The distant East Arnhem Land indigenous Yolngu artist is known worldwide for his award-winning and innovative works, drawing on the land-sea connection.
And for the first time, they have stepped into the digital world and a group of artists are creating and selling NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens).
The phenomenon of NFTs has seen billions of dollars flow into the exchange of digital photography, video, and sound.
Yirrkala-based Yolngu artist Ishmael Marika was intrigued when investors proposed the prospect of entering a growing market.
While some of the world’s best-selling NFTs are pixelated cartoon-like images, Yirrkala’s items are created by digitizing physical works such as drawings and bark paintings.
Individual pieces are shot using an infrared camera device before being converted into a moving digital piece.
How does NFT work?
If you’ve heard about NFTs but still don’t understand them, you’re not alone.
Digital assets are created using the same technology as cryptocurrencies. However, this is where the similarities end.
Cryptocurrencies are similar to cash in that they are substitutable and exchangeable with each other. For example, you can exchange 5 $ 1 coins for $ 5 banknotes.
NFTs are not substitutable because they each have their own digital signature as they go through an authentication process called minting.
The certification is then added to the digital asset, making it unique.
You can copy digital files, but not unique digital signatures.
This technology has created new forms of ownership and, as a result, new markets.
NFTs have been around for a few years now, but last year the world began to draw attention with the sale of one digital artwork by US digital artist Beeple for nearly $ 100 million.
Last year, the value of the digital marketplace surged to about $ 56 billion.
The offer is too good to refuse
The bark paintings of Yolngu artist Wukun Wanambi have traveled the world and are now converted to digital models and sold online as NFTs.
The artist at the Buku-Larngaay Mulka Art Center in Yirrkala is funded by venture capitalist Mark Carnegie to create an NFT.
Joseph Brady, Technical Director of the Mulka Project at the Art Center, said Yolngu could stay in the community as it could lead to more physical work purchases.
“If these sell well, some will buy the work for the museum here,” he said.
“So the work stays here in the museum in the community.”
Venture capitalist Mark Carnegie believes this is one of Australia’s first NFT fine arts groups of its kind.
“What I wanted to try was to pick up a series of early career artists and expose them to this space to see if any creative sparks came,” he said.
Is NFT bad for the planet?
Software engineer Jeff Huntley rebelled against the NFT movement from a camper van on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.
He created a global headline after creating a website containing thousands of copies of digital items that can be downloaded for free without a certified signature.
He is skeptical that it is another online trend and claims that many people do not know what they are buying.
“Why do I spend a million dollars or millions of dollars on NFTs? That’s exactly where they are. You can see the images on your mobile phone and take screenshots.” He said.
“They are buying links or directions to some artwork, and that artwork is not unique. It’s easy to duplicate.”
Huntley is a growing group of critics who believe that there is a huge environmental cost behind NFTs due to the energy used to create and store NFTs, and that there is a cryptocurrency used to buy NFTs. There is one.
“And do you see why we are doing this? Energy consumption here is going through the roof,” he said.
Sharing Yolngu culture
It’s unclear if NFTs will be a long-term source of funding for indigenous communities, but Ishmael Marika believes it’s worth a look.
If nothing else, artists can create NFTs from their physical art to help prevent counterfeiting and potentially become another channel for sharing their stories with the world. I want
“There is a songline [that have] It was brought from our ancestors and passed on to our great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, and us, “he said.
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