By Nath Cajuday
“Napakasarap maging artist ngayon, kasi whether you’re small, whether you’re from the deepest corner of the Philippines, as long as you have internet, you can spread it out to the world. Then nung nagkaroon ng NFTs and Web3, nagkaroon ng opportunity na lagyan natin ng actual value yung work na yun.”
[It is so good to be an artist in this period, whether you’re small, whether you’re from the deepest corner of the country, as long as you have the internet, you can spread it out to the world. Then when NFTs and Web3 were created, opportunity came to put value to the artwork.]
Thus stressed AJ Dimarucot of First Mint Fund when asked about his opinion about the idea that Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) hurt small-time artists during the BitPinas Webcast 09 – CryptoArtPH, First Mint Fund, and National Arts Month last February 3, 2022.
Seeing the NFT as a mind-blowing concept, Dimarucot reiterated that NFTs give an opportunity to give an artwork a value and that an artist can even sell the digital file.
“I will never see it as something that hurts small artists, in fact, it’s the opposite. Any type of technology where you can showcase your work to the world, and to actually put a value on a piece of work and say, ‘Okay, I can attach a value there that can pay you to receive this NFT,’. So parang, I never see it as hurting, actually it’s helping,” AJ added.
[I will never see it as something that hurts small artists, in fact, it’s the opposite. Any type of technology where you can showcase your work to the world, and to actually put a value on a piece of work and say, ‘Okay, I can attach a value there that can pay you to receive this NFT,’. So, it’s like, I never see it as hurting, actually it’s helping.]
Meanwhile, Jopet Arias of Crypto Art Philippines added a proof on AJ’s answer and narrated that he met artists that are experts in NFTs that are not Manila-based.
“Nabigyan ng voices ‘yung mga tao na imposibleng mahanap or makita sa mga comicon or conventions sa Imperial Manila. Na finally, they can do and create value [for their art] for their people and it helps so many artists right now,” Arias said.
He also shared the story of Titik Poetry, where the team used to perform for free in the public before, but is now performing in the Twitter Space and earning through donations and selling their poetries.
“Imposible na it hurts small-time artists, kasi sila ‘yung malalaking sales eh. Pero ‘yung mga grassroots na nangyayari sa Filipino community na sobrang empowered ngayon [ay] ‘yung mga emerging artists, we are learning together using this technology kung paano pa natin mapupush ‘yung boundaries ng tinatawag nating ‘art,’” Jopet ended.
[It’s impossible to hurt small-time artists because they are the ones with bigger sales. But the grassroots that are happening in the Filipino community that is greatly empowered right now are the emerging artists, we are learning together using this technology on how can we push the boundaries of what we call ‘art.’]
Moreover, Dimarucot also shared the story of NFT artist Sevi, one of the recipients of First Mint Fund.
According to him, Sevi’s family found out that the kid has an autism spectrum disorder and painting was the kid’s therapy. Sevi was then able to sell his NFT paintings that helped fund his medical therapies.
Learn more about NFT Artist Sevi Loves Art as BitPinas’ Senior Editor Michael Mislos interviewed him last year, here.
“To me, it [NFT] is just an opportunity for everybody, kahit maliit ka or malaki. Literally, it helps everybody,” AJ concluded.
[To me, it is just an opportunity for everybody, whether you are a small-scale or big-time artist. Literally, it helps everybody.]
Earlier this year, Yield Guild Games country manager for the Philippines Luis Buenaventura II published an article debunking some of the myths and fallacies about NFTs.
Buenaventura explained the question “Does NFT Hurt Small Time Artists?” after a Twitter user reacted to one of his tweets, stating that NFTs hurt small-time artists.
He called this statement an “Appeal to Emotion,” or more specifically a “Galileo Argument.”
“*I* am a small-time artist. So is Caroline Dy. So is Jopeter Arias. So is Sevi Loves Art. So are most of the artists in #cryptoartph,” Luis explained.
BitPinas Webcast 09 – CryptoArtPH, First Mint Fund, and National Arts Month aired live on BitPinas’ Facebook Page, hosted by BitPinas’ Senior Editor Michael Mislos, and co-hosted by Chin Gandia, Associate Consultant of Emfarsis, together with Jopet Arias of Crypto Art Philippines and AJ Dimarucot of First Mint Fund.
The BitPinas Webcast is a #CryptoPH Weekly Show. Click here to visit BitPinas Webcast Clips.
Watch BitPinas Webcasts every Thursday, at 5:00 pm, PH time.
This article is published on BitPinas: Does NFT Hurt Small—Time Artists? AJ Dimarucot says ‘It’s the Opposite of it!’
