The APENFT Foundation (an NFT marketplace) recently held a contest for digital artists to illustrate their ideal futures and lives in the metaverse under the theme “Second Life.” The group has chosen its top thirteen applicants. Winners will get cash awards and the option to work with APENFT partner LiveArt to develop a digital artwork that will be shown in a cryptovoxel-based online exhibition in January and sold on the LiveArt platform.
The primary prize of $20,000 was awarded by WMD Studio’s Infinite Falling, a computer animation depicting a nude human figure tumbling through space while partially submerged by a synthetic blue wave.
The Best Creativity Award winners will each get $10,000. Chengcheng Shi, Allyn Belfred, Verdi Jackson, Kong, and Verdi Jackson are among the cast members. Each of the eight Best Category Award winners will get $5,000. Ron Guetta, HUIHUAN, Lil E, Pandalifa, Jansword Zhu, LOVEBEING, RocketHand Studio, and the Zhang Hui and Zhao Xuetong duo are among these musicians.
APENFT received over 500 digital artworks from artists all around the world. Images, music, video, animation, and virtual reality/augmented reality were among the digital creative forms submitted. Sydney Xiong, director and curator of art at APENFT; Justin Sun, founder of TRON; and a panel of NFT art professionals examined the submissions. Aesthetic excellence, originality of idea, technical skill, practical application, thematic coherence, and artist purpose were among the judging criteria. TRON is a decentralized blockchain operating system that raised $70 million via crowdsourcing in 2017. This was soon before China made ICOs illegal.
As Xiong put it, “A good artwork has two essential components,” said Xiong. “First, a universal message—the work must have a clear and common language, so that the audience understands what you are trying to say. Good artworks can be understood across cultures. Second, artists’ own coding—in other words, their own symbols and styles.”
The award money is provided by the Art Dream Fund, which was established with TRON and is endowed with $100 million. In addition to the prize money and the opportunity to work with LiveArt, APENFT and TRON provide finalists aid and advice, particularly on legal and copyright issues.
“LiveArt and Justin Sun share the same objective of bridging the traditional and digital art worlds,” says Marisa Kayyem, LiveArt’s lead curator, and “APENFT is an excellent partner in that journey.”
“‘Second Life’ supports the growth of crypto-native NFT artists, and LiveArt is thrilled to not only share our experience and technology, but to also expose their work to the traditional art market through our marketplace.”
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are tokens that cannot be traded for other tokens and use blockchain technology (a distributed ledger) to monitor ownership. Each NFT is unique since its underlying asset, which might range from a digital drawing to a piece of music, cannot be replicated. In contrast, “fungible” cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin or Ethereum are not. Because each block permanently stores data (such as a transaction) that cannot be changed once recorded, all crypto assets function with blockchain. The blocks, like sophisticated digital Lego pieces, can only be joined to the blocks that came before and after them, resulting in a stable chain once finished.
NFTs are increasingly being used to purchase, sell, and exchange digital works of art. The APENFT Foundation was founded in Singapore in early 2021 with the purpose of recording the world’s greatest works of art on the blockchain as NFTs. The objective of the organization is to foster connection between established creatives and blockchain technology.
The bulk of the APENFT team is comprised of senior art specialists from auction houses such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, as well as blockchain and cryptography-trained technologists. Coin holders may vote, participate in profit distribution, and arrange and attend social events.
Since its introduction in the year 2020, NFTs have grown in popularity. According to Dapp Industry Report, NFT trading reached $10.6 billion in the third quarter, a 704% increase year on year. Christie’s first NFT sale, Beeple’s Everydays: The Inaugural 5000 Days, earned a remarkable $69.3 million in March.
APENFT will advise contest winners on how to flourish in the burgeoning market for NFTs and blockchain technology. Advertising in the cryptocurrency and NFT businesses may take on a distinct character. Creators are entrusted with creating an attention-grabbing airdrop teaser to get people interested about a new NFT project or piece of art. NFT-based projects should also be marketed on social media channels like as Discord, Twitter, and Telegram.
The contest winners will also get legal advice about their NFT rights, as well as information on how NFTs work and how to protect their intellectual property. The “smart contracts” that accompany each NFT may significantly modify copyrights, royalties, and other elements. Copyright and NFT ownership, for example, are distinct: Because the owner of an NFT is not required to own copyright on the underlying asset, the owner of the copyright may issue more NFTs. A smart contract may include restrictions on the NFT holder’s capacity to commercialize the digital file or a requirement that royalties be paid to the inventor upon each resale of the NFT.
The APENFT Foundation recognizes the increasing importance of such issues in the creative community. According to the organisation, half of the world’s greatest artists and pieces of art will be recorded as NFTs within the next decade.
The foundation has funded events such as Christie’s “Art + Technology” Summit in New York and the “Artnet NFT 30” report. Along with high-end NFT souvenirs like Punks avatars and EtherRock, it also features works by Picasso, Andy Warhol, and crypto artists like Beeple and Pak. The collection has been valued at more than $100 million.
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