This is the first in what might evolve into a series of posts on collecting NFT art.
It’s written from the point of view of someone who loves art, and has a limited amount of disposable income to spend.
I’m not a super-rich “whale”. I have to count my dollars carefully. Just a regular lover of art, deep in the weeds with NFTs.
If you have no idea what I mean by NFT art, check out some pieces from my collection.
What you’ll see is all generative art, all by way of the Art Blocks platform. (I’ll explain why they all come from the same place in another post.)
I started collecting at the beginning of May, 2021.
That makes me late by true OG standards. Some collectors have been in this space for years.
But I was ahead of the crowd. Time in this space gets compressed. Being a month earlier than other collectors puts you years ahead in terms of what you can find and collect.
That said, I missed a lot of opportunities. Even after my first buy, it probably took me another month to truly understand what I was looking at, it terms of value and opportunity.
But now, just a few months in, this is part of my life.
There’s no going back.
For me, this is about the art.
Abstract art is my second language. Always has been.
As a young teen I would save up for the train fare to go to London and spend the day in museums and galleries.
I later went to art school in London. Fun times.
So yes, art has always been a true and deep passion for me. It feeds my soul.
Over the years my wife and I have collected a few physical pieces to hang in our home. But collecting physical art is hard work.
Imagine how I felt when I discovered NFTs.
Kid in a candy store!
Online, it so EASY to collect art. And that, of course, creates a whole other set of problems.
It’s also about the money.
Some people might say it’s ALL about the art and not at all about the money. One of those people might be telling the truth.
To paraphrase Damien Hirst’s dealer, “It’s all about the art until you hit about a million dollars. Then it gets complicated.”
Very true.
And for myself, I want to retire in 5 years. I won’t be retiring early. I’m just getting up there in years.
So yes, if I can combine my passion for art with an investment that grows in value, so much the better.
Truth be told, some days I’m not sure whether I’m building a collection or a portfolio.
And 5 years from now, I’m hoping NFTs and DeFi will have made lots of interesting babies… one or more of which will allow me to take income from my art collection without having to sell any of the individual pieces.
And it’s about connecting with people who share my interests.
This is about art, which I love. Money, which I need. And community, which makes me feel I belong.
There’s not much sense of community when you buy physical art. But when you plug into NFTs, community looms large.
Join some Discord groups. Grow the number of artists and collectors you follow on Twitter.
Pretty soon, you’re elbow deep in a crowd of people who love the same things you do. You can even get into conversations with the artists you admire most.
That’s incredibly powerful. We all of use crave that sense of being part of a tribe of people who share our interests and values.
We want to belong.
This third thing… the sense of belonging… is something you can get by spending just a couple of hundred dollars on an NFT.
You don’t need to be a big spender. You don’t need to have been here a year ago. You just need to dip your toe in the water now.
Do that, and you get to join the tribe. A place where you feel you belong.
And if you love art, this is a beautiful place to be.
That’s it for this first post. Stay tuned for the next one. The best way to know when I publish again is to follow me on Twitter @zerodecaf.