One question that we are asked is whether the Fine Art Ledger is geared for artists and how artists can benefit from using The Fine Art Ledger.
To the first, our answer is an emphatic ’yes’!
Artists, art and improving access to fine art and fine art information is the very reason we exist.
We want to give artists the ability to tell their story, the story behind the art in a way that is easy to access, in a Fine Art Experience which enriches engagement with the artist and the art, and which, using blockchain and Near Field Communication (NFC) technology we can now seamlessly deliver directly to the device to which most people are now a days most attached. Their mobile phones.
So, as an artist, every piece that you produce, that hangs on any wall becomes an avenue to your art and your story.
Whether it hangs in your studio, on a gallery or art fair wall, in a restaurant, a museum, or your buyer‘s living room, your story is now a mobile phone tap away. As the artist, it is the creation of the work where the story for that piece begins. Whether a unique work or a multiple, your life experience, your stamp, your creativity is etched into every piece. Every piece an original creation.
There will be imitators, some flattering others less so. Either way, preserving your rights in your art can be tricky. Images abound. Our world thrives on social sharing, on duplication.
But blockchain offers unprecedented opportunities for artists to protect their creativity.
A blockchain authenticated Certificate of Authenticity is an immutable record stamped in at a certain time showing the artist as the creator of the work. It can serve as an immutable record of precedence for the work, identifying the artist as its creator, the conceiver of the work and, in sequence of time, the person who birthed that creation into the world. The original artifact.
And this doesn’t just stop at physical works of art. Blockchain, because it overcomes the ‘Double Spend‘ problem, allows artists to make authentic artifacts of digital works, whether it be images or film.
Lets stop and think about that for a minute. You are a photographer. You want to produce a limited print edition. Traditionally, there is an outlay involved. You need to run a physical, paper edition. Have each physical print of your negative or raw image printed, numbered and signed.
But with blockchain, you can make the digital image or film clip the original artifact.
You can produce a limited digital edition, with each number in the edition stamped into the blockchain as its own original artifact, each available for purchase as a unique item.
Each purchaser can take comfort in blockchain immutability to know that no matter how many times the digital image is duplicated or shared, there will be only one true original.
And to enjoy the work, you can arrange for your buyer to print it in the traditional sense, or even stream it digitally to an electronic frame. Either way, the digital image remains the original, authenticated artifact.
And this is where The Fine Art Ledger comes in.
We have created a fine art cataloging and management platform which plugs into the blockchain.
Unlike most other art cataloging systems, each work, whether physical or digital, once stamped into the blockchain, produces an authenticated record of that work, the artist and the registered owner‘s details. This authentication of the work‘s details and provenance, once stamped, provides a decentralized reference for this information, its date and time of entry, giving the artists tie to his creation the independent reference it needs.
To compliment this, and to allow the artist to electronically tie the specific artwork with the blockchain record, giving him and his buyers the added comfort that the physical art work is a product of his creativity, we have also created a system which links the actual physical artwork to its information stored in the blockchain.
We do this using NFC technology.
Each artwork is registered on The Fine Art Ledger by tapping an NFC tag. These rolling authentication tags are smaller than a quarter, and can be integrated into the work by either fixing them inside the frame, on the back of the work, or on the inside of the stretcher.
Tying each specific tag to the blockchain record lends the work a stamp of authenticity, securely identifying the work as yours, the artist, and giving the artist the ability to exclude, for example, unauthorized editions or copies, a relevant concern in a time where artists rely increasingly on third party services to manage and run print ediruins.
Registration of a work is easy and done through your mobile phone. It starts with the tap of a tag, which directs the artist on her mobile phone to sign in or up to The Fine Art Ledger and, through a quick and easy mobile form, submit details of the work and the artist as creator and owner of the work.
Once registered, your art is automatically cataloged in your private account on The Fine Art Ledger, from where you can manage it, set permissions for who can tap the work to view its details, pull up-to-the-minute COA’s and even transfer the work or an interest in it simply using the transferee’s email address.
And what is exceptionally awesome about The Fine Art Ledger is that when you are showing your work, your studio or gallery visitors can simply mobile phone tap near the work to get all of the its details served directly to their mobile phones, augmenting their viewing experience with an interactive Mobile Fine Art Experience™, rich with information and media about you, this and your other artwork and the story behind them.
So as an easy to use means of authenticating your artwork, cataloging and managing it, we think The Fine Art Ledger is an unprecedented tool for artists that can’t be beat.
And we want you, as the genesis of the art collecting experience to sign up and see this for yourself.
And as you will see the potential for further opportunities, for example tracking and getting paid resale rights in your work clearly sits on the horizon.