NFT is almost dead. Not digital art...

Eighteen years ago, in 2007, a computer engineer began to take photos of everyday affairs of the world and started creating a collage of such photos. One photo for each day, in sequence of time. He named the magnum colleague as - Everydays: The First 5000 Days.

In 2021, the digital art was auctioned at Christie's for $69 million! BEEPLE, (Mike Winklemann) became an overnight sensation in the periphery of the world of art.

Everydays: The First 5000 Days

It was the heyday for NFT. In 2021, $2.97 billion worth NFTs were traded. Every other tech enthusiast spoke of NFTs taking over the world as the prime destination of investment. Of course, NFTs did not restrict to art alone but any digitized object qualified for the same. Virtual real estate too began to gain prices in manic frenzy.

We remember someone talking about NFTfied MONALISA to be sold in bits and pieces like companies are sold through shares in the stock market. The idea was, anybody could own a micro fraction of the Monalisa through purchase of a few NFT. Of course, the ideas were radical. But as for art, the classic brush wielding artist pouring over a canvas seemed about to fade into oblivion. Because once the image of the artwork was digitized and made an integral part of the blockchain, it did not matter if the hardcopy existed or not. The flavor of originality shifted to the digital version.

The issue as we foresaw at that time was the driving force behind all this. The entire mission was conceived and implemented by techies and investment experts. For such entities, art meant a financial instrument. But ironically, art remains art until the artist is dead barring a handful of exceptions in history. In most cases, the art of an artist is appreciated for its creative spirit and inherent message by a small group of admirers during her lifetime. It is not necessary that such admirers pay a fortune to purchase a piece of such creation. When an artist of that background passes away, all of a sudden there is this realization that she would not paint any more. Therefore, the collection of her works can not grow further. A sense of scarcity grabs the market. Hence, commercial value jumps overnight. And then the rest of taken over by investors who care little about what the artist painted on the damned canvas as long as the investment pays off. In fact, most of the masterpieces in art history are locked in some temperature controlled high security safehouses located in some tax-free island. The owners may not have had a single glance at the same. They just wait for the next buyer to come forward to ensure a decent profit from the trade.

This is why, NFT which was largely expected to be a craze among emerging artists and their patrons (which did not exist) did not really live up to the expectations.

NFT which was largely expected to be a craze among emerging artists and their patrons (which did not exist) did not really live up to the expectations.

As mentioned in 2021, $2.97 billion worth NFTs were traded. while just three years later, the number was $197 million in 2024. The news says that 95% NFTs are dead today.

As a result, Christie's has recently shut down the NFT-art auction division. In fact, all the employees except one have been let go. This does not mean, Christie's have stopped selling digital art. Digital art will still be auctioned as part of the mainstream business of the auction-house.

However, a question still looms large in the horizon. AI is creating mind blowing images in response to clever prompts. But AI can still not paint an image on canvas. AI can still not sculpt a three dimensional object directly out of prompts.

Even if, the mode and means to create a piece of art do not decide whether the art is good or not, yet, digital art is facing a definite threat from AI while the classic real life paintings or sculptures stand safe today as always.