Dubai: On the second and final day of Web3 DeCode, a two-day tech event organised by Gulf News, attendees and exhibitors were seen gathered around several booths at the Grand Hyatt Dubai.
As attendees closely watched artists live at work on their paintings, other exhibitors also made use of virtual reality headsets and controllers to help visitors gauge semi-realistic digital environments like a photo exhibit and even be virtually present in a video game.
The event hosted creators and artists who displayed exclusive NFT collections through dedicated dark rooms and theme-based activations, while also featuring French artist Alexander, who will customise a Rolls Royce Phantom into a unique 6-wheel car live at the event and create a digital NFT collection.
With industry experts and visitors debating on trending topics on matters pertaining to technology, it was all about exploring the future potential of NFTs, virtual or digital environments (Metaverse) and mentally fathoming how the internet would possibly look like in the coming digitally dependent era.
Introducing NFT rentals to Dubai
As creators continue to innovate on the applications and formats of NFTs, a dedicated community of collectors continue to expand across the globe. To gain insight on what’s driving collectors to acquire NFTs, we spoke to some of the players in the space.
“The NFTs in the past and present are all based on owning NFTs that has value,” said Kibz Kim, Producer at DAS, a Korea-based company introducing NFT rentals through their marketplace. (DAS, short for Daily Art Story, is a project set redefine the NFT market as it goes beyond owning NFTs and branches out into shared ownership of NFTs.)
“However, through NFT subscription and sharing-based models, we can provide an additional value: relaxation and therapy. Thus, this goes beyond just owning NFTs, this is about sharing this value together as a community.”
Aren’t NFTs too pricey to purchase?
Buying and collecting NFTs is certainly not cheap. Even the cheapest NFTs from popular projects are not up for sale at a price anywhere near an average person’s purchasing capacity. This is where NFT renting comes in.
From the borrower or renter’s perspective, NFT renting is a cheap way to enjoy some utilities, such as the access to exclusive members-only content, offered by the NFT without paying hundreds or thousands of dollars to purchase them.
Live customisation of a Rolls Royce Phantom
The talk of the event was around live customisation of a Rolls Royce Phantom, which was not only made into a 6-wheel car at the event, a digital NFT is made on the vehicle as well.
The customisation is a collaboration between Christopher Quet, co-founder, and chief executive officer (CEO) at virtual world builder OurVerse, and Eric Favre, founder of EFAE, or Eric Favre Art Editions, which is a digital gallery of art that houses installations from artists.
“What we do is bring physical artists with physical art into the digital era, opening them to the Metaverse, NFTs and NFT marketplace,” explained Christopher Quet.
3-D art is now a part of 2-D NFTs as well
NFTs were limited to digital art, and you had real-world physical art that were left behind and when they sell an expensive piece of physical art, it’s always one-to-one. That doesn’t help them engage with the community. So, by giving an access to physical artists who sell their art but also make a series of NFTs and bring it to the Metaverse and the NFT marketplace.”
Quet explained that the current collaboration at the Web3 Decode event brought in three different French artists for the customisations.
“We have one NFT for the person that buys the real-world physical art and this NFT is for certificate of authenticity, ownership, and details on whether it is limited edition, which differs according to the art. That’s when we make digital assets or collectibles i.e. NFTs and most of them are going to be three-dimensional, and our platform brings the 3-D and the physical into one.”
Bringing abstract art into the digital NFT age
Saudi Arabian artist Abdullah Qandeel creates abstract paintings and converts his paintings into NFTs. The collectors or buyers who get to own the NFTs also get the respective paintings’ original.
“In order to grow, one must have as many partners that are solid and reliable as possible. It also shows the desire to build a community,” said Qandeel, as he painted live before a gathered audience.
“I’m not as interested in sales, as much as I am interested in building a community, and that’s why we are here – to validate our presence as artists. We are going into a digital revolution right now, so it’s important to not forget the basics, which is the most formal type of paint i.e. oil, and abstract expressionism is a new way to communicate the basics.”
Bold use of colour, abstract expressionism
“Through bold use of line and colour, Qandeel illustrates the coalescing of Saudi traditional norms and the vastly changing cultural landscape of the Arab world,” explained Chimere Cisse, founder of Dubai-based art consultancy Art|Kōrero. “As provocateur, he invites and instigates dialogue.”
At the Web3 Decode event, in partnership with Gulf News and Art|Kōrero, the artist showcased six art pieces he created this year, and “that is really adding a different type of element to this digital world", added Cisse.
“It’s showcasing physical art and I guess in some ways bridging that length between the digital and the physical, and the reaction to the art has been wonderful and it’s been a pleasure to collaborate in this first-of-a-kind exhibition.”
DAO: The largest Web3 community in the Middle East
Another highly talked about booth at the Web3 Decode tech convention belonged to Arts DAO (Decentralised Autonomous Organisation), the largest Web3 community in the Middle East.
Its co-founders Anas Bhurtun and Rahim Mahtab revealed how the platform brings together artists, collectors, builders, entrepreneurs – “who are all passionate about NFTs, investing and collecting high-value NFTs, on behalf of the community”, they explained.
“Our aim is to bring more people into the Web3 space, while together pioneering the next phase of the internet. This is great for what is happening in the region and seeing a more collaborative approach considering there are less than a million people around the world into NFTs in Web3.”
