Where the Buffalo Browse is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta, available on Atomic Hub Marketplace. While this cartoon pokes fun at virtual reality culture, behind the fun just might be an economic revival for the art industry--the likes of which has never been seen--at least not while wearing a buffalo helmet. |
World's Fair of Rare Digital Art:
Digital Art Needs a Multidimensional Digital World
Of course, online 3-D digital worlds are nothing new, as any player of Minecraft or Second Life will tell you. Neither is cryptocurrency a new thing. In fact, all 3 of these systems have been operational for over 10 years. Yet what would happen if a 3-D digital world were well-integrated with digital art, community equality, and cryptocurrency? It could become the art industry's "killer app."
Silly Daddy VR Helmet is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta, available on Atomic Hub |
What is rare digital art? It's online creative work tied to cryptocurrency that has been released in limited quantities, verifiable on a blockchain. For those in need of a refresher on what cryptocurrency is, think of it as coded internet money or credits released (usually) by entrepreneurs in specific predefined amounts. I should know; I have been researching and writing about this space for many years. In fact, I'm one of those rare digital art collectors. Many know that I am also a pretty prolific rare digital artist and educator in this space as well.
Zine Machine is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta, available on Atomic Hub. |
Loyal Daddy is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta, available on Atomic Hub. |
Next Steps for Rare Digital Art Markets
Gratefully, we have the technology to make those changes now. Online galleries who move to a virtual 3-D exhibit experience can be the ones who can stay relevant in an increasingly digital world. As art-seeking and collecting becomes more of a game environment, more people will get excited about it.
Digital Art Needs a Multidimensional Digital World by Joe Chiappetta. It's rare digital art available on MakersPlace. |
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Silly Daddy Zine #1 is rare digital art and a 50-page book by Joe Chiappetta, available on MakersPlace. |
VR Art Gallery Essentials
- Exhibitors earn the rights to virtual 3-D land and wall space by purchasing affordable rare digital art in this world.
- The virtual 3-D land to have gallery space will always be cheap and not manipulated by early speculators trying to drive up the price of land.
- The virtual land borders keep expanding as more users exhibit in the space. Like the internet, where users can make an unlimited amount of new web pages, the same goes for wall and land space. More gets created as more is needed.
- Collectors can explore, exhibit their collections, and still buy and sell art all in a 3-D realm.
- The virtual 3-D gallery can be explored without a VR headset, plus users can buy and sell art without a headset too.
- The virtual 3-D gallery world has a 2-D auto-generated counterpart for those with slower technology.
- The 3-D world and its members have a code of conduct that adheres to the moral standard outlined in the FCC's guidelines and is a kid-friendly environment.
- Users can create individualized exhibit space right in the 3-D environment without any coding knowledge. All necessary virtual building materials are available for free.
- A few non-essential, yet more flashy premium gallery building materials are earned by those who buy a high volume of rare digital art, or complete defined and helpful tasks to advance the community.
- Users can teleport to any location in the "world" quickly and easily. These links work in-world and also as links on a regular website.
- Users can customize their own avatars.
- The gallery does not issue its own new cryptocurrency, but rather leverages existing and widely adopted currencies. The art and art experience is the product, not another alt-coin.
- Transactions to buy and sell art in the 3-D virtual environment can be done via credit card, PayPal, or existing crypto such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, and WAX. These cryptocurrencies are mentioned as they all have an existing and established track record of being used in current art markets. By default, financial actions on the site should be using blockchains that have no transaction fees to use the network.
- No sign-in is needed to view and explore this world.
- Open standards are used to foster as much continued development and international collaboration as possible. Perhaps Blockchain Game Alliance can help make this happen since they are a diverse professional coalition from a variety of blockchain and gaming platforms.
- The environment also has 3-D games that a user can play--kind of like walking through a carnival; there's a game booth, and next to it is an art booth, including a collaborative VR drawing space, like a VR version of Dada.art. Prizes won in the game booth can include rare digital art. As an added example, imagine being able to play a great rare digital art shooter game called Spells of Genesis in a multiplayer 3-D universe and receive game points, crypto, or rare digital art as your winnings!
- This VR cryptoart world should also have built-in user-to-user messaging (perhaps through secure chat), audio capabilities, and parental controls.
- Designed as an ever-expanding World's Fair of Online Art, collectors can seamlessly use their avatars to explore a 3-D version of contemporary high-end Expressionist art from various galleries on one virtual block, perhaps on a street called Emotional Way. Then they would turn a corner and walk down Budget-Buy Boulevard, where all rare digital art is no more expensive than a bottle of water.
- Such a site should also have a daily virtual newspaper, which aggregates relevant art news from this realm and sends it to members who subscribe. This would be things like how many new pieces of art were sold, created, who collects the most art, who releases the most art, who sells the most art, who has spent a lot of time on the site yet is not receiving many gallery visitors, who refers the most new users to the site through a referral code... kind of like a game leader board, but also designed to help everyone.
- Site should have the ability for creators to upload new rare digital art of their own creation to be displayed on exhibit space owned by the artist. The operators of the site would take a commission on these sales and artist would receive the bulk of the sales. The artist could also receive a percentage of the resale commission on all secondary market sales if made via blockchain through the platform.
That's not to say that existing VR galleries are failing or prospering; the data on that is not easily available (or reliable). Yet like the rest of the art world, these sites are typically siloed, many requiring expensive hardware to view (while this same hardware will be obsolete in a few years), and most of the existing VR galleries are hustling to make an individual name for themselves. There's nothing wrong with hustling to self-promote, but much effort must also be spent on collaborating to build a unified virtual art fair experience.
Consider this analogy as the current state of VR art galleries: disconnected food trucks with delicious food, yet non-uniform procedures exist at random, hard to find parking lots, while what is really required is a cohesive international full service food court. A combination of the above-listed elements could create a very compelling art environment that would be unprecedented, and perhaps even become the "Ready Player One" artistic universe of tomorrow... yet live in our own time. It would inspire many repeat customers, delighted to explore a dynamic virtual art market in an exciting and gamified role as art collectors, art-seekers, and new art pioneers.
Joe Chiappetta
http://SillyDaddy.net