed. This in part, is being driven by a new demographic of collectors – An emerging group of NextGen digital natives who are looking to consume art in a less traditional sense. They are shaping the digital landscape, whilst highlighting the potential for new ecosystems outside of the traditional art world to flourish.

NFTs explained

NFT stands for non-fungible token and in very simple terms can be described as a unique digital record of information that has a monetary value attached to it. An NFT can be used to securely establish the identity and ownership of an asset – like a digital signature, or fingerprint of sorts.

When connected to a blockchain – a secure system for storing information on a decentralised digital ledger – the NFT permanently and traceably marks the origin, ownership and uniqueness of the asset it represents. In recent months, we’ve seen a flurry of examples of different applications of NFT technology within digital art, videos, games, music, gifs, twitter, memes, and code.

How are NFTs used within the art world?

In the case of digital art, the NFT is the artwork itself. It provides a new way of verifying the authorship of digital artworks that could otherwise be copied indefinitely.

Within the realm of physical art, the NFT functions like a digital certificate of authenticity. Offering a secure way to record ownership of the artwork, to verify its provenance, and to minimise any future risk of forgery. It can also open up a world of possibilities in terms of how we manage and experience and share art collections.

The future

As with other aspects of life, the future of art collecting is becoming increasingly digitised in both the analogue and the digital art worlds, affording new opportunities for artists, art dealers and collectors alike.  

Although we don’t have a crystal ball, it is clear that NFTs are here to stay. As they continue to gain more traction, digital assets in all facets of life might become the norm.

As far as art goes, embracing new technologies is not about abandoning tradition, but rather protecting our art investments and sustaining a future for our most beloved collectables.

At the fair

Nfinitymark will be an official partner of Affordable Art Fair Stockholm this year. Kirsten is Stockholm-based and has degrees art history and curation from McGill University, Montreal Canada and from Stockholm University. This, in combination with her extensive experience in the art world, including Moderna Museet, Spritmusem and Couture Galleri and Nordic Stories Contemporary Art make her the go-to on all things art. Together with her Co-founder Champike Munasinghe who has 25 years experience within Tech, they are the perfect match to bring NFTs to Affordable Art!

Make sure to stop by stand E8 at this year’s fair (14 – 17 October) to talk to Kirsten and Champike about the latest on NFTs – don’t miss your opportunity to begin your own digital footprint!

Main image: Oliver Colin, Iris 5, photography