I have decided to release a small set of single-edition NFTs on OpenSea.
I plan to place 100% of direct proceeds from the first sale toward the Bounty for More Eco-Friendly NFTs being developed by Artnome and GitCoin, and 25% of direct proceeds of each of the subsequent 9 artworks in this series toward the same fund.
You can bid/purchase/view the first minted artwork here. Currently, I have only placed 1 artwork on auction, but will place the other 9 in the coming days/weeks.
This may appear as going entirely against statements I've made in the past on NFT/CryptoArt, so I'd like to clarify what I am doing and why with this post.
As my first drop, I'm minting a small selection of my #inktober daily code sketches from 2019. These algorithmic works were developed in JavaScript and designed to be printed with a mechanical pen plotter. Each day, my process involved breaking down common algorithms and techniques into minimalistic forms that could be represented within the constraints of my plotter.
A sample of the series (which produced dozens of outputs per day) can be seen below, but in total only 10 of these works will be selected for minting, i.e. one work for each day (each is associated with a particular theme/prompt).
I wish to be transparent and open about my actions here, particularly my carbon footprint, rather than downplay or remain silent about the subject as I mint (as some platforms are currently doing). I am knowingly contributing negatively with these actions, and I wish to recognize that. However, instead of boycotting the NFT movement entirely, or instead of waiting to mint on a different chain, I have chosen to take a different action, which I understand not all will agree with.
I'm estimating that my carbon footprint for minting my first 1/1 NFT on OpenSea will lead to the carbon equivalent of ~1-2 hrs of flying time. After all 10 works are minted, that means up to 10-20 hours of flying time. Whether my artwork is "worth" this carbon cost is a challenging question, and something that each individual artist would have to balance and consider when minting. The line between "unacceptable" and "acceptable" carbon footprint per-behaviour is difficult to draw, and largely dependent on individual behaviour, lifestyle, work, etc.
To put this in perspective: if it weren't for COVID-19, I likely would have taken several long flights in the last few months as part of my normal work operations (flying to tutor workshops, giving talks, exhibit gallery work, and setup installations), not including the cost of shipping prints internationally. So, I do not think it is worth demonising small NFT drops on such an individual level.
However, I want to recognize that there exists a larger issue within the NFT space, that can lead to very significant carbon footprints in the order of 100s of tonnes of CO2 for a single large edition artwork. For this, I maintain my previous opinion that: "Currently, NFT/CryptoArt is not sustainable" — it must change, and quickly. These are issues I feel we should all be fighting for, and to help mitigate this I am:
- Placing proceeds toward a bounty which aims to help tackle some of these problems
- Minting a small number of 1/1 NFTs rather than large open editions
- Choosing a decentralized platform (OpenSea) that uses lazy minting to reduce the number of on-chain transactions
A number of things have made me change my mind. First, understanding the carbon footprint for a single 1/1 NFT on a more individual level, which is in the scale of a "short flight". Second, seeing the revenue potential for artists: I'm beginning to understand that crypto can become a solution for many artists and creators to earn revenue (in fact, it already is), freeing them from traditional forms of commercial/advertising/etc work, and allowing them to practice art full-time. To provide some personal context: I have seen peers making more revenue from a single 1/1 NFT than I have made in two years of physical art print sales, and to me that presents a significant shift in possibilities as a practicing artist, and also potentially (and perhaps surprisingly) a more environmentally friendly option in the future for those wishing to collect my artwork (I currently ship Giclée prints internationally via air mail).
Another very strong force in shifting my perspective was reading, listening to, and conversing with enthusiasts deeply ingrained within the crypto scene, and doing my own research on how it works, what part of the system contributes to the carbon footprint, how ETH2 is planning to mitigate this, and why some platforms are not choosing to migrate immediately to L2/PoS solutions. Through this research, I'm beginning to see that many curators, collectors, and platforms have longer term visions for NFT as a new form of art market, beyond mere cash grabs and meme GIFs. Seeing Beeple's Christie's drop has also helped cement these realities for me.
For what it's worth, I still disagree with many aspects of the current practice of NFT/CryptoArt (such as minting for lulz or open editions), and I will still continue to argue against those downplaying the larger issues around NFT/ETH/Btc. I do not wish to justify all NFT art, but have come to feel that this space can grow far beyond meme GIFs, money grabs, and lazy open editions.
I am not on those platforms, although I haven't made much of an effort to get onto them. I would rather drop on more open and decentralized platforms like OpenSea, particularly as it is using lazy minting to reduce carbon costs compared to some other platforms.
I'd like to explore alternatives such as NEAR (PoS) in a future artwork, particularly writing my own smart contracts to produce on-chain artwork (such as Autoglyphs), but for this particular #inktober series I have chosen to stay on ETH "Layer1", as I believe ETH has a longer term future, and may outlast many other PoS chains once the ETH2 migration is further along.
This was a challenging choice to make, but I hope that by placing proceeds toward the bounty program, I can participate in this space in a more positive way, and help build a better future for artists interested in NFT and crypto.
- The Unreasonable Ecological Cost of #CryptoArt
- Joanie Lemercier - The Problem of CryptoArt
- memo/eco-nft