There are infinite paths to travel on the earth of art, although sometimes it appears that evidently “the whole lot has already been invented,” as some say.
With the new times, for creation, the sector of art has managed to expand beyond the physical space, even managing to coexist in perfect harmony with more traditional and established environments.
On this sense, the Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) appear to have come to revolutionize the art market as we comprehend it, although there remains to be a protracted solution to go for this new artistic modality and platform that seeks to strongly insert itself within the sector.
Cuba has already been taking its first steps on this direction, starting with photographer Gabriel Guerra Bianchini, the primary to place an NFT available on the market on the market, a practice that involves Cuba this yr within the midst of so many difficulties brought on by the coronavirus; not only within the economy and health: also within the world of art.
Bianchini: A Cuban artist on the earth of crypto art
Fábrica de Arte Cubano (FAC), considered one of the spaces of constant innovation in artistic matters due to the effective leadership of X Alfonso and his team, seeks with nft.FAC, to create a platform to insert young artists into the world of NFTs, profiting from the prevailing talent on the island in digital art, and to present a little bit movement to the Cuban art market, which needs it much.
On this regard, Rosemary Rodríguez Cruz, considered one of the curators of the project, commented to OnCuba that “the nft.FAC platform is a consequence of FAC’s constant try and take the heartbeat of Cuban art and put artists of all manifestations, and of several generations, to dialogue in the identical place; thus we join this fairly novel and revolutionary path that makes the mega-visualization of art possible.”
For that reason, “we’re committed to this renovating opportunity to point out—digitally—Cuban artists who work today in Cuba and who, during several months of confinement, have been almost 100% immersed of their creations, but without exhibitions nor presentations and who find in these platforms the solution to reach, immediately, a greater variety of recipients, consumers and possible collectors.”
To start out giving shape to this initiative, X Alfonso himself will release a complete of 5 works (two already published), the funds of which will probably be used to initially finance the platform, “pay the taxes charged to artists when the works are placed on these platforms. It’s designed for artists who shouldn’t have this possibility, either as a result of money, connection or lack of resources. This could be the meaning of the nft.FAC,” in line with what X tells OnCuba.
The first piece to be exhibited was New York-Havana, “a high-resolution digital photo of 30315 × 10059 pixels. They’re two photos of the 2 cities taken at different times: one in New York—from Brooklyn to Manhattan—and one other taken from Morro Castle to the unique view of Havana, joined by digital edition, worked on video with original music, becoming an NFT of 4:30 [minutes]. These are two cities which have many ties, from music, art to their people, separated by ideologies and united by nostalgia,” says the musician and audiovisual producer.
I just listed New York – Habana for sale on @withFND! 🌐https://t.co/AOeoyfj8Cg
¡YA! Mi 1er #NFT ya esta en Foundation! Super emocionado por ello y por todas las cosas lindas que va a generar a lxs artistxs cubanos con la nft.FAC!
Gracias a toda mi familia FAC y a @GGBIANCHINI— X Alfonso (@XAlfonsoOficial) April 16, 2021
At first, “the curators of our galleries are linked without delay to the platform, and because the principal advisor, Gabriel Guerra Bianchini; because the platform matures and expands, we plan to link it with more Cuban art specialists,” says Sandra Lopes, communication director of FAC.
Although this first call is proscribed only to Cuban artists without age limits, “we is not going to close ourselves to the potential of at some point expanding this platform to artists residing abroad; our immediate objective will probably be to support Cuban artists. What we do want—as a cultural center of reference—is for other cultural centers and cultural agents to follow our lead and have the opportunity to do the identical of their countries,” the specialist added.
“A terrific advantage,” says Rosemary Rodríguez, “is the greater presence of artists who’ve historically worked with digital art and who only had a number of moments of presence in digital art rooms, within the contemporary art room, or in specific exhibitions; and that they now have the opportune and constant place to present their art.”
Physical or virtual space, why select?
There are numerous benefits, from an inventive perspective, that works created inside digital art have. “I believe that the benefits, above all, are inclined to favor the topic of the visualization and promotion of art. This, even though it seems science fiction for a lot of, is another mechanism inside the History of Art itself, wherein most creators will regularly enter, but like several new subject it requires that it not be feared, that it’s studied, understood after which gain experience,” says Rosemary, a graduate in Art History.
“The Nfts,” she explains, “will foster new groups of transdisciplinary creation that, within the Cuban case, will give incredible results. I can imagine once they come together to create an archive: choreographers, dancers, designers, musicians, visual artists…phew, that will probably be a bombshell! At the identical time, the market places and platforms which can be already legitimized enable dialogue between artists from any corner of the planet and the emergence of many future projects.”
“The decision is open to artists who, for various reasons, or through their very own means, haven’t been in a position to access these platforms. For a very long time, originality (as a novelty) was erased as a premise, so we search for artists whose creations provoke sensations, questions, searches,” Rodríguez Cruz affirmed.
In fact, the existence of those spaces doesn’t imply in any respect a disappearance or uprooting of the tangible murals in a physical space; neither is it the aim of the NFTs. “For us (as FAC) they [the NFTs] don’t suppose in any respect the death of the murals within the physical space; we simply at all times seek to be on the forefront of all the humanities and we imagine that each one Cuban artists must have the likelihood to access this new branch of visual art and grow, without every other limitation stopping them from doing so,” explains Lopes, who’s in control of the communication of the space and is one other of the architects of the platform.
For her part, Rosemary points out: “I feel that the physical work is not going to die, nor the concepts that support its exhibition in our usual space at FAC. I feel that nft.FAC is sort of a son of the ‘Fábrica,’ from which we are going to receive feedback and whose management will at all times be under the premise of embracing all good art.”
“The NFTs —from their starting, and now greater than ever— are also promoting the creation of communities and brotherhood between artists, curators, collectors, whether in social networks, groups, in applications where everyone shares their experiences and advises those that are starting. If social networks are an indissoluble a part of the promotion of many creators, now these communion platforms from NFTs come to crown and join the promotion, at a macro level,” says the art specialist.
Juntos somos más fuertes!!! 💪🏽💪🏻 #nftFAC #NFTCommuty #nftcuba #nftart https://t.co/TlwuwZ0WwB
— Fabrica de Arte Cubano (@fabricadeartecu) April 25, 2021
That may undoubtedly be considered one of the advantages of nft.FAC: establishing points of contact and links between artists of all manifestations, following the spirit and the premise for which the Fábrica de Arte Cubano was created, while, alternatively, it’s going to allow a little bit more democracy and autonomy for artists within the complex art market, an area wherein there remains to be much room to explore.
On this regard, Alfonso affirms that “it’s a new way of visualizing Cuban artists in a practically new and futuristic market, a faster solution to reach collectors or individuals who like digital art, also since it moves on the earth of cryptocurrency, also called virtual currency or digital money.”
This new economy has been strongly catching on within the country, especially in these times of uncertainty as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and, within the case of NFTs, “it breaks the standard rules and, to avoid any prohibition, FAC’s initiative to open this platform can be due partly to the actual situation that’s being experienced in our country [Cuba] and worldwide as a result of the pandemic, and since we now have to maintain up with the times and adapt to the changes offered by technology,” the artist specifies.
“One other gain,” in line with Rosemary, “is that the means of generating an NFT provides everlasting security on the authenticity of the work, each for the artist and for the potential buyer,” while when it comes to sales, market and disclosure, “this marketing channel transparently shows the costs of the works, the outcomes of the auctions and even the user or name of the client.”
And he or she clarifies: “As a gain, there may be also the inclusion of collectors or individuals who never normally acquire a two-dimensional and tangible work and who, out of desire, fashion or presumptuousness, enterprise into marketing. The great point—although utopian—can be that the art market, be it the normal one or this new form, have a spot inside the national framework as well.”
In brief: quite a bit to realize and almost nothing to lose with this initiative. “First (we might win) within the visualization and promotion of the artist by entering a world market with hundreds of artists of all nationalities: one other solution to earn a living selling their art and at the identical time being inside a platform where you may add followers and keep in touch with other creators,” Alfonso explains.
La reproducción infinita quiere darse su lugar
This type of window can even bring more transparency when it comes to prices and quotation of art on this digital world. “The standard market doesn’t publicly offer—except in historically legitimate auctions—the amounts of the sales, nor the reserve prices of the works,” Rosemary explains.
For her part, Sandra Lopes said that “FAC has at all times been characterised by being like a living being, at all times mutating, adapting, so this will probably be a branch that responds to our essence: ‘All of the Arts in the identical Space’ only that on this case, we are going to travel to a virtual space,” which isn’t the identical but (apparently) will probably be the identical.
Yoel Rodriguez Tejeda
