NEWBERRY — Tucked away in the City of Newberry, a unique art experience known as the NFT Museum — located at 1110 Harrington Street — gives on-lookers a chance to view this art, in person.
Before getting into the museum itself, let us explain NFT (non-fungible tokens) art. According to Robert Matheson, owner and operator of the NFT Museum, NFT art refers to any digital art that is registered as non-fungible token on the blockchain.
“A blockchain is simply a digital ledger that is stored and maintained on a decentralized computer network. NFTs establish ownership and authenticity of a specific item or piece of content, referred to as digital assets. Any medium of art that can be represented digitally can also be registered as an NFT, including movies, music, 2-D and 3-D visual art, literature, poetry and more,” he said.
According to an article on Forbes, an NFT is a digital asset, bought and sold online using cryptocurrency and are generally encoded with the same underlying software as many cryptos.
Matheson said he decided to bring this experience to the City of Newberry because the NFT art industry began to grow rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Many artists were unable to hold exhibitions and most galleries were shuttered, which led to artists and collectors exploring digital art on the blockchain. After participating as an artist myself, it became apparent that physical spaces were needed for the community to experience digital art in real life,” he said.
Taking the physical location one step further, Matheson said the space could also provide education and learning opportunities to those who wished to participate in the growing digital economy.
“In addition to our brick-and-mortar location, we also project digital murals featuring NFT art on buildings throughout Newberry (after sundown). It’s all about education, opportunity and artistic expression,” he said.
Since opening in October of 2021, Matheson said they have had a lot of community members visiting the museum, learning to create digital art, and registering their work as NFTs.
“Six exhibitions have been held at the museum space since our opening in October 2021. The most recent of which is SESSIONS, a collaborative art exhibition pairing digital artists from across the globe to create generative art NFTs,” he said.
In fact, the museum collection includes more than 1,500 works of contemporary digital art created by over 900 individual artists, from across the globe.
In that extensive collection, Matheson said it is impossible to pick a favorite; however, he chose to highlight “The Programmer” by Neville Glover.
“The piece is an early AI art piece collected by the museum. The rise of digital art created using artificial intelligence marks another innovative milestone in art history,” Matheson said. “We invite the public to visit the museum and learn more about how AI is revolutionizing art.”
On a personal level, Matheson said NFTs represent a significant leap forward in the accessibility of art.
“Anyone with a smartphone and internet access can create digital art and sell it worldwide. Blockchains are completely open and censorship-free. There are no gatekeepers policing what you can or cannot create and it’s transparent for everyone to see,” he said. “There is no other technology or system that offers this level of artistic freedom. Perhaps most important are the opportunities made possible if you learn how to use these digital tools. Increasing your digital literacy will serve you well, not only for creating art, but in all aspects of your life as the world becomes increasingly digital.”
If you would like to visit the NFT Museum you can do so by going to 1110 Harrington Street, Newberry. Hours are Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. and by appointment.
“We are happy to schedule private tours and we are available to speak at educational institutions and community events about innovations in art and technology,” he said.
Call 803-768-5250 or visit www.NonFungibleTokenMuseum.org for more information.
Reach Andrew Wigger @ 803-768-3122 or on Twitter @TheNBOnews.