In our series on art online, we couldn’t not talk about NFTs: Non-fungible tokens.
In this conversation, we’ll interview the founders of Nifrost.art – two Norwegians behind a new Scandinavian digital gallery for NFT art. They’re using exhibitions, auctions, and digital and physical events to bring Scandinavian NFT artists to an international audience. We’ll also meet the young Finnish artist Erwin Laiho who, alongside his work in design, art, and sculpture, has also worked with NFTs, with a particular interest in the environment, consumption, and climatic challenges brought about by crypto-technology.
An NFT is a digital visual object or work of art which, in addition to its visual value, can also be otherwise bought and sold as art. NFT stands for “non-fungible token”.
In the same way that a well-known painting exists on both canvas and thousands of posters, NFTs exist both as an original and as copies online. Using the technology of cryptoeconomics, the “original” can still be authenticated. This then serves as the basis for trading which, in recent months, has reached ever new heights.
NFTs are a story of human psychology and of how new technology is changing our appreciation of the things around us and our relationship with cultural ownership, either in the physical or digital world. Although the technology behind NFTs provides great opportunities and could potentially revolutionise our day-to-day lives, it has also gained a reputation for major environmental pressures in the form of an ever-increasing need for energy. We’re seeking to find clarity in this and identify the role that the art itself really plays at the intersection of technology, concept, and trade.
Haavard Tveito from Nifrost and Erwin Laiho are interviewed by Kasper Strömman, who humorously describes himself using the ever-current title “Graphic Designer of the Year 2013”. Strømman has shown interest in the topic and recently appeared in the media to talk about his debut in the NFT market with the launch of the above honorary title, which he tried to sell in the guise of a digital NFT form.
