World's Fair of Rare Digital Art

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

Joe Chiappetta, February 2021

When virtual reality (VR) becomes user-friendly, affordable, with universal technical standards integrated from online gallery to gallery, the art-loving world could see a revival more influential even than the Italian Renaissance. Indeed, everyone (with internet access) could witness this World's Fair of Online Art, open 24-7, poised to impress and built to buy/sell rare digital art as if you were floating through a game-like world because... well... because you would indeed be floating through a game-like world--virtually speaking. Such a place would have free admission for all, economic opportunity for all, and operate in 4 virtual dimensions of height, width, depth, and the dimension of "Wow, this is awesome!"

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

At 64 billion dollars for 2019, the global art market saw a decline in sales from the previous year. While 2020 statistics are not compiled yet, it is likely that this figure will be even lower. With fast transactions and borderless payment power, some are scrambling to declare cryptocurrency as the soon-to-be savior of a slumping global art market. 

However, the truth is at least a little more complex. Made possible by cryptocurrency, a small but excited number of people do collect rare digital art. But most in the art world still have no idea what such terms really mean.

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.

If you are just joining the rare digital art industry now, don't think you are late to the party. While rare digital art is 6 years old, the earliest pioneering developments from 2014 were not widely publicized and very slow in adoption (running on top of Bitcoin, often using Counterparty). Indeed, the first 4 years of rare digital art went by without much notice. Even now, the mainstream art world remains quite slow to completely jump on the bandwagon. So we are still in the very early days of rare digital art! For example, the Italian Renaissance lasted about 200 years, and some art historians find traces of the Renaissance roughly 100 years prior to its start through the work of Giotto. 

Whether the Italian Renaissance lasted 200 or 300 years, is not the point. Rather, it is significant that when a new movement starts, the early years of that movement are never as defined as historians make them out to be. Therefore if you are in rare digital art now, congratulations, fellow pioneer! You will be one of the early ones to help define and further shape it.

Since we are the early adopters, the question at hand is "Where do we go from here?" The first step is to soberly see where we really are now. The practice of buying rare digital art is only slowly being adopted by mainstream art collectors, and much of the rare digital art industry is dominated by speculators looking to make a quick profit flipping art. 

As an old-school physical collector turned rare digital art collector, I am not a flipper or speculator. In fact, of the many rare digital artworks in my collection, I rarely sell pieces from my collection. That is because I acquired the art in the first place because I wanted it for the fun of it. The art spoke to me in a unique way and simply made me happy. So if I can add such a piece to my collection, I will, and not worry about whether or not I can make money off of it later.

Zine Machine is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta, available on Atomic Hub.

By contrast, I do sell a nice amount of my own original artworks. That has been a practice of mine in the physical world (since the 1990s at comic book conventions) as well as in the digital world on rare digital art markets. While (literally by the grace of God) I have collectively sold hundreds of pieces of rare digital art on MakersPlace, SuperRare, Atomic Hub, Book of Orbs, and pixEOS, I can't say the same for everyone. Indeed, the opposite is true; the majority of artists--despite their great talent--are not selling much.

Unlike myself, not everyone has the benefit of 4 decades experience in the arts as well as authoring one of the longest running autobiographical comics about family like I have with Silly Daddy Comics and Silly Daddy Zine. Most folks are just starting out as artists, or are really strapped for time working odd jobs and doing art on the side. Therefore, people can't be wasting time on markets where they may never sell anything. Everyone's time is valuable. So it is important, as we shape the rare digital art economy, that we build more opportunity in it--not just for the superstars, but for everyone.

Loyal Daddy is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta, available on Atomic Hub.

Despite the challenges of emerging artists struggling to make significant impact, artists are flocking to release new works on rare digital art markets in ever-increasing numbers. Naturally, due to the sad difference between supply and demand, as I alluded to previously, most of these artists will not sell anything there, and will soon leave the market discouraged. Some, in bitterness, may even spread a bad report about the true innovation going on in this still growing space, but don't be deceived; the best is still yet to come!

Next Steps for Rare Digital Art Markets

So what's the solution to increase demand for this kind of art? A higher quantity of serious art collectors will need a number of good reasons to jump into the rare digital art market. That's because the experience of collecting most digital art (rare or otherwise) is often--for lack of a better term--anticlimactic. It is hardly a social activity since collectors typically buy their art alone on their computers--with absolutely no fanfare. I know this because that is what I do as an art collector. 

Aside from the excitement of in-person rare digital art auctions, which are few and far between, why does collecting rare digital art hover on the sometimes anticlimactic side? It is actually a design problem. For most web sites selling rare digital art, the pieces are almost always offered in a visually dull grid layout. This is basically a 2-D catalog experience. Such design conventions have not changed since the mail order days which showcased department store catalogs of centuries gone by. That's not much different than scrolling through an Instagram art feed. Things really must change, and they can.

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.

The WAX community, and in particular the Atomic Hub Marketplace, is doing an incredible job at making 2-D rare digital art galleries fun, gamified, and incredibly user friendly. In fact, Atomic Hub has a "bundle" feature that allows collectors to buy multiple pieces of art in the same transaction. I liken it to the coolness and excitement of being a kid and buying a pack of trading cards. 

Digital Art Needs a Multidimensional Digital World by Joe Chiappetta. It's rare digital art available on MakersPlace.

Another example of innovation is the unlockable content feature for owners of rare digital art. MakersPlace and a growing number of other rare digital art markets have this feature. I used this feature to release my newest book, Silly Daddy Zine #1. Here's how it works: everyone can just see the cover of the book. But only those who buy it as rare digital art gain access to download the 50 page book. This unlockable download for owners is one of the most exciting new features in the industry, providing more incentive for further adoption.

Silly Daddy Zine #1 is rare digital art and a 50-page book by Joe Chiappetta, available on MakersPlace.

Looking to the future, the next bold step is to migrate the best of these current rare digital art markets, like MakersPlace and Atomic Hub, onto one virtual 3-D world that is only somewhat similar to Minecraft, Decentraland, Cryptovoxels, or Somnium Space. I say "only somewhat similar to..." because none of those sites have all of the below essential features:

VR Art Gallery Essentials

1. Exhibitors earn the rights to virtual 3-D land and wall space by purchasing affordable rare digital art in this world.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Collectors can explore, exhibit their collections, and still buy and sell art all in a 3-D realm.
5. The virtual 3-D gallery can be explored without a VR headset, plus users can buy and sell art without a headset too.
6. The virtual 3-D gallery world has a 2-D auto-generated counterpart for those with slower technology.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Users can customize their own avatars.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. No sign-in is needed to view and explore this world.
15. 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.
16. 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!
17. This VR cryptoart world should also have built-in user-to-user messaging (perhaps through secure chat), audio capabilities, and parental controls.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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.

While it must be acknowledged that some VR art galleries are already operational (and have been for years), most just feature artists creating VR experiences as an isolated piece, not other kinds of art, and not connected to a whole VR world. Additionally, few of these galleries use cryptocurrency, none of them are household names, and they're all fragmented realms. More importantly, none of the existing sites have even a fraction of the features numbered above. Yet this is what is needed for wide consumer adoption.

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

Art Gallery 70 Years in the Making: pixEOS

"70 Years in the Making" is new rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta which depicts an oscilloscope from the 1950s. It is animation that provides a modern-day glimpse into our art history roots--70 years in the making, and is one of the many artworks available in the pixEOS Gallery.

I really enjoy exploring my artistic roots to understand who has come before us to pave the way. Recent research has led me to the 1950s in Cherokee, Iowa. It was there in the American Midwest that a widely talented man, Ben Laposky, created some of the earliest known electronic visual art. Ben used an oscilloscope, which is a device that turns voltage into moving lines of light. He recognized these patterns/designs as unique artworks, and called them "electrical compositions" as well as "electronic abstractions." Back then, the only way Laposky knew to potentially monetize his animated creations was to take black and white photos of his abstract designs and exhibit them. Ben was a mathematician, Purple Heart recipient, and remarkable pioneer in the arts.

The steady advancement of computers in the decades to come would entice more artists into the (literally electrifying) field of electronic arts, both analog and digital. Seventy years later, excitement and innovation continues to run high in the electronic arts, with no signs of slowing down. This is especially true in the 5 year old field of rare digital art.

Attention continues to increase for online digital art markets--made even more apparent by the March 2020 closing of all physical museums and galleries due to the spread of a worldwide disease. Despite these global health issues, art collectors remain active with a real appetite to collect blockchain-registered art. All made possible--of course--through electricity, these artworks are issued in limited editions and tied to cryptographic tech running in the background. Just as cryptography regulates Bitcoin in a verifiably limited supply, the same is true for artworks, hence the name rare digital art. Also known as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), art ownership, release dates, sales history, and artist authenticity are automated through global computer networks.

The technology to issue rare digital art keeps evolving. The latest in this evolution is the Grand pixEOS Art Gallery. Operational since March 25th, 2020, a few features of the pixEOS Gallery are worth highlighting.

1. Gallery transactions (buying/selling) are fast--like blazing fast. That can be attributed to the team being active in the industry for many years and the fact that the EOS blockchain, on which the gallery operates, is known for its speed.

2. The artists in the gallery are a widely diverse blend of international talent. Some have been "around the blockchain" for many years, some are longtime pro artists yet new to rare digital art, and some are emerging artists grateful to gain instant access to global sales potential for their creative works.

3. Art collectors buy the rare digital art using EOS tokens or PIXEOS tokens, depending on how the artist chooses to list for sale.

4. Each collector gets their own unique page to exhibit their prized possessions and/or resell them for a potential profit.

5. Each time an artist's work is resold (when the collector who buys the work sells it to another collector), the artist receives a percentage of these secondary sales automatically.

6. Artwork can be auctioned off or sold for a fixed price.

7. Simple and complex motion is often added by artists to their static original artworks, creating a new animated art marketplace. Using GIF format, animations are widely created and collected.

While it is unfortunate that legendary electronic art pioneers of decades-gone-by were not able to utilize this exciting new way to distribute, monetize, and collect electronic artwork, many remain grateful to be active in such a lively legacy that has become a digital art revolution. To the future... to the pixEOS Gallery!

Rare Digital Art Slot Machine

Rare Digital Art Slot Machine by Joe Chiappetta is rare digital art available on MakersPlace.

I would like to build a crypto-powered slot machine that spits out rare digital art as prizes. This can help to transform art collecting into a series of fun game mechanics with artwork ownership registered on the blockchain. In this new paradigm of fine and fun arts, the art collectors would become gamers, while gamers become art collectors, and gamblers could display their winnings in the form of modern-day masterpieces in virtual art galleries... or trade their digital art for more slot machine virtual tokens.

Slot machines, historically known as "one-armed bandits," would soon become one-armed blockchain curators!

What Makes Great Rare Digital Art?

In a strange new world of blockchain kicks and crypto culture clash, one man stands poised to sort it out for the greater good.

Rare Digital Art Man by Joe Chiappetta will soon be released as rare digital art in the pixEOS Gallery.

Along with a tribe of talented developers and entrepreneurs, I am part of a team that will soon be launching a rare digital art gallery on the EOS blockchain. It is called The Grand pixEOS Art Gallery. This will be a marketplace where creators of art can monetize their original artwork through a process called tokenization. That means an artist creates unique artwork and through the pixEOS market, uploads it to an online blockchain art gallery to be sold in exchange for cryptocurrency: in the case of the pixEOS gallery, artist will choose to sell their art in exchange for EOS tokens or PIXEOS tokens.

What art collectors actually buy when selecting rare digital art to collect is a unique cryptocurrency token that is specifically tied to that art image and can be resold on the blockchain and traded as determined by one owner at a time. Limited edition pieces can also be released, so prior to publication, each creator chooses whether to sell the art as a super rare edition of only 1 or in limited editions, such as 5 or 10 copies. Ownership and scarcity is uniquely verifiable on the blockchain.

This is a new movement in the arts that goes by a few different names: rare digital art, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and crypto-goods. On the Ethereum blockchain, my favorite marketplaces/communities to issue and collect rare digital art have already been up and running for over a year: MakersPlace and SuperRare. I am very active in those communities and have made good friends there too. EOS is a newer blockchain, and after over a year of development, the EOS community will also soon have the ability to participate in a similar full service professional rare digital art gallery experience.

In creating such a marketplace/gallery for rare digital art on the EOS blockchain, the community (of course) wants the art therein to be great--or at least really good and highly collectible. Yet there is no singular definition of great art; there never will be. The vast international and cultural diversity in the art community will ensure that not everyone will agree on what is great, or even appropriate. As the old saying goes, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

Nevertheless, I do have in mind what I am looking for in the arts; I want to create a safe, inspiring place where people of all ages can appreciate and collect art without fear of harm or offense. Think of it as an inspiring shelter from the storm of life. Imagine a gallery where you can browse art with your young kids as well as your conservative grandmother and be continuously uplifted. I always appreciate the succinct and noble goal stated in Epidemics, an ancient Greek medical text: "to do good or to do no harm."

Doing good and/or not being harmful is a guiding principle I use in life, and it is also central to how curating art in the pixEOS Gallery will operate. I also believe that such a principle is at the core of what makes for really great, timeless art. To outline this further, below are a few practicals that support such a view of greatness, specifically in this new world of rare digital art. I encourage creators to use this list as a starting point as they assess which works they should (and should not) release as rare digital art.

Recipe for Great Rare Digital Art

1. Art that you would actually spend your own money on if you were a budget-conscious collector.
2. Art that is one of your best pieces if you had to pick your top ten pieces you ever completed.
3. Art that is professionally photographed or scanned (as opposed to a dimly lit pencil drawing taken by a weak cell phone camera where the paper edges are not cropped properly and the white of the page shows up as medium gray tones).
4. Art that is at least 1500 pixels wide.
5. Art that is uniquely original, where no one else's copyrighted characters or intellectual properties are the main focus.
6. Art that has not been--and will not be--tokenized anywhere else.
7. Art that complies with the law and upholds to marketplace terms of service.
8. Art that gets people thinking deeply, is inspiring, or makes people laugh without being rude, offensive, or discriminatory.
9. Art that does not entice people to do evil.
10. Art that has a spirit of purity: safe for viewing by children of all ages as well as engaging to adults.
11. Art that is accompanied by a thoughtful description and/or title.
12. Art that provides solutions--or at least awareness--for important matters, whether global matters (like environmentalism) or local matters (like personal kindness or joy).
13. Art that communicates truth with grace.
14. Art you'd be glad to exhibit in your family's front room.

I am sure there are more traits to mention, but these are just some to ponder for now. Such a place of refuge and insight is where I want to collect art, as well as release artworks of my own.

Together I believe we can all go there!

Joe Chiappetta
http://SillyDaddy.net

CryptoArt Shrugged: What To Do During Rare Digital Art Technical Difficulties

CryptoArt Shrugged is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta on MakersPlace.

CryptoArt Shrugged:

What To Do During Rare Digital Art Technical Difficulties

Imagine for a moment this scenario. The most amazing art the world may ever see has just been finished, and you're its proud creator. Anxious to release your work for sale as rare digital art, you head over to your favorite online art market to launch the artwork to the public... yet... something's wrong! The marketplace is supposed to be live but it's temporarily delayed. Or other unexpected technical difficulties--with your entire preferred blockchain--make it impossible to immediately release such precious art. 

Would this now be the time to...
(a) Panic?
(b) Complain?
(c) Keep clicking buttons until your will be done?
(d) Leave this sketchy, experimental field forever?

The answer--probably--is actually (e), none of the above.

Therefore what should creators do when their preferred rare digital art gallery--in which they desperately want to release new artworks on--is having downtime or is delayed? The short answer is... something else. As with most things highly technical, new, and still evolving, proper development for mass consumption takes time and frequent revision. Rome was not built in a day.

Remember also some related facts of development.

• The Internet was quite fragmented at its inception. In fact, many sites only worked in certain browsers. Many computers did not even have a web browser. The first web browser was created in 1990, yet it took at least 8 years before the Web Standards Project started to push for the Internet to have clear standards for web browsers.
• While Bitcoin went live in 2009, it took another 6 years before anyone could issue rare digital art on top of Bitcoin (through Counterparty).
• With Ethereum launching in 2015, it was not until over 2 years later that anyone could issue rare digital art through Ethereum.
• Launched in 2018 as a faster blockchain with no transaction fees (unlike Bitcoin and Ethereum), major rare digital art markets on the EOS blockchain (such as pixEOS) will not go live until the later portion of 2019.

With these things in mind, the "urgent" feeling of disappointment or even frustration when delays bump through new technologies are--in most cases--not cause for alarm at all. It's all relative, and just a normal part of the development process. In other words, that's life; shrug it off.

Nevertheless, there is a way to make the most of such delays. Below are some useful professional actions that any artist can take when there are technical delays in publishing art through a preferred rare digital art market.

Rare Digital Art Downtime Game Plan

1. Think of more relevant tags and text to add to your existing artwork.
2. Re-share previously released, yet unsold art on social media.
3. Look around the web to see if this art would be good as a new submission for a contest or exhibition (which could get you extra publicity).
4. Let existing collectors know from you by direct message that you will soon be coming out with a new piece, and you can give them an exclusive preview.
5. Write a full article on your blog where your newly released artwork will serve as the main illustration, thus giving the artwork a wider potential audience.
6. Add that design to a merchandising site so fans can order it on t-shirts, phone cases, and more.
7. Review and revise pricing on your previously released unsold artworks.
8. Ask a colleague to post a review of your existing work.
9. Catch up on the necessary accounting work associated with your businesses so it does not all pile up.
10. Study what people who are more successful than you are doing.
11. Become a rare digital art collector.
12. Make related art, thus creating a cohesive series.

As anyone can imagine, the list of useful, professional, and forward-moving tasks that can be done during unexpected delays are quite involved and productive, in-and-of themselves. More could easily be added to this list as well. Those in the crypto-art field long enough know too well that a strategy to manage blockchain delays is simply a good thing to have. Therefore the prudent will pass the "downtime" wisely, turning it into "uptime." And soon--yet never soon enough in the moment--that preferred site that had you in such a bother due to delays will be up and running--and so will you--already.

Joe Chiappetta
http://SillyDaddy.net

The World's Fair of Online Art

Digital Art Needs a Multidimensional Digital World by Joe Chiappetta. It's rare digital art available on MakersPlace.

The article that originally appeared with this artwork has been heavily revised and updated here.

Silly Daddy Site Map

Silly Daddy Site Map by Joe Chiappetta is rare digital art available on MakersPlace.

Almost all of my major (and minor) works of art and writing from this century have been covered on my Silly Daddy website at one time or another. It is a little odd to think about; here I can see what my main interests have been, because we create what we care about. Topics of parenting, sci-fi, faith, crypto-art, comics, surrealism, and family are all there. Much of I have done creatively is packaged in a virtual electronic world connected by wires, airwaves and computer hardware that I cannot begin to understand.

This experimental animation came about while I was making a navigational site map for that website. It was just a bunch of boring text links on a plain page and I really wanted to spice it up with some surreal digital art. However I also wanted the cartoon illustration to have at least something to do with signs and navigational pointers. That way, the artwork would have relevance to the various themes of my work for the past few decades. So after much trial and error, drawing and redrawing, animating, editing, and revising, I finally created the most atypical site map art--at least that I have ever imagined.

Are you a curious navigator looking to see how my Silly Daddy Site Map art fits in with a bunch of website text links?
Then go to https://joechiappetta.blogspot.com/p/site-map.html and cruise around what may be the first site map illustration to be put on a blockchain.

Joe Chiappetta
http://SillyDaddy.net

Easy Computer Living

Easy Computer Living is rare digital art on MakersPlace by Joe Chiappetta.

I set out to draw a comic that is fun, retro-stylish, semi-smart, yet also with powerful hidden depths. Let’s thrown in some social commentary, and irony too. So join me in a grand toast to easy computer living!

Joe Chiappetta

http://SillyDaddy.net

Process note: The composition for this cartoon was derived from a photo of an old super computer made by Control Data Corporation.

Portrait of a Creative Blockchain Technologist

What began as a big marker sketch on a reused plastic bubble-wrap envelope to mail art, has evolved considerably. After much editing, the sketch has turned into full-on animated rare digital art. This piece depicts Matt Condon, who is an insightful podcaster on Digitally Rare and also a creative blockchain technologist.

A number of personal drawings that I enjoy most started out as unassuming giveaway sketches on envelopes. Perhaps it's because drawing on such items is quick and uninhibited by nature. Since I come from the old-school comics publishing industry (and zine scene before that), adding drawings to envelopes was a pretty standard practice for me in correspondence. Most of these drawings were super quick, and some I really got into. I do not have any of these drawings of course--because I mail them out. Yet a few of these sketches I did have the foresight to capture on camera before sending them off into the world. 

Like most in this digital age, I hardly ever mail items directly anymore. So when I do use shipping services, especially when the contents are art-related inside, it is likely that I will create some nice design on the envelope too. I guess such behavior is coded into my old mail-order-genes.

Therefore now, by the power of God, the Internet and the Ethereum blockchain, this art is available as rare digital art on MakersPlace!

As a side note, while I do call this a crypto art "portrait," I suppose, with all the whimsical elements added on, the drawing is probably more of a caricature... or is it? 

Joe Chiappetta

http://SillyDaddy.net

Rare Digital Art Ownership Visualization

Rare Digital Art Ownership Visualization by Joe Chiappetta is available on MakersPlace

In understanding any new concept, it often helps to provide visuals. This is definitely the case with rare digital art. As a new ecosystem to release, catalog, sell and collect digital art, the growing field of rare digital art is fascinating for a number of reasons. For the first time ever, digital art can be coded to be entirely rare, sales could happen instantly and internationally through new monetary systems, royalties for secondary art sales can be built right into the market, the art can be sold for a fixed price or auctioned, artists can issue super-rare editions of only 1 or limited-editions such as 1 of 10. Mind you, I am only mentioning just a few of rare digital art's exciting features.

To illustrate what actually goes on when a person owns rare digital art, I have drawn up an imaginary universe where digital concepts are as tangible as the toes on your feet. Art collectors can buy this particular piece of rare digital art on the MakersPlace marketplace. It is a comical drawing that depicts a world lined with chains of data held in sequential blocks. That's where we get the term "blockchain." When someone buys rare digital art, they are actually buying a unit of cryptocurrency. Their account on the blockchain gives them a private key whereby only they can sell that crypto if they find a buyer. All this is packaged in an orderly and cryptographic manner on the blockchain. These blocks of ownership data are uniquely linked together so that the order and the data cannot be changed. Therefore the data on this blockchain has a decent semblance of permanence.

Is Art Really On the Blockchain?

While important data about art is permanently on the blockchain, what about the actual art's permanence? The art on the blockchain is a different, yet completely related story. In most cases, the actual art image is (gulp) not hosted on the blockchain. Rather the art is usually hosted the way most digital images are hosted: on a file hosting device called a server or multiple servers in physical locations, with the image being delivered (or "served") when someone on the Internet goes to a particular website (or image-enabled blockchain wallet). Therefore the art is as permanent as the Internet, the blockchain that holds the art data, and the servers that host the actual image.

With rare digital art, while the image does not truly reside on the blockchain, it's file name and web address are coded to be linked to a particular blockchain. So we can enjoy a little irony in the fact that art on the blockchain--in most cases--is not actually on the blockchain. Yet the art data, ownership and link to the art are on the blockchain.

Is Rare Digital Art Actually Rare?

While we are on the subject of irony, there is one more big one to cover. In the case of rare digital art, the art is... uh... not actually rare. In most cases, the art image is announced and uploaded to at least a few social media sites, plus the artist's blog, and then people share it over and over again on social media. Servers deliver the image to everyone viewing the art on the marketplace. So copies of the art are all over the place. Nothing rare about that. Yet as discussed in the previous section, all that doesn't matter--not one bit. What is rare is the crypto token that the art collector buys. That token cannot be copied, thanks to cryptography. This is where rarity comes in. When a collector buys rare digital art, it is a statement of value. It says "this art is so valuable, that I want to be on record as its owner so I can show it off in my collection, or sell it as I see fit, and I will do it all through the only economic vehicle that represents that art: its cryptocurrency token."

It is on top of these slightly ironic cybernetic rails of truth that art and tech pioneers started rolling out this new generation of artwork. We call it new, yet this was going on as early as 2014 in small groundbreaking circles. Little did people know that history was being made, and a whole industry would rise up from these humble and virtual beginnings. Yet here we are... making history... making art (kind of) on the blockchain. It seems only fitting then, since there have been movements of impressionism, cubism, futurism, and now... there is blockchainism.

So in making such a history, writers have to write about it. Artists have to make art about it. In the case of this rare digital art, the story needs to be told--or better yet shown--regarding what a person actually owns when they purchase rare digital art. What is owned? In short, it boils down to a few blunt facts:

The Short, Blunt Answer: What Do I Own When I Buy Rare Digital Art?

• It's nothing you can touch.
• Your purchase helps fuel a crypto crazy creative market ecosystem.
• You bought into a crazy risk with the potential for crazy rewards that can just as easily drop to zero in value or go sky high.
• You own cryptocurrency with a pretty face.
• A unique crypto token is what you own; the art is what you see.

If any of this appeals to you, then we are probably destined to be friends. So all aboard the rare digital art train!

Joe Chiappetta

http://SillyDaddy.net

Rise of Crypto-Art: 3 Opportunities for Artists on the Blockchain

Blockchain Bonnet by Joe Chiappetta is available as rare digital art on the SuperRare marketplace.

An Introductory Crypto-Art Article by Joe Chiappetta of Silly Daddy Comics

An overview of opportunities for artists on the blockchain are covered here, including rare digital art, crypto community graffiti, and online crypto social meritocracy.

It’s a pretty interesting time to be alive. Especially as an artist, I have seen rapid opportunities opening up for creative people. This has been largely due to advances in cryptocurrency, blockchain technology, and high speed mobile internet. With new technology often comes new terminology, methodology, and of course, opportunity. Such is the case with a wide classification of artwork known as crypto-art, which can be very loosely defined as artwork having something to do with cryptocurrency. 

All Quiet on the Bitcoin Front by Joe Chiappetta is mixed media on paper, available as rare digital art on MakersPlace

Of course, the broad category of crypto-art includes physical artworks where the subject matter has to do with cryptocurrency, such as a tangible painting on canvas featuring a Bitcoin logo. In fact, such artworks are probably the first types of modern crypto-art. Yet this article has more to do with a newer phase of crypto-art: specifically digital art that is powered by blockchain technology.

Squiggly Rare Silly Chain by Joe Chiappetta is rare digital art available on the MakersPlace marketplace.

Indeed, cryptocurrency and the mobile web are opening up the art world in unforeseen ways. Three new categories for an artist are now available... where previously there was nothing in terms of opportunity. This crypto-art article for beginners is focused solely on existing opportunities rather than resources that will soon be available. To be even more specific, in this primer I’m talking about current ways for digital artists to increase their exposure and earn more income from their digital artwork through new developments in cryptocurrency. Opportunities covered here include the following:

1. Rare Digital Art making
2. Rare Digital Art collecting
3. Crypto Social Networks

There are actually more than 3 categories of opportunity now available, but the opportunities that I chose to highlight in this crypto-art article are in their infancy yet have large growth potential, plus they are widely available now to every artist with high-speed internet and a computer.

Crypto Bridge of Wisdom by Joe Chiappetta, available as rare digital art on SuperRare

DISCLAIMER

While I absolutely believe that this is a time of incredible and unprecedented opportunity for artists because of cryptocurrency developments, I must also add a disclaimer. Cryptocurrency is fairly new technology, somewhat unregulated, yet subject to certain tax laws and often volatile in its US Dollar equivalent highs and lows. In other words, if you do get into this field and start earning a lot, definitely consult a tax professional and know that there’s a lot of price fluctuation in the cryptocurrency market. Moreover, if you’re a risk taker, slightly tech savvy, willing to learn the tax implications, and not faint of heart, pay close attention to developments in this space, and perhaps even test the waters.

RARE DIGITAL ART or CRYPTO-COLLECTIBLES

The first and second opportunity for artists that has become new through cryptocurrency would be in the category of rare digital art: making it as well as collecting it. This category is also known as crypto-collectibles, or even digital collectibles. I personally prefer the term rare digital art, but this field is still so new, that no one really knows which term will stand out above the rest.

Payment Playground is a blockchain card by Joe Chiappetta available on Book of Orbs in the CrystalsCraft Collection

The rare digital art industry is comprised of limited edition digital artworks that are each attached to a unique cryptographic token--also known as a cryptocurrency. A record of who owns this token and its attached art is readily available on a specific blockchain. Cryptocurrency runs on a "chain" of typically unalterable data, grouped in sequential "blocks." That's where the term blockchain comes from.

Often for those first hearing about the concept of rare digital art, an important question comes up. "Why would anyone want to spend money to own digital art when anyone can just copy the artwork file for free from the Internet to their own computer?" The answer is just as simple. Indeed, some will simply copy the file from the Internet. Yet certain collectors want more. These collectors will want to own the digital art that was personally issued directly by the artist in verifiably limited quantities. Blockchain has made this possible, and collectors are already doing exactly that. Moreover, many of these collectors choose to show off their collections to the public. Again, blockchain has made ownership of digital goods a new reality.

As a quick reference, here is a bulleted list that answers this common question:

Why Own Rare Digital Art When I Can Copy It for Free?

• Prestige of Ownership
• Collectible
• Tradable
• Portable
• Curation Statement
• Pioneering
• Patronage
• Safe Crypto Use-Case

Another concept to keep in mind is that there are many different blockchains that have been created. In fact there are well over 2,000 separate blockchains, yet many of them will amount to nothing special. CoinMarketCap, a site that lists key metrics on most cryptocurrencies, currently shows that there are at least 2,070 different cryptocurrencies.

Gratefully we can just focus now on the main blockchains that are in the widest use today to release and sell art directly on the blockchain. Presently there are only a handful. The blockchains that are currently in very wide usage to issue rare digital art include the Bitcoin blockchain (through an add-on crypto-data layer called Counterparty), and the Ethereum blockchain.

Since blockchain data can't be easily altered, and the data is verifiable by anyone, digital scarcity is now a real option for any piece of digital artwork. This means that digital art can now be issued in limited editions and collected for its level of rarity on the blockchain! Such collectible art is packaged in at least two different forms: (1) rare digital game items and (2) independent rare digital artwork.

1. Rare Digital Game Items: This refers to various unique digital game items that interact and function as game pieces within a larger gaming ecosystem. 

   

   Heavenly Shepherd blockchain card playable in Spells of Genesis mobile game

   One fine example would be the Spells of Genesis blockchain cards that are playable in their online game and tradeable on the blockchain. Incidentally, EverdreamSoft, the Swiss company that makes this cool game and issues its blockchain cards, holds the distinct honor of being the very first to ever issue rare digital art.
2. Independent Rare Digital Artwork: This refers to stand-alone, limited edition digital art pieces, both as static images as well as animated artworks.

CrystalsCraft Collection (launched March 2018) on Book of Orbs marketplace contains many Joe Chiappetta blockchain cards.

I have sold an incredible amount of my comics in the rare digital art marketplace. Naturally, I look forward to issuing more of my art there, as well as other key places. Many markets already exist out there for rare digital art, additionally known as non-fungible tokens (but I sure hope that odd, techie name referring to the art's non-interchangeable and unique nature doesn't stick). 

Joe Chiappetta rare digital art store on the MakersPlace market

Markets that I favor for issuing and also collecting rare digital art (because I personally use these particular markets) are many and varied, probably because I am pretty prolific. Therefore I like to diversify, having my art on a number of markets, based on where I think the art will sell the best. These crypto-collectible markets include:

• MakersPlace (using Ethereum or a credit card)
• SuperRare (using Ethereum)
• Book of Orbs (using BitCrystals, a Counterparty token running on Bitcoin)
• Cryptographics (using Ethereum)
• RARE Art Labs (using Ethereum)
• CryptoSketches (using Ethereum)

Street sign illustration by Joe Chiappetta pointing the way to some of the many crypto-collectible marketplaces

There are many additional rare digital art markets, with new ones launching every quarter. I suppose no one person--other than a die-hard crypto-art researcher--could cover them all thoroughly. The markets that I use are working for me and have a nice track record of professional accomplishment. Of course, as time and opportunity permits, I am open to trying additional markets.

The Collectible Vitalik is a vector drawing of Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, by Joe Chiappetta on CryptoSketches

As a specific market for minimalist rare digital art, CryptoSketches deserves a bit more attention because of its groundbreaking nature. When I say minimalist, I mean line drawings that take about 40 strokes or under to complete. It is the only site I know of currently where anyone can instantly make a minimalist drawing directly into the CryptoSketches drawing app and that art becomes a piece of finished rare digital art on the Ethereum blockchain within the hour (or as soon as the transaction is cleared on the Ethereum network). This means your art is available for sale with no human approval necessary--and in the same hour that you created it.

Artists will need much more Ethereum than usual to issue their art in this particular platform. On other Ethereum platforms it currently only costs a few cents to issue rare digital art. But on CryptoSketches, the transaction fee to issue rare digital art is currently between $3 and $6. My guess is that this is probably because there is way more data in a CryptoSketches smart contract since each drawing's vector data is contained in the transaction, making it more expensive to run that transaction through the Ethereum network. I think of these expense, high or low, as if they were postage costs to send my work to a global market. That expense also weeds out spam artists who would otherwise flood the market with junk.

Another nice feature of CryptoSketches is that when you view finished pieces in the market, a replay of the drawing process is automatically generated. Currently, this might only be viewable to those who have the MetaMask browser installed. If you do have MetaMask, see the drawing replay example here of my ETHmobile art.

These unique features make CryptoSketches first-in-class for being the only app (so far) for direct draw-to-market issuance of rare digital art that also includes a video replay of the creative process. I am going to rephrase these features because it is a huge innovation for the entire art world. Think about it; where else can any artist quickly draw digital art and in that same action, directly and immediately issue that art onto the market for sale as a one-of-a-kind piece of rare digital art?

Since this is a vector based app, the built-in video-redraw features also gives CryptoSketches that added bonus of being able to review the exact creative process for each piece of art issued on its marketplace. This video replay turns the art into more than a static image owned by a unique collector on the blockchain. That collector is also buying the exact artistic process. In other words, what the collector also owns is not just the finished art, but also the code that replays the lines that made the art. How cool is that?

Cryptographics, mentioned earlier as another fine market for rare digital art, is also groundbreaking in so many ways. It is a generative art site, meaning that artists go there to add (or generate) unpredictable elements of randomness to their art. Additionally on Cryptographics, one artist's work can even be combined automatically with another artists work. This creates new hybrid artworks, where all contributing artists get a portion of the hybrid art sale for each crypto-collectible generated.

Blockchain Kingdom is rare digital art by Joe Chiappetta available on Cryptographics marketplace

While being one of the newest sites that I issue rare digital art through, Cryptographics has instantly earned my respect as one of the most innovative and useful tools that a visual artist could utilize in this ever-changing digital age. In fact, I even wrote a more in-depth review of Cryptographics after using it extensively.

Asset pack created by Joe Chiappetta on Cryptographics allows others to create crypto-art with Chiappetta's art.

CRYPTO SOCIAL NETWORKS

An additional new opportunity for artists is in online crypto social networks. Once example of this is the site Steemit. Therein, creators can post their art, not merely for "likes" that don’t transfer into value, but "likes" that transfer into earning cryptocurrency that can (possibly) have a real world financial value: some only in fractions of a penny, yet others in higher dollar amounts.

Steemit screenshot of Joe Chiappetta posts shows upvote earnings in USD.

However keep in mind that for most people, these crypto-social media earnings will not be enough to live on, and I would guess that some of these sites will not thrive since the market could get flooded or just plain fickle. Remember MySpace? There are only so many social media sites a person can be active on at any given time.

Most of these crypto social networks could also be called crypto social meritocracies. I use the term "meritocracy" because on these sites, the more you contribute, in terms of time into the community and value-added to the community, the more your presence there often earns you a reputation score that in turn, earns you more cryptocurrency. In other words, this is artistic social activity and earnings based largely on what you do, not on race, social class, gender, or past accomplishments. These meritocracies measure what you contribute now for the community, usually in the form of content creation as well as thoughtful curation of other people’s creative work.

Keep in mind that each crypto social network usually mints its own unique cryptocurrency. Some of these crypto coins are worth a decent amount if you accumulate enough of them over time. Yet others are worth almost nothing.

Summing up the category of Online Crypto Social Meritocracy, if you want to post your artwork on the web and earn some cryptocurrency while doing so, this is a definite way to do that. I am not saying that non-crypto-social media has no value. In fact I still use such sites for publicity, yet in a much reduced capacity because there is no financial compensation for contributing to these sites.

Therefore, as an entrepreneur, I have to look at what gives the most value for my time. Many artists already post their work only on non-crypto sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, yet get absolutely no monetary compensation in return for their consistent contributions to these sites. Been there. Done that. Might as well move to where some compensation exists and start getting paid in crypto for our time on the site. Then in the process, we may also find a new tribe of like-minded, creative-crypto people.

Crypto-Art Conclusion

With all of these new categories of opportunity for digital artists, there is a bit of a learning curve to know how to access the full benefits of these new systems--or even where to start first. Yet artists are learners, risk takers, and observant people themselves. In time those who want to be part of this new crypto-art movement will learn the ins and outs as lifelong learners.

I hope this introductory article on how artists are migrating their business onto the blockchain for increased growth has stirred your curiosity--to say the least. In all my years as an artist I have never seen so much rapid development and economic opportunity for the creative mind. There is no way to tell how rapidly these markets will grow. Neither is there any way to determine which of the opportunities discussed here will be the most beneficial. Therefore, over time, perhaps look into each category. Test the crypto-waters, so to speak. As for me, I will be looking forward to these and probably many more art innovations as crypto-markets mature and increase in adoption. Hopefully, I will see you around the crypto-art universe too!

Joe Chiappetta
http://SillyDaddy.net