Non-Fungible Tokens… NFT’s… it’s a brave new world for creatives. And, like a realtor riding the post-pandemic splendor — I dove in. My first foray into the Ethereum Blockchain? A series entitled, “Crib Kawara, Meta Reboot”. Say what?

I’ll explain… but first, let’s journey back to the early 1970’s…

Beyond forever existing in the pantheon of America’s greatest Artists… Robert Rauschenberg was a major advocate for artist’s rights. In 1973, he famously verbally and physically accosted Robert Scull, following a blockbuster art auction. Bob and Ethel Scull, selling off a significant portion of their exceptional contemporary art collection pre-divorce, had auctioned two of Rauschenberg’s works… acquired for $2,300 and $900; and flipped for $90,000 and $85,000, respectively.

This moment of rage was converted to advocacy. Rauschenberg took his fight to California, where Intellectual Property precedents are set… and pitched, what was essentially an analog Blockchain. The idea? Create a detailed chain-of-custody list for each work of art, identifying the owner, new owner and price paid. The benefit for artists? Each time the work sold, they would reap a percentage of the resales.

Predictably… the measure failed… and it took computers… the internet… cryptocurrency… then, the Blockchain… to make Rauschenberg’s vision a reality. I say this not to invalidate the genius of the developers and visionaries behind this new world… but, rather, to illuminate the business savvy of Rauschenberg.

Separate and aside, I once wrote a 20-page-paper on Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns in college. On the cover, in big red letters, my professor annotated: “you spelled ‘Rauchenberg’ incorrectly 334 times”.

It was a ‘D’ well earned. I digress… let’s talk Reboot.

On Kawara, a Japanese Conceptual Artist, began his “Today Series” on January 4, 1966. The premise was simple — capture the alpha-numerical date, daily, on a one-tone canvas. When all was said-and-done, Kawara created  nearly 3000 of these gems… with the final coming in 2013. So, when I thought about the concept of NFT’s… I thought… why not use ‘Today’ as a point-of-departure?

My first was created on March 17th, of 2021. It is similar to Kawara’s work, with the differences being:

• This series began 8 years after Kawara’s final Today work.
• Instead of a painting, each piece is created digitally.
• The period was replaced by my logo.
• The work is uploaded to Opensea, placed on the Blockchain, and listed for acquisition.

The first 29 were created in this format, with the only variation being the color.

On April 25th… imagery found its way into my series… on Oscar Night, no less. This marked the first point of departure from the initial grouping…

Five days later, imagery appeared for the first time. The photo was taken at Moose Creek during a hike with my kiddos… and, something felt right… yet? I yearned for more…

On May 1st… the series matured… and video was introduced. Instead of an auction format, each of the video dates are available for acquisition, as an edition of one, for .5 Ethereum.

And now… for The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.

The Good: Bob Dylan went from Maggie’s Farm, to squaring off with IBM’s Watson on TV, and selling his catalog for $300,000,000. The stigma of ‘artist’s selling out’ is dying a much needed, albeit slow, death. NFT’s allow artists to connect with a wider audience and monetize their work in an unprecedented way — and, frankly, it’s better than good — it’s brilliant.

The Bad: The barrier to entry in the space is staggering. You must create a crypto wallet, provide a nauseating amount of confidential information, attach your bank account, transfer money, convert it to crypto, create a marketplace account, and navigate millions of NFT’s for something worth collecting. Because of this, the NFT space, both on the creation and collecting sides, remains niche. Eventually, Big Brother Zuckerberg will acquire (or build) a platform with a significantly easier user experience… and things will take off. Until then? It doesn’t hurt to know a few snippets of code.

The Ugly: Cryptocurrency itself. If you sell an NFT for One Ethereum at its all-time high of $4,382.72 (a taxable event), and it plummets to $2,050.90… you are stuck with the depreciating asset. Of course, if you HODL for a year… that same Ethereum coin could be worth $35,001.34 — and, if you cash out at that point, you’ll gladly pay capital gains. Beyond the Crypto aspect… lies the NFT’s themselves. You own the asset, but not the copyright. If you buy a meme, you own that iteration of the meme on the blockchain, but you don’t receive royalties as it travels the internet, unencumbered. So, at some point, not only could every NFT be worth zero… the Blockchain could collapse and vanish.

Crib Kawara, Meta Reboot has evolved into an echo chamber of memories… whispers of moments here, gone, and captured for posterity. Akin to when I left behind the world of advertising to become an artist — I have no idea how this will pan out. Will my NFT’s be worth a fortune? Will I spend a year capturing memories that linger in the digital realm for eternity?

Everything and anything is possible… and that’s what I find so exciting about the space. Beyond the financial possibilities, I find the daily routine of capturing a ghost cathartic… and, at the end, the series should prove a valuable reflection on a year in transition, from pandemic to… well… something, we all hope, is significantly better.

You can peep my Opensea here.

Disclaimer: Yes, I’m a businessman, an artist… but I’m no financial advisor. The information in this post represents my understanding of the ever-evolving NFT, Blockchain, Crypto space — and is not to be interpreted as financial advice. I’m continually trying to evolve, so if you discover anything factually inaccurate herein — please comment below, and/or contact me directly. Thank you for reading.