Lovers of art can get a little judgy sometimes.
As I scroll through my Twitter feed, I sense that I could get into trouble if I confessed to being anything other than a 100% serious NFT art collector.
Well… I confess to being less than 100% serious.
Say hello to my little friends above… my Tezzardz, my Smolskull, and my mfer .
Did I buy them to add to my NFT art gallery? No.
I bought them because they made me smile. For fun.
But not just for fun. In years to come I think NFT archaeologists will dig through a thousand layers of NFTs and use these pfp projects as cultural signposts and markers.
For that reason, I’d love to own a CryptoPunk one day… because in many ways that is the cultural base layer for NFTs.
As a collector, I definitely have a clear focus, and I’ve very serious about what I’m trying to build.
Look at my gallery and you’ll see I’m almost totally focused on ArtBlocks, with a heavy, but not exclusive emphasis on curated collections from their first year.
Within the curated collections, I also have my aesthetic preferences. I’m not sure how best to describe it, but if you look around the gallery you’ll hopefully discern a certain coherence… a sense that the pieces I collect belong together.
This doesn’t mean I feel the curated works I collect are better than the ones I don’t. It just means that this is the collection that speaks to me with the clearest voice.
Also, do I have to stick with just one collection? Nope.
I have collected a few pieces on the Tezos network. Funny thing… but even although I have maybe a dozen works now, I have yet to find that same sense of coherence. It’s just a mixed bag of stuff I like so far.
But still, I’m enjoying it.
As for how I found that coherence in my main collection, I suspect I owe a debt of thanks to the curation team at ArtBlocks.
Beyond the particular works I have been adding to my main gallery, I also come across works that are utterly different… but which I love just as much.
This is from the GEMMA series by LA artist, Tristan Eaton.
I love it. And I love his real-life work, in print and with murals. Powerful and vocal work.
It doesn’t belong on the wall alongside my main collection, but it could be the beginning of something new.
Yes, you’re allowed to love more than one style or genre of art.
It’s still early days for us as NFT art collectors.
We’re feeling our way. The uncertainty we feel can sometimes make us a little judgmental and even aggressive on Twitter.
There’s no need for that.
I think it’s OK to simply enjoy the ride that art gives us.
It’s OK to mix things up.
It’s OK to be a little playful sometimes.
And it’s definitely OK for other people to do their own thing… even if it isn’t the same as your thing.