# hope or hype for art

- an [[dweb]] [[meetup]]
  - about [[nfts]]
  - on [[2021-05-04]]
  - [[go]] https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-meetup-may-2021-nfts-hope-or-hype-for-art-tickets-152562471459

## Notes

- got here late
  - [[speakers]] https://www.eventbrite.com/e/dweb-meetup-may-2021-nfts-hope-or-hype-for-art-tickets-152562471459 
- [[zoom]] really has very very poor screencast quality it seems? I can't even read the text on the screen.
  - nevermind, it was likely an issue with the first presenter
- [[jin]] presenting
  - https://webaverse.com/accounts/0x31e4ca4c07aeb731183334532e80e273d34c47af
  - [[webaverse]]
  - [[cryptovoxels]]
- [[molly mackinlay]] from [[protocol labs]]
  - an [[nft]] is just a contract in a blockchain.
  - it doesn't solve the problem of hosting the content you are acquiring with the contract.
  - sometimes people sell NFTs that just refer to a centralized URL that breaks/can be made to serve other content
  - [[ipfs]] allows you to refer to a fingerprint that will remain constant
  - [[nft storage]] offers a simple API for storing NFTs
    - uses [[ipfs]] and [[filecoin]] under the hood
- [[sarah friend]]
  - dispelling NFT myths
    - "nfts represent art"
      - they can represent game assets, non fungible things off blockchain (real estate for example)
    - "nfts are new"
      - 2014-2015
    - "nfts are ethereum specific"
      - they can run on any blockchain that supports contracts
    - nfts only make up 2-3% of ethereum contracts approx.
    - "nfts change the copyright status of items"
      - nope, they don't interact with copyright. even if you buy an NFT, the copyright stays with the artist.
      - note this is true also of physical artworks.
- [[ruth catlow]]
  - we are seeing the art world and crypto economics colliding
  - the art world faces awkward problems: 
    - reconciling the value of a work of art within a social context vs its economic value
    - funding -- many sources, but not enough to fund every artist to a reasonable lifestyle
    - art being a vehicle for speculation and money laundering
  - the crypto world has many problems of its own:
    - diversity problems -- the more prominent proponents are rich men
    - exclusionary
  - what can NFTs do for us?
    - create new funding models
    - redefine ownership
    - define new relationships between artists, patrons and ecosystems
  - common mistakes
    - artists as producers of items of high value
      - causes confusion and tension
      - many artists bring high value to the nft ecosystem 
  - [[async art]], [[hen]] were mentioned
- [[wendy hanamura]] is the moderator
- Q: what's been happening inside the nft world? 
  - [[jin]]
    - (who made more money with one nft that during five years of producing digital content previously)
  - [[sarah friend]]
    - in february this year an artist made a website called [[cryptoart wtf]], you could type the name of any artist and see their [[carbon footprint]]
    - never thought she would spend so much time fact checking this kind of thing
- [[wendy hanamura]] perhaps the reason that people are anti-nft is environmental mostly?
  - [[jin]] the ethereum community is solving this with proof of stake. layer2 is also rolling out.
  - [[sarah friend]] true that PoW is expensive
  - [[wendy]] is it true you haven't built on PoW for a while?
  - [[sarah friend]] yes, haven't worked on a [[pow]] blockchain since 2017. have found it not even difficult to avoid [[pow]].
  - [[molly mackinlay]] we have to perhaps do a better job at communicating that [[nfts]] are not the artwork, they are more like a receipt.
- [[wendy hanamura]] question on the chat; people think perhaps the panel is too one-sided (positive) and were expecting pros/cons
  - [[ruth catlow]] the environmental impact question steamrolled over the fact that many artists in this field are very much socially aware; the moral panic prevented us from having a more interesting conversation
- [[wendy hanamura]] question from chat: why do we need to introduce scarcity? why isn't patreon good enough?
  - [[ruth catlow]] patreon works well for some things
  - [[sarah friend]] one of the things patreon is critized for is (...)
- (dropping out due to conflict, check notes in [[@vera/2021-05-04]] for more)
- how do [[nfts]] rank for [[dweb principles]]?