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A tweet, a JPG file or a video clip has sold for astronomical amounts in recent months. Can tattoos be the next hot investment in the emerging market place of nonfungible tokens? Joining the trend of NFTs, a tattoo artist is opening an online market where one can buy the design rights of a tattoo and possibly make money if the demand sustains.
Scott Campbell, 44, a Los Angeles-based artist who has done tattoos for the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Jennifer Aniston and Marc Jacobs, is launching All Our Best (www.allourbest.com) along with fellow artists. [https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/style/nft-art.html] His ambition is to place his art on par with painting and music. After all, a good tattoo is as much a work of art as ‘Mona Lisa’ or a Beethoven symphony. Yet, tattoos – by their physical limitations – are not seen in the same class. Scarlett Johansson’s back can’t be displayed in art galleries, or reviewed in art magazines. As a result, tattoo artists don’t make as much money as top-bracket painters or sculptors do through art auctions. The concept of NFT, however, can help the humble tattoo break out of its limitations.
NFT, by the way, is the ‘digital ownership’ of anything that is not concrete or tangible, and this ownership can be bought and sold, depending on other buyers’ interest in the item, like Twitter founder Jack Dorsey’s first tweet. The buying and selling record is maintained through blockchain, the same technology that is at the heart of cryptocurrencies.
An artist from Portland, Brad Wooten, first hit upon the idea and started selling photos of digitally done tattoos as NFTs. After Campbell, other A-list artists may also sell their work as NFTs.
However, as with the NFTs on the whole, there would appreciation and return on investment only if the trend grows and there are more buyers. Till then, tattoos or tweets will remain just an avenue for those with extra cash looking for “bragging rights”.
Also see:
https://www.pixstory.com/story/is-twitter-founder-dorseys-first-tweet-worth-1000001615116933/26592
https://www.pixstory.com/story/are-nfts-solid-investments-or-just-hype1617193965/28876
NFT primers:
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-56371912
https://www.theverge.com/22310188/nft-explainer-what-is-blockchain-crypto-art-faq