NFT as art: what it is and how to create an NFT token
Last year will be remembered for a new kind of NFT art. In March, Mike Winkelmann's NFT canvas "Everydays - The First 5000 Days" was bought for $69 million. This made the artist one of the most expensive art figures of his contemporaries. The co-creator of "Rick and Morty" sold a collection of NFT drawings for nearly $2.5 million. And he paid $600,000 for a nanny-cat gif.
Brands, athletes and artists have acquired their own NFTs.
What is NFT?
An NFT is a non-exchangeable token, a unique digital object whose originality has been proven by blockchain technology. It also stores information about the owner of the token and its sales history. Blockchain is difficult to hack and change the data in it, but the blockchain information is accessible. Therefore, the owner can easily prove ownership of a digital object without fear of being "stolen. Roughly speaking, NFT is a digital certificate of authenticity that contains information about the digital object, its author, owner, and transaction history.
NFT differs from cryptocurrency in that it is non-exchangeable. 1 ether, bitcoin, a dollar bill are interchangeable - they have a complete counterpart. For example, you borrowed 1000 usd from your friend, and a week later you pay him back with another 1000 usd bill; your friend is satisfied, because the value of the bills is the same.
With NFT-tokens, it's the opposite. They are unique, which, for example, allows you to create rare digital collections or to possess some object that no one else has and never will have until you decide to sell it. Even if someone scrapes your NFT and posts it on their feed, you can still prove that you are the author or owner of the token.
What could become the NFT.
Anything. Any digital object can be translated into NFT. The very first digital example of NFT was CryptoKitties, a game about raising digital kittens. One very rare kitten was bought by collectors for $2.4 million.
The tokens became especially popular among artists. Thanks to a form of NFT you can avoid communication with gallerists, the professional community, and curators. Now anyone can prove they are an artist by putting NFT art up for auction. And earn money on it, if a buyer is found digital art residency daobservatory.art.
The IT developer also decided to prove to the world that its employees are artists. The company suggested that employees visualize their work goals in the form of digital art. On a special service, they had to enter any phrase that reflected the essence of the work, the name of the document, a piece of code - everything employees work with on a daily basis. The site's algorithm converts words and symbols into an image.
This picture, for example, encrypts the word "development."
Instead of strokes or brushstrokes, the algorithm draws the picture using graphic objects. Each letter and symbol corresponds to a figure, which is placed on a pre-prepared background. The behavior of the stroke is controlled by the information you enter. It tells you where the object is, what size it will be and how to position it. The images come in one of six styles, each with a set of elements, colors and shapes.
The end result was 1,300 artworks created by developers, managers, marketers, sales and service tech support specialists. All the images were combined into one NFT-art.
NFT-art is about inspired professionals who see the value in their work and love it. We wanted to show that our work is art. 1300 stories collected in one digital canvas, which is forever inscribed in the history of blockchain.
It will most likely be impossible to decipher such an image. But you can buy NFT art and enjoy it in your collection. At the moment the art is put up for auction, and the money from the sale will go to the development of IT-education.
How to create an NFT token
It is easy to create an NFT-token, anyone can do it. You need to understand what you want to show to the world: a picture, a gif, a soundtrack, a video or a document. You will turn that content into a token. You'll also need a crypto wallet and access to a marketplace like Rarible, where the Contour token is stored.
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Go to Rarible and connect your crypto wallet;
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Click "Create" and fill in all the information about your future NFT. You can describe the idea, the name, or a few words about yourself;
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Select the "Free minting" option and toggle the slider to the right;
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Click "Create item" and sign two free transactions with your wallet;
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Done, you now have a link to NFT and can promote your work.