Original paintings are auctioned
The art world is watching with amazement the emergence of NFTs. Digital artworks that were previously very difficult to market are being auctioned off for millions of dollars, while other digital objects that until recently didn’t even have economic value, like tweets or memes, are fetching astronomical prices on the open market. Many people are convinced that we are living in an irrational bubble that has no long-term sustainability. And they may be partially right.
But the truth is that the art world is changing, not only because of technology, but also because of the way people live and consume. We live in an increasingly digital environment where virtual objects enjoy as much reality as physical ones, even if it’s difficult for older generations to understand. Even without blockchain, industries like gaming have already made the sale of digital objects (which sometimes don’t even offer in-game benefits) their primary source of revenue. Players of Fortnite, for example, whose game Epic Games distributes for free, like to buy skins, dances or ornaments that they can wear while playing.
So the reality of digital objects arises naturally from the way of life and consumption of the time, not from an irrational mania for speculation. Now, blockchain technology, and NFTs in particular, enable much more than just the creation and sale of digital objects. An NFT can be just that, but it can also be many other things. In particular, it can be a token for a real-world object. There are thousands of possibilities: an NFT could represent a house, where the owner of the token is also the owner of the real house; or it could represent the right to use a car whose engine starts if and only if the driver owns the NFT; or it could represent a ticket to a concert; or a college degree. NFTs are digital objects that inhabit a blockchain, but they can also represent physical objects, rights, or realities.
Tarasca uses “pure” NFTs, so to speak, in its collection of “Mythical Beings” cards. Each card is an NFT and resides entirely on the Ardor blockchain. There it is connected to other cards, to smart contracts, to cryptocurrencies.
But we also use NFTs as a token for physical objects. In particular, we created NFTs to represent the original physical works of Ana Santiso for our collection, and thus be able to auction them globally, openly, and anonymously. Each original painting now has an associated NFT whose owner can be used with all the advantages that blockchain technology offers: frictionless, uncensored, instantaneous and programmable. Of course, this connection between the digital sign and the real object is delicate and must be maintained by the owner of the NFT.
During the month of May, Tarasca will auction four of the 50 original paintings in the collection. This auction will take place directly on the Ardor blockchain, which allows the creation of digital objects (called “assets”) and their free exchange between users on the asset exchange. The auction will be conducted according to the previously published rules, and at its end Tarasca will accept the highest bid, so the sale will be executed automatically. The new owner of the NFT will only have to wait a few days to receive the artwork by registered mail. The buyers of these original paintings can later dispose of them as they wish. If they want, they can use the physical object for their personal enjoyment, but if they want to sell it sometime in the future, they can use the properties of their digital token, the NFT, to bring it to market in the same simple and global way that we have done in this auction. Of course, they will need to provide sufficient evidence to give confidence to potential buyers, since without the physical color it represents, the NFT loses its meaning and much of its value. But first, the owner of the NFT will be the only person in the world who can prove that the real painting came into his hands in a legitimate and traceable way. It is up to him to show that he is willing to hand it over to whoever acquires his NFT.
The point, then, is to give the market for original goods a very powerful tool that will allow exchanges on an unprecedented scale, and will involve very broad sectors of the planet and of the population that were previously excluded.
NOTE: Tarasca has already auctioned five more original paintings using this method in 2018. The report of this experience can be valuable to show the mechanism used:
Artworks in the Blockchain
