NFTs trigger a boom for digital artists at Sydney’s Satellite exhibition

Non-fungible tokens have captured the imagination of artists who are showcasing their works at Sydney’s biggest display of NFT-supported animated 3D digital design.

Non-fungible tokens have captured the imagination of Australian and international artists who are showcasing their works at Sydney’s biggest display of NFT-supported animated 3D digital design.

Organisers say their works are attracting the digital equivalent of a minimum $3500 each (1 ethereum) and purchasers receive non-fungible tokens or NFTs as a digital proof of ownership.

The month long Satellite Exhibition, at Bondi Beach, includes works by Jonathan Zawada, BossLogic, David McLeod, Serwah Attafuah, Yambo, Trevor Jones and Beeple.

The animations include designs sculptured in virtual reality, with some artists donning a VR headset to build 3D shapes in virtual space as if they were building a statue.

Artworks are subject to auctions conducted using QR codes displayed beside them. You place a bid by scanning a QR code next to the work at the exhibition, in what is a silent auction. In each case, successful buyers receive proof of ownership as an NFT digital token that can be stored on their phone in an NFT wallet.

Some wallets will display NFTs as small replicas of artworks within the collection. From there, owners can trigger a full sized version to show on an NFT enabled digital frame at home.

Some artworks are displayed on old computer monitors grouped together. The individual works can be sold with separate NFTs.

Exhibition works are shown not only on displays but also on projector screens and even decades old computer monitors which have sprung back to life as art displays.

Some works comprise animations on multiple monitors stacked on top of one another. The multiple animations are sold as separate NFTs.

The Satellite exhibition is taking place at the Bondi Beach Twenty Twenty Six gallery of international contemporary painter Martine Emdur.

Satellite curator and established digital artist David Porte Beckefeld has been key in onboarding artists to the NFT-supported Foundation platform where works are auctioned.

Artist David Porte Beckefeld sculpts his works in virtual reality, building ceramic-like and glasslike animated 3D structures.

He said Satellite was the first NFT art exhibition in the world focusing solely on contemporary 3D pieces within the NFT space, separating art from collectibles.

The Foundation platform serviced more than 20,000 digital artists and last year was responsible for 47,782 ethereum ($170m) in sales.

Mr Porte Beckefeld said exhibition works already were selling for at least one ethereum, currently around $3500. Artists exhibiting at Satellite had already sold up to 8 digital works for that price and more.

Mr Porte Beckefeld sculpts his works in a virtual reality world while wearing a VR headset. He uses hand controllers to paint and animate three-dimensional objects.

A work by artist Chris Labrooy who specialises in “digital automobile transgressions” and builds artworks for Porsche.

“I like to make vases that are either ceramic-like or glasslike and I sculpt these forms and bring them into 3D,” he said.

Sydney digital artist Jess Ticchio produces dreamscapes and virtual sculptures that are projected onto screens and 3D displays.

She said the ability of digital artists to garner an income has transformed the art space. “This idea behind digital art wasn’t (previously) feasible. There was no technology to facilitate it. NFT’s are life changing for digital artists.”

She described NFTs as “the next big art movement”. “I think it’s pretty incredible as well to live through a new art movement. Studying art at school, you feel like everything has already been done, so it’s really exciting to have this whole new space to play in and I’m really grateful that it’s in our lifetime.”

An artwork projected onto a screen at the Satellite exhibition.

Manufacturers have been building special displays that let you show off NFT works at home.

Tokenframe’s frames start at $US333 for a 10-inch NFT display with sizes up to 55 inches. Top-of-range costs $US2777.

You sign into your collection using Metamask and more than 50 other wallets which are all integrated into the Tokenframe app.

“Plug-in the Tokenframe, connect it to Wi-Fi, access your wallet and cast your NFT. It’s really that simple,” the company says.

Tokenframe offers bespoke wooden frames, 2K and 4K antiglare screens and built-in audio for works with sound. Frames can rotate between portrait and landscape.

Part of an animation at the Satellite Exhibition in Sydney. Patrons who buy a work receive a non-fungible token signifying proof of ownership. Tokens enable genuine animated artworks to be displayed at home.

Netgear has updated its Meural Wi-Fi Photo Frame and Meural Canvas II to display NFT-held art. The Meural range already lets arts lovers digitally display thousands of works from galleries around the world, so NFTs are a logical extension. The Canvas II starts at $1199 in Australia.

These frames are the price of a 4K UHD television and the TV makers have taken note. They are jumping aboard. Samsung has announced it will include a platform for buying and showcasing NFTs on its 2022 TV range, and LG is following suit. Other TV makers are expected to join in.

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How it works

A non-fungible token (NFT) is a digital record minted with a unique ID signifying an asset such as an artwork or piece of music, and its owner. Its existence is recorded on a universally circulating blockchain in the cloud, so an ownership record cannot be tampered with.

Ownership is coupled with a ‘smart contract’ that determines what happens when the asset is re-sold. For example, the NFT smart contract might require the original artist to be paid 10 per cent when the work is sold a second time on the blockchain.

A new record is created on the blockchain signifying the new owner when resold.