Do you Trust Blockchain, Crypto, NFTS and Creators?
Episode Summary
Welcome to the Summer Series of Culture Factor. I’m Holly Shannon.
When I spoke at this year’s NFTNYC, I used my down time to interview the experts about their engagement in the Web3 space. We’ve talked on Culture Factor a lot about *what* Web3 is and *how* it’s being used, but I wanted to try and understand *why*.
Almost every person I spoke to had a similar reason for being part of Web3. They all wanted to help fulfill our most basic, fundamental, evolutionary need: connection.
This is unsurprising. Connection has always been at the core of the web itself. The difference between web 1, 2, and 3 are the methods used, and tech available, to generate connection.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to explore the methods that artists, collectors, and businesses use to bring about connection. .
I'll break down the whys, not just the whats, of this new digital space we find ourselves in.
Season 4 of Culture Factor is produced by Avery Rogers' Paleblue Studios
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Transcript
Holly Shannon 0:02
Welcome to the Summer Series of Culture Factor. I'm Holly Shannon. When I spoke at this year's NFT NYC, I used my downtime to interview the experts about their engagement in the Web 3 space. We've talked on Culture Factor a lot about what web three is and how it's being used. But I wanted to try and understand why. Almost every person I spoke to had a similar reason for being part of Web three. They all wanted to help fulfill our most basic fundamental, evolutionary need: connection. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to explore the methods that artists collectors and businesses use to bring about connection. I'll break down the whys not just the watts of this new digital space we find ourselves in. Hello, culture factor family. Welcome back to the summer series. Trust is arguably the most important part of the web three space, nothing would function without it. Even the most basic parts of web three, such as NFT's and the blockchain couldn't exist without trust. Let me break that down. Blockchain primarily functions in the cryptocurrency space. While the use of dollars is being integrated, it's still seen to the public as dabbling in crypto or Bitcoin. The concept of cryptocurrency needs to be adopted and a belief system or trust needs to be established for it to survive. That said, the blockchain technology probably could survive as a mode of contract between two people or entities, and proof of ownership or authenticity, or provenance, however you care to call it and in this space, that term is used interchangeably. But at the core of the blockchain is a ledger that codifies the transaction between two people. Are you in a business, for example. And if it plays the part of asset you buy those shoes using the NFT, or you buy music or ticket in NFT form, and it proves you own it, and it's marked on the blockchain, for perpetuity. For deeper dive on that episode, 85 and 86 that I did with Brian Fanzo, oh, from NFT365 were great primer for this conversation. So if you feel like that's just a little confusing, please dive back into that. But let's move forward right now and listen to Zevi, who I believe his passion will drive his trust in this system.
Zevi G 2:39 I've been involved in cryptocurrencies since 2015. I wasn't sure early on how the use of the smart contract would come to play. But I'm very passionate about my art. And I'm passionate about the technology. And it made sense to me, it made sense to me because the technology serves as the provenance and certificate of authenticity. And the artwork is here for the future. And to have that documentation just seemed perfect. And that's what pushed me into this PFP collection.
Holly Shannon 3:15 Zevi has an inspired collection of childlike characters from his 456 Land. These PFPs are profile pictures purchased as NF T's are relatable and have messaging in the imagery. His underprivileged background pushed him to inspire and spread positive messaging, his hopes of kindness being transmitted through his work. And then people taking that one step further and sharing an act of kindness is meaningful for him. Also, he said, the technology serves as a certificate of authenticity. And if NFT's mean nothing without proof of authenticity, otherwise, they just be totally replicatable digital art that anyone could own or just take a screenshot, if what Zevi says is true, that the technology itself is the certificate of authenticity for NF T's, then people have to trust the technology for the system to work. And I get that that might be a bit of a stretch, but hear me out. A lot of people who purchase or collect NFTs and even many who create NFTS may not know all the ins and outs of the technology. As we've heard in previous episodes, there are a lot of platforms whose goal is to straighten out the learning curve for people so they can participate without spending months learning how to code or how all these complicated systems work, which is great people are working hard to keep the space inclusive for anyone who wants to participate. I believe there is a dynamic happening between purchasing the NFT utility and possibly a roadmap. We have heard great examples before my 100th episode with the entire movie producer is one such example. In short, you buy the NFT. And the roadmap includes an unlock of various utilities, like the ability to vote on casting or site selection, or starring as an extra in the movie. So when you buy that NFT, you're engaging in the trust that all that comes to fruition. Bottom line, they have to trust the creator of the NFT want to repeat that bottom line, they have to trust the creator of the NFT. Utility is nothing without trust, collectors have to trust that the creators will come through with their promises. You have to trust that the utility implanted in the code and dreamed up by the Creator will in fact, live up to its promises. But what if the utility is supposed to unfold over time? What if it's more of a long term or even a repeated benefit, you have to trust that, even as trends and businesses come and go, the utility you paid for will come through. So this brings us to the next subject. This is where brand loyalty comes into play. The individual creator might be able to skirt some utility promises, or divert their community to a value that they wish to shift to. But brands have a difficult line to walk in this case, nothing tarnishes the shine on a brand more than a promise unfulfilled. But let's say brands are getting some things right and that the interaction through NF T has created an extended relationship and perhaps one that their consumers can share. Let's listen in to Steph Holm of Moonwalk. Her examples. Interesting because it's a brand that marketed in web 2, and is now integrating the power of web three, they already established trust. So their use of new tools like N TS will likely be a home run.
Steph Holm 7:01
Like a good example it'd be Coca Cola and Coca Cola has a wallet that you access from wallet dot Coca cola.com. The you know, my mom and I both drink Coca Cola, she's more of a Coke Zero gal, I'm a bit more Diet Coke side. But we both are loyal to that brand. And we know that we can earn two tokens for that loyalty for taking various actions. And they're doing that through NF T's and a token. So we go to wallet.co.com, we sign in with our email, we know how to do that we upload our credit card, we buy an NF t even though my mom doesn't know what an NFT even stands for. She knows that every month because I own this NFT I'm gonna get a delivery of coke. And then I being more web three savvy, I have a meta mask, I can connect it on my profile page and export that NFT to my Metamask. And then I can sell it on open sea because maybe someone else wants to buy it or maybe I you know, go on a little soda drinking hiatus and so someone can buy it from me there.
Holly Shannon 8:10
Steph's example is a really interesting intersection between brand loyalty and trust in utility. Big brands that are branching into web three usually already have that trust from their consumer base, which is required for utility. Brand loyalty also has a part in the evolution of the web. consumer base loyalty to specific brand names is totally a web one web two thing that is finding its way to web3. And as big brands bring their customers with them pre existing trust between a brand and a consumer has the potential to bring new users into web three. And that's what we're all betting on.
Steph Holm 8:52
brands that want to be innovative. They want to sort of help usher in new technology to their to their communities, their fans, their audience because they are trusted by them. So we think that web three is a great place to do that in a way that is also sort of familiar and sort of new. The way that we work with our white label wallet for brands is your community comes in, they sign it with an email, it's familiar, they can buy NF T's with a credit card, which for some people making credit card purchases might be all too familiar online. But really we think of this NF T's and rewards and you know, earning tokens as a sort of new form of loyalty based in web three, and that will evolve into a part of the marketing campaign and marketing mix. So you're creating content not just for, you know your Instagram or your Tik Tok or your socials. But you're also creating content that lives in your wallet where your fans can come in and earn for taking actions on those social sites. And they can use those tokens to get NF T's and they can and collect them or that NFT utility can also be realized in the wallet and they can unlock in person events or virtual hangs or exclusive access to merch, those types of things.
Holly Shannon 10:13
I believe trust plays a part in brand extension, brand ambassadors, the growth of influence and some very creative activations. It will also play a part in exclusive opportunities, merchandise and so on a lot of what Steph had mentioned, but as utility becomes more and more common in the NFT market, artists are being asked to include utility with their personal NFT collections as well. Some artists hate this and some don't mind. But that is a completely different conversation that we will have to get into in another episode. So for now, it's important to recognize this simple fact, utility is a part of the NFT market for both big brands and individual artists. Artists being the creatives that they are have come up with some really ingenious ways of including utility in their NF Ts, if they choose to involve utility at all, some artists offer physical copy of the digital art. This term phygital refers to the physical copy of the digital NFT. Sometimes this offer of both is called twinning. It is best exemplified by Zevi. So let's listen up next to him as I pass the mic.
Zevi G 11:27 So this is our project. And I guess that's why I'm making those correlations with physical work and with the digital work. So when I say it's our work, obviously NFT alone could be digital artwork, but I'm the 456 Collectors Club is the first PFP project to connect the physical and the digital art. And how we go about it is every single NFT minted, the holder is able to redeem for a physical art print of fine our print of their exact NFT said so one of one print that's hand signed with your MC number. And then the sculptures are in production, but every single holders able to redeem for sculpture as well. So when buying into the 456 Collectors Club, it's not just the digital asset that you're buying. That digital asset is 1/3 of the total artwork.
Holly Shannon 12:29
So Zevi demonstrates the phygital with his collection, it's also important to him as an artist to not just have a digital representation in someone's wallet or being used as their profile picture on their social media account. He wants them to have the full experience Zevi's PFP collection would not really work without trust between him and collectors. Buyers have to trust that they'll actually receive the physical prints and sculptures, they have to trust that they are authentic, and that the pieces are indeed all part of the same set. Now play along with me here for a second. Picture yourself walking around an art gallery or museum. Ask yourself, what do I inherently trust is true based on what I see just by walking around? Here's my answer. I trust that the art is valuable, meaningful and worth money. That for one reason or another, it is important to see that the curation was purposeful, that there's an intention here, maybe even a message in each of the pieces, as well as in the curation itself. And that is up to me to decipher it. Putting art in the framework of a gallery or museum, no pun intended, naturally makes me believe these things because of the functions of galleries and museums in our world. Now go back to your imagined gallery and replace all the paintings with digital art, because that's what Tori Madison did. So in the episode on user experience, we heard from Tori, she told us about her work as a curator in a physical digital NFT gallery. And I'm going to ask you to make the mental leap here. This is also conversation about the metaverse because there are imagined galleries in that space. But what's so interesting with Tori, is that she created something physical, as well as digital so that your mind can make that mental leap in what it believes a museum or a gallery is and what value it brings to the art.
Tori Madison 14:44 So it's a digital gallery. It's a physical space that you can actually go and enter it's a physical space. And it is the first location in all to learn that actually has a Bitcoin ATM. And so there's a Bitcoin ATM there and the physical locations of your ever Visit, it's the the main road to the beach, you can come by, and it's just called the NFT boutique. And that's where we're physically representing all of our digital, digital NFT collections. It's just a showcase of them.
Holly Shannon 15:13
I am totally fascinated by this space. And I'm hopeful that we all make it to to learn one day to experience this. So if you get there, please report back to Culture Factor. Now in context to our conversation, putting digital art in a physical gallery asks viewers for the same kind of trust in digital art as they have in physical art. In fact, it might even be easier to have that kind of trust in digital art, when it is in a physical space, because it's in a setting we are already familiar with. Recall our last episode on the role of design in the evolution of the web, and how developers use certain familiar aspects of web 2 for web 3 outcomes. This gallery is doing the same thing. The gallery designs a version of something you already know and are familiar with, and places something new in that familiar framework. As a result, trust between the consumer and the art is strengthened. Think even further back to the first episode of this season on user experience. This gallery is an evolution of user experience to it takes an experience you already know and understand and evolves it to fit web three.
Creatress 16:32
I believe my art constantly evolves. I mean, just today I was painting with acrylic paint. So I'm at a paint party and like I will never stop painting and doing glassblowing and doing sculpture. In fact, I am the first female glassblower on the blockchain, I last NFT NYC I minted my first glass bone artwork, and it comes as the unlockable, so the collector can actually request the actual glass sculpture. And yeah, I sold that last year during NFT, NYC and I'm planning on releasing another one.
Holly Shannon 17:09
Speaking with Creatress made me wonder if a piece of art is phygital. Is it more valuable than if it were just physical? Or just digital? And on a larger scale? Is it possible that web two and web three make each other more valuable? These are really important questions. And I'd love to just sit in this space and talk only about that. But I'd be remiss if I don't dive into a little piece about community. So let me jump forward a little I'll ask you to put a pin in that. While artists have to be very trustworthy, when it comes to web three, they also have to trust their community. Tori made an interesting point here. So let's listen into that.
Tori Madison 17:57
I mean, at first, it was just the art. And now it's the roadmap. And now it's the utility. And now it's all these extra added things to you know, what makes your digital art better than the others? And why should I join? And why should I join your community and your community has X amount of people and followers. And so it's just like, Yeah, and so it's just like, it's, it's interesting. So there's some that I think are just amazing and really cool. Like, heck, yes, I want to be part of this and then, but I can also see the perspective that for artists that it could be quite overwhelming. And I mean, I feel the space in general is quite overwhelming. We spent the week here in New York City, it's been absolutely crazy. We're meeting so many people that are just doing amazing things. And it's just, it's overwhelming. I'm not gonna let in so we're just navigating, you know, we're navigating best practices, what does this look like? And so, in a way for me, it's just, it's exciting. And it keeps me moving forward. And we're gonna we're gonna we're gonna figure it out and we're gonna figure out what works, what doesn't work. And it's, it's a cool time to be in a space and it's been super fun.
Holly Shannon 19:02
So now I'm going to share a famous acronym so famous, it's just web three space right now. It's called WAGMI (wag me) and it stands for we are all going to make it I think Tori emits that energy right? Creatress, who is a physical artist, but is now creating VR art in the metaverse and in galleries all over live, she does live activations. I think she has a lot of the WAGMI energy as well, let's listen in.
Creatress 19:36 I've never even thought that I'd be able to, you know, sell my glass art or even continue to work in it since it's a very expensive medium. I mean, studio time is about $100 per hour just to go in there and make anything. So the fact that you know that there's collectors that are interested in that as a as an art form because it's so different. It's not a 3d sculpture. It's not You know, a PFP you know, it's totally different. But just realizing that there actually is a market for it is pretty, pretty incredible. And it makes me excited because now I can actually continue to do glassblowing. And there's, there's a way for me to put that out into the world.
Holly Shannon 20:18
There is a beautiful opportunity for symbiosis between artists and collectors, if they both trust each other. If artists trust that there are collectors who want their work, that means they get to make more of their work without fear and get paid to do it. If collectors trust the artists, collecting becomes more appealing because they know the NFT's they buy are valuable. And hopefully, this mutual trust results in community.
JYXDI 20:46
Right when I launched my first collection called Dosso, that's when I realized like, this is great, because not a lot of artists saw their work. And me personally, I was selling paintings before and for me to sell digital art online. And that holds value just blows my mind, right? Like it just gives so many opportunities for so many different people, photographers, artists and game developers and stuff like that. So I really appreciate the space.
Jeremy Cowart 21:11
It's indescribable really, literally my childhood dreams. I've always just wanted to be an artist and somehow get caught up in the commercial photography space, which I did for 15 years. That was never my passion. So now to make art and for collectors to collect it man is just like, just like some kids wanted to be an astronaut. Some kids wanted to be in the NFL. Like, I just wanted to make art and sell it. And so yeah, for people to buy, that just means everything.
Holly Shannon 21:42
Trust benefits everyone in this space. But that means that everyone involved needs to be trustworthy. The communities they build will flush out the real artists with good intentions from the bad actors. So I'm feeling positive about artists like Jovi, Creatress and Jeremy. Also Jeremy Cowart will be the feature artist tomorrow. So be sure to tune in for that short but impactful conversation.
There are probably more questions than answers this early in the game. I'd love for you to respond to any of the concepts we unpacked.
So let me ask you a few questions. Have you had a collector/artist experience that was difficult to deliver on in the web three design?
Remember that pin from earlier? Do you think there is more value value to a phygital piece?
And lastly, and this is the big one in my opinion, do you think web two and web three combined make each other more valuable?
Let me know on Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn wherever you leave a message I look forward to engaging with you.
Hey Culture Factor family I have been enjoying rose over this very hot summer and Harmony Wine has been my newest addiction. My friend Matt Harmon has not only created this delicious rosé from Provence but it has these beautiful notes of strawberry and floral and it's dry and super yummy. And he put it in the prettiest of cans that you can take to your picnic or a barbecue. Matt and I agree that the best rose comes from the south of France that's probably why we're friends and he is going to be giving you, my Culture Factor family 20% off your Harmony Wine link is in the show notes. Promo code HOLLYROSE20
This summer is coming in hot. Please share this episode of Culture Factor now and listen with your friends. It's always more fun that way. And don't forget the Harmony Wine rose.
Season Four of Culture Factor is produced by Paleblue studios.