Despite the continued gloomy conditions in the NFT market, some art-focused projects using blockchain technology have managed to remain stable – or even, in a few cases, grow – over the past year and a half. One of those few outliers is Art Blocks, the digital art platform and gallery that uses NFTs to craft and distribute generative artworks to collectors around the world.
After launching his own NFT marketplace in March – an action intended to promote the increasingly threatened practice of enforcement royalties from the creatora fee between 2.5% and 10% that is returned to the creator of an NFT when sold on the secondary market – Art Blocks has curated its series, generative digital art projects including live, worldwide personal coin events and digital art projects with physical components.
In late September, Art Blocks hosted its third annual in-person gathering – the Marfa Weekend – in Marfa, Texas, home to the collective’s only physical gallery. Hundreds of Art Blocks collectors, artists and community members flocked to the small desert town for a weekend discussing the future of generative art, presenting groundbreaking projects and celebrating the organization’s remarkable resilience.
Over there, Art Blocks founder and CEO Erick Calderon (aka Snowfro) spoke with Sander Lutz, chief culture reporter at Declutter‘s SCENE, to discuss the company’s work and Calderon’s perspective on its recent performance.