March 9, 2021
On this episode of Explain Me we do a deep dive on Non-Fungible Tokens, NFTs, pronounced Nifty, by also N-F-T. Joined by guests Marina Galperina, features editor of Gizmodo, and former curator and writer on digital art, and Amy Whitaker, author and assistant professor of visual arts administration, hosts William Powhida and Paddy Johnson navigate the headlines generating news around this new digital currency, the basic definitions, and the potential and dangers it poses to artists.
Timestamped resources
7' NFT definitions and the blockchain
13 Do artists need to care?
47' Kenny Schachter's "Scam Likely" on
Nifty Gateway.
51' Alternatives - Casey Reese's Artist-to-artist exchange with Bitmark.com, Feral File. Goes live March 19.
57' - NFT and blockchain carbon footprint
1 hour 10' Reasons for optimism
1 hour 22' Amy Whitaker discusses valuation and commensuration sociological studies
Read and Watch
Amy Whitaker and Roman Kraussl, Fractional Equity, Blockchain, and the Future of Creative Work, Management Science, July 2020
Amy Whitaker, Art and Blockchain: A Primer, History, and Taxonomy of Blockchain Use Cases in the Arts, Artivate: A Journal of Entrepreneurship in the Arts. Summer 2019
Amy Whitaker, Hannah Grannemann, Artists’ Royalties and Performers’ Equity: A Ground-Up Approach to Social Impact Investment in Creative Fields, CMSE Vol 3, no 2, pg 33-51.
Memo Atkin, The Unreasonable Ecological Cost of #Cryptoart, Dec 14 2020
Rea McNamara, How Crypto Art Might Offer Artists Increased Autonomy, March 2, 2021