by creative tech start-up Larva Labs in 2017, it has published 10,000 collectible ‘punk’ images, amassing
a total collective value of more than $239.9 million. Yes, you read that right.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE CLAIMING 2021 ISTHEYEAROFNFTS
The entire collection of unique punk faces can be viewed in a zoomable window on the CryptoPunks front page. The background colour of each face indicates whether the punk is for sale or not, or is actively involved in a transaction. Originally, these NFTs could be claimed for free by anyone with an Ethereum wallet, but now that they have registered owners, they must be bought and sold. “Everything fizzled out after those two projects,“ continues Albita. “Then, after a conference in the US in late 2020, there was renewed interest in the NFT space. A few really interesting artists got involved, creating a spurt of growth for NFTs and putting them on the tech agenda. A lot of people are claiming 2021 is the year of NFTs.” It’s important to note that, technically, an NFT is not the thing itself. Kitties in your CryptoKitties wallet are not the NFTs. The NFTs are the permanent credentials in the blockchain ledger, linked to your collection of CryptoKitties, certifying the uniqueness and ownership of each one. CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ This use of the blockchain to publicly certify ownership is being utilised by Brussels-based company Arteïa. It’s used the blockchain to create what may be the first digital catalogue raisonné anchored in the blockchain. This is a comprehensive catalogue of an artist’s works. Traditionally, these have been printed in volumes – they’re costly to produce, difficult to update and subject to gaps and errors.
“Picasso’s catalogue raisonné is 33 books, with 16,000 black & white pictures of paintings,” explains Arteïa co-founder and CSO, Olivier Marian. “It was done during his life by a friend of his, Christian Zervos, coming to an end in 1978, when Picasso died. We know there are still a lot of paintings not in the catalogue.” Arteïa’s other co-founders were themselves art collectors. They came to Marian – who had a foot in the art and technology worlds – seeking a better way to use digital tech to create more accurate, up-to-date and easy-to-manage art catalogues that would also enable artists to contribute. Marian’s background at Microsoft in France, IT work and entrepreneurship in the start-up sector – and his family’s own long history of art collecting – already had him thinking about how to make the best databases for art collectors. ”Five years ago, I met two people doing an inventory solution for art collectors,” he says. “I was interested because it was tech, it was art – plus, it was investment and entrepreneurship. One of them had been working on museum inventory solutions for 25 years, such as the Centre Pompidou. The other one was a finance guy who created one of the first online trading platforms in France – and he’s also a collector. Art has been largely untouched by
SLICE OF ART HISTORY Hélène Delprat is the first artist to have her entire career catalogued by Arteïa – totalling 3000 pieces from 40 years of work
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