"I personally minted the first cinematic films on the blockchain in March last year. In NFT terms that’s like a decade ago. I did it because I was like, why is no one doing this?”  That’s J Harry Edmiston, a former gallery owner, a tech guru and a marketing connoisseur. He is also founder and director of CreativeWorkStudios, a marketing company that “connects arts, brands and humans”. In essence: Edmiston is an art lover and digital expert who found himself in the right place at the right time when the NFT artwork world first emerged in March 2021. He epitomises this new intersection of art and tech. So can he explain why anyone would want to buy digital artwork? “Kids today want to know they can pack their bags and go to Mexico on a whim. They might rent a Ferrari, but they don’t want to own it. Do they want to own a house? No. They want WeWork and shared living accommodation and that experience.” It’s this rental economy that best explains why anyone would want to own an NFT, or non-fungible token – ie a piece of artwork that only exists on their devices.  Of course, “generation rent” often don’t have a choice when it comes to choosing between ownership and renting (try living in London as a Gen X or millennial). Yet whether it’s forced upon them or chosen, it’s true that renting is increasingly common, whether it’s homes, wedding dresses or bikes. Climate activists often support it, as renting can reduce waste and disposable purchases. “The beautiful thing,” Edmiston continues. “is you can still go to Mexico with three and a half million dollars’ worth of art on your phone that they can sell at any time. It doesn’t need to be insured and you don’t have to worry about it getting chipped. There is a new world that suits the agility of the youth today.” It’s not just about convenience. It’s also about provenance. “It’s about the non-fungible aspect,” Edmiston says. “A ticket is normally not unique, so does it really need to be an NFT?” Flooded with fakes In the context of artwork, he points out, there’s provenance. “Just the other day, I saw the Netflix documentary Made You Look: A True Story About Fake Art about how a gallery got duped out of tens of millions of dollars’ worth of art that was being fraudulently manufactured in Brooklyn. These works were being appraised and run through major galleries and auction houses.” It is true that a shocking amount of artworks are fakes. In 2014 an AFP report estimated that at least 50 per cent of art circulating on the market is forged or misattributed. Having artwork “written in the blockchain” removes this risk for new pieces of art registered on there. What’s more, says Edmiston, “you have access to things that the real world can’t facilitate – like secondary market royalty fees. You can put into the smart contract what you want to be paid each time the NFT is resold.” This is revolutionary for artists who have been creating artwork for nothing. “Large multinationals have been making a fortune off creatives for so long and now artists are realising their value in a shared global marketplace.” Just like cryptocurrencies, NFT proponents are enthralled by the idea of the “democratisation” of the creative industries. “It’s the next cultural revolution of the 21st century,” Edmiston assures me. But it’s not just individual artists who are using NFTs. Brands have started to pile into the space. These include Adidas, Nike, Disney, McDonald’s, Budweiser, Gucci and Bulgari. Elon Musk’s space company, SpaceX, even sent an NFT up into space. But it doesn’t always go well. “It was just perceived as a cash grab, not a sophisticated use of technology,” Edmiston patiently explains to me, describing an (unnamed) top brand’s first “drop” into the NFT community. “You need to understand the marketplace. This is a new landscape of savvy participants, people who are going to rip you to shreds if you don’t do it right.”  Well, Edmiston would say that; his company exists to work with brands who want to get into the NFT space. The studio “holds their hands” through the process from design to drop. After all, “doing anything in the space without good advice is an issue”. However, I’m inclined to believe this, primarily because the crypto world is so difficult to wrap your head around. Let alone the even newer world of NFTs. In swotting up for my conversation with Edmiston, I even asked a senior economist about the tokens and their potential impact. Revealingly, the reply was, “What are NFTs?” NFTs, then, are part of the new financial world that is not sanctioned or promoted by traditional institutions. Like cryptocurrencies, it is a small community who have championed their use.  Which is the second reason a brand might want to send an email to CreativeWorkStudios. The nascent NFT community is quick to get irate at inauthentic attempts to jump on the bandwagon. On social media sites like Discord, Twitter, Reddit and more, NFT enthusiasts connect. Together, they wield a lot of power. What...