With a personality as vibrant as his art, Super Buddha visited us at the ITP Live office for a talk on NFT art. You probably might have heard this term a hundred times on the internet. Still wondering what NFT art is? Tune into our session with NFT artist from Miami, Super Buddha & his Manger Stacks while on their trip to Dubai.
Q: What is NFT Art?
A: “Non – Fungible token – it’s attached to the block chain. You can call it digital duplication. At a very high level, most NFTs are part of the Ethereum block chain. Ethereum is form of Cryptocurrency, like Bitcoin or Dogecoin, but its block chain also supports these NFTs, which store extra information that makes them work differently from, say, an ETH coin. There are added benefits too – If someone buys my art, they can meet me in person, get to know my piece. I do this with my clients. I sold one for 30,000$ last week!”
Q: What is the difference between selling art in-person or as NFT art?
A: “There are now fine art galleries who display NFT art. You can purchase it with Crypto, or Debit card or a Credit card. With me, it’s a more personal experience – they get to connect and have dinner with the owner of the art. There is a sense of safety since its digital. Nothing can ever happen to it. Crypto has a market value. It is a safer method than in-person auctioning of art. It can never get dirty.”
Q: What defines the price of the art?
A: “The artist does. The cooler work he’s done, the higher the price- just like fine art.”
Q: If you were collaborating with a big Arab influencer, how would you execute that in terms of a collab?
A: *Smiles* “It depends on the person or the celebrity. For example, I partnered with a big company recently and I’m making 1 Million NFTs for them and they are selling it at just $3. Depends upon how we decide to lay the Marketing strategy, it can take any method.”
Q: How would you sell NFTs for Gaming?
A: “So basically when you buy anything for your favorite gaming character, you buy an NFT. For example skins and costumes or tools. Thus is quite literally buying and selling on the internet.”
Q: How to identify an original NFT art piece?
A: “It comes with a certificate – like an authenticity certificate. Just like how you’d have an invoice after buying a real art piece from an auction – we generate an IP Address which does the same job as a certificate.”
Q: Do people pay in Crypto currency or cash?
A: “Both! It takes a different buying pattern and a mind process to buy this kind of art.”
Q: How did you get into this industry?
A: “I’m a traditional fine artist by origin. I saw the scope and the gap in the industry over a couple of years. Does this make more profits than the traditional art method? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. But this is a cooler and newer space to explore, it’ll get there faster than you think it will.”
Q: What’s your bestselling piece of art?
A: “I plan on selling a piece for $100,000 this week, sold one for $50,000 last week. I can show you the piece.” *Shows the team a piece of his art on his phone, joyfully asks not to swipe left or check his messages*
Q: Are the classic auction houses doing this too?
A: “Yes, pioneers like Christies and Sotheby’s are getting into this too.”
Q: Why would someone pay for an (pixelated) image?
A: “It’s more about the market demand and long-term investment.”
Q: Would you like to collaborate with pop-culture brands like Supreme or Balenciaga?
A: “Yes!! We could launch a Balenciaga themed hat, for example. *smirks with his hat* we can always bridge Art x Fashion together.”
If you enjoyed this chat with @superbuddha_, keep a tab at what else @itp.live is up to!