Malaysian artists get the freedom to create with NFTs | Articles and Culture Issues

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Large-scale live photography, vivid placement and color on the canvas: before the COVID-19 epidemic closed the arts and theater in March 2020, artistic festivals and exhibitions of Malaysian cities in Kuala Lumpur and George Town provided support, and inspiration, for artists the world.

But with the turmoil of the past 20 months, many have struggled to survive as full-time, “physical” professionals, and are forced to leave their comfort zone.

Some have entered the new world of recently released non-fungible tokens (NFT) and cryptocurrency.

NFTs are digital assets created to represent the ownership of a real object: unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, NFTs cannot be converted like other NFTs, making them less valuable, and increasing their value.

The idea is also applicable to the collection of art and has started to drive the unprecedented in digital history: in March, American artist Mike Winklemann, better known as Beeple, sold NFT for his work Everydays: The First 5000 Days for an amazing $ 69 price. m crossing. Christie’s British real estate.

In Malaysia, the idea of ​​NFT skills was established as an exciting time for graduates in manufacturing, multimedia, engineering and architecture. It became famous with Filamen, a group of Kuala Lumpur digital producers who launched the Seni Kripto (“Cryptoart” in Malay) exhibition in April 2021 at their prestigious Digital Art Gallery at the University of Malaya.

Malaysian art quickly took over the potential of the NFTs, launching the first Crypto Art Week in July, forming Pentas.io, the first NFT common market. It has already found some local cryptocurrency experts equivalent to millions of Malaysian ringgits.

A new concept of art

“NFT in Malaysia has seen huge growth over the past year,” Mumu the stan AKA Munira Hamzah (Month) of Malaysia NFT told Al Jazeera. This new non-profit organization and digital exhibition site helps Malaysian artists who are on NFT, make money and provide training materials and peer support to promote and promote Malaysian art worldwide.

“At the beginning of the year, you can count the number of Malaysian artists working in and selling NFTs on the one hand. That number has grown steadily to hundreds in a few months, and now we are probably in the thousands,” said Moon.

The NFT graphics of Malaysian experts are based on 3D animation, online memes, and images inspired by the multicultural culture of Southeast Asia.

Moon says the growth of NFT events has changed the way Malaysian artists earn money – from donated art – to provide “new confidence and a source of revenue that does not depend on customer requests, but what artists want. For professional achievement”.

For some of them, the NFTs have brought back excitement in technology.

“It gives me a chance to hone my skills, to show off [my work] as I want it to, follow personal ownership and keep nature records, ”Penang artist Kenny Ng told Al Jazeera.

For others, the NFTs have provided a real opportunity to make huge profits in Ether, a cryptocurrency which is a major Ether asset. Ethereum, an established, open-source blockchain with smart functionality where NFTs are marketed.

In early September, Kuala Lumpur artist Abdul Hafiz Abdul Rahman, best known under the name Cotton, made headlines selling its two NFT collections in less than 24 hours for 127.6 ETH – equivalent to 1.6 million Malaysian ringgit ($ 400,000). It was the most expensive NFTs group ever sold by any Malaysian artist in a single release.

“It is clear that, if done properly, the revenue generated could make a real difference to any Southeast Asian artist, as crypto is growing exponentially day by day,” Katun told Al Jazeera.

But while NFT appears to be a fast-growing conspiracy, at least in Malaysia it has grown into a progressive, supportive group. For example, Katun launched 4 Stages, a digital platform with the goal of bringing Southeast Asian artists together.

“There are many talented professionals here who do not have enough knowledge around the world,” Katun told Al Jazeera, adding that the rapid growth and global expansion of NFT will be a key to the success and financial success of Malaysian artists. beyond the geographical and economic boundaries of the small modern digital market.

Bones in the room

The benefits offered by the use of NFT and cryptocurrency are reflected in the developing environment where artists are plentiful, but the space for photography and freedom of expression is limited.

The catch, however, is that digital graphics are paid for by cryptocurrencies, whose mines are said to be among the most popular. carbon offsets in the world today.

Memebank’s Doge to the Moon press, which ridicules Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s plan to raise air traffic by selling DOGE currency. [Marco Ferrarese/Al Jazeera]

In other words, many of the websites that help artists sell NFT graphics, such as the popular OpenSea, come from the Ethereum blockchain, which is highly tax-sensitive in nature and design.

According to a study by digital artist Memo Akten published on the CryptoArt.wtf website, “selling one-dimensional graphics on Ethereum has a starting point of about 100 KgCO2, which is equivalent to an hour’s drive.”

“I was skeptical at first, but then I did a lot of research and talked to a lot of people, especially tech professionals, who better understand blockchain and then my mind changed,” the Kuala Lumpur artist. Red Hong Yi, known as Red, told Al Jazeera.

Based in Kota Kinabalu in the Borneo region of Sabah, Red established itself worldwide by creating portraits of famous Chinese celebrities as well. No Weiwei and Jackie Chan that he realized with a selection of everyday items ranging from used tea bags to bundles of sticks, egg shells and socks.

His remarkable work of Climate is Everything was the result of creating and burning a world map made of 50,000 matches of green points that were rejected on a white board.

Few expect to have such a reputation even though Red may want to go to NFT specialties, but he re-launched earlier this year with Doge to the Moon – a fund that celebrates and laughs at the idea of ​​Tesla CEO Elon Musk to support the upcoming establishment. of the entire Doge-1 satellite is a DOGE coin, a fictional coin whose mascot is the Shiba Inu dog.

Doge to the Moon was created and sold on the Binance NFT Marketplace for two weeks, with a maximum value of 36.3 ETH (approximately 320,000 Malaysian ringgit ($ 75,500). 100 Malaysian artists will be performing in Kuala Lumpur between December 17 and 19.

Doge to the Moon is part of the recent Red NFT operation, Memebank, a large spoof bank with six banks led by the Chinese yuan, US dollar, Japanese yen, British pound, Singapore dollar and Malaysian ringgit , and addressing the issue of “How economists have warned of the dangers of rising prices while central banks are printing money continuously,” Red told Al Jazeera.

Unlike many other NFT projects, Memebank is not just a digital product. Each buyer receives a 1/1 printing press, and their own copper plate of the money of their choice, which enables them to print as many copies as they want.

Reducing carbon power

The reason for believing in NFT graphics is that these digital environments are moving faster, creating new, much lower power blockchains such as Tezos, which run on a system called “Proof-of-Stake” (Pos), and are expected. significantly reducing the carbon effects of NFTs. “[Tezos] it’s just like using your PC every day (storage), “said Katun.

Kuala artist Lumpur Katun with Apes Stand Strong, one of the two NFTs who earned him a lot of money. [Image courtesy of Katun]

“People do not stop boarding planes even though airplanes are airborne, because they waste time and distance. Blockchain, a technology that supports cryptocurrency and NFTs, solves reliable issues in providing visibility, so we do not need a mediator when we do. It gives control back to many. a few people, “Ivy Fung, a representative of the Sabahan Blockchain and a teacher based in Kuala Lumpur, told Al Jazeera.

“Many researchers are trying to do that [ways of] reducing power consumption, and some have already been established, for example, using the power-increasing method, Pos, where trust is built on a promised value, not computer power that uses a lot of power.

What is not clear is that NFT technology will be able to differentiate itself after the extinction. Apart from that, the winning rules are in many ways similar to the regular way of displaying art and difficult to confuse the collection markets.

“It’s like every minute a new NFT is made and upgraded,” Kenny Ng told Al Jazeera. “[Success still] it all depends upon the efforts of the artists to elevate themselves and make their appearance. ”