Why Artfora
By Michael Assis
April 20, 2021
I tell the short story of how Artfora began. I also outline how Artfora solves some of the major challenges with NFTs that come with physicals by making it easy to find, redeem, and record redemptions to the blockchain.
Hey everyone, Michael here.
Background
In 2022 I was doing research for my doctoral dissertation on blockchain-based art. With an interest in the material aspects of digital art on the blockchain I began searching for NFTs that come with physical artworks to learn about the approaches artists had been taking to tie the two together. Focusing on generative art in particular, I set my sights on fx(hash) and started sifting through collections until I found thresfold’s filter (physical postcards).
Thresfold’s collection stated that:
“Each minted iteration includes a 1/1 plotter-drawn physical postcard (10×15 cm / 4×6 inches) sent anywhere in the world as letter post.” and that “If you’re willing to pay an additional fee, I can also send your card as a parcel with a tracking number and in better packaging,”
To get your postcard, thresfold asked collectors to
“simply send me your address and your iteration number as a DM on twitter.”
thresfold, filter (physical postcards)
Challenges
It seemed that thresfold had begun thinking about the problems of pairing redeemable physical works to NFTs on the blockchain. For this reason, thresfold set up his own website at filterfx.carrd.co with information about “which postcards have been already claimed,” since each token came with only one redeemable postcard:
“If you purchased an iteration where the previous owner has already claimed the postcard … you can’t have a postcard of that iteration, because there can be one of each postcard.”
Beyond that, more challenges were immediately evident:
- How do I filter through marketplaces to find NFTs that come with physical artworks?
- What do I do as a collector if an artist doesn’t have the capability to make his own website to signal what has been redeemed or not?
- How would thresfold know that the person sending him a DM on twitter is the owner of the NFT?
- Since none of this is recorded on the blockchain, what happens if the website goes offline, or the data is changed arbitrarily?
- How would thresfold collect the additional fee for better packaging?
thresfold, filter (physical postcards) #13
Artfora’s Solution
As I kept finding more artists that create digital art paired with physical objects on the blockchain, I realized, none of them had any easy solutions to these problems, if it all. So I rang up my childhood buddy Uri Seroussi. Uri had just completed his own PhD in biology and began a new career in web3 development. We ordered a pizza, had a beer, played a game of NBA 2k22 (I won, and he still owes me a smoothie for that), and we began thinking about how to help all these artists and collectors and solve these problems. And that’s how Artfora was born.
We came up with a simple system, an intuitive three step redemption flow, that any artist and collector can use to:
- Verify that the person redeeming is indeed the owner of the NFT.
- Pay shipping fees directly from the collector’s wallet to the artist’s wallet.
- Record the redemption on the blockchain.
On the front end of this redemption platform was a gallery dedicated exclusively to NFTs that come with physical works. Now, collectors know where to find that category of art on the blockchain, and since all redemptions are recorded on the blockchain, collectors can also see what’s been redeemed or not.
Artists can easily add their collection to Artfora and use the redemption platform by simply filling out the form on the homepage at artfora.com. Once added to Artfora, you’ll get a confirmation email with detailed instructions on how to set up the collection — but no worries, it’s all extremely straightforward, and you should be able to do everything in just a couple of minutes.
Next Steps
As that problem was solved, we started to take on another one: What if artists don’t have the capacity to make or ship their own physical works? As very big advocates of the democratization that the blockchain had brought to artists, and digital artists in particular, we felt it was a shame that so many artists who would like to make that sort of physical connection with their collectors just can’t, for a variety of reasons. So Uri and I ordered another pizza, opened another beer, played another game of NBA 2k23 (I won, and he still owes me a second smoothie), and came up with Artfora PrintMaking. But that’s for another post 🙂
Until next time,
Michael