Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have emerged as a powerful tool for artists, offering new creative and commercial opportunities. From those with traditional art backgrounds to digital natives, artists are embracing this technology to explore innovative applications of blockchain, pursue new creative directions, and gain greater control over their work.
This article explores why eight diverse artists have entered the NFT space, examining their motivations, processes, and perspectives on how digital ownership is transforming artistic practice.
Manuel Rossner: Exploring Digital Frontiers
Berlin-based artist Manuel Rossner has been creating digital and virtual worlds for over a decade, examining how technological advancements influence our physical reality. His 2021 VR work for Hamburger Kunsthalle entered the museum's permanent collection alongside works by Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter.
Rossner's NFT "Bouncy Sculpture V" is part of his "COLOR SERIES" that examines the digital realm. "Why do we understand and feel virtual environments when they ultimately are a bunch of zeros and ones?" he asks.
Using virtual reality glasses, Rossner draws shapes in space that the computer transforms into volumes. He then creates surrounding environments and runs the entire composition through physics simulations. "I use very lifelike ways of rendering to highlight that frontier between simulation and 'reality,'" he explains.
Rossner minted his first NFT in March 2021 after recognizing the potential for decentralized ownership of digital artworks. He has since launched REALWORLD, a platform featuring works by approximately 50 artists who are "defining digital art."
"This new way of defining artworks adds another meaningful dimension to it," Rossner says of NFTs. "Since I'm also a collector now, it means something to me to own work by friends and pioneers in the space."
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Lee Mullican: Historical Digital Pioneer
The Estate of Lee Mullican has minted an NFT from one of the artist's digital works created in the mid-1980s during his tenure at UCLA's Program for Technology in the Arts. "NFTs created a platform and audience for the digital work Lee was making," said Cole Root, director of the Estate.
Mullican, renowned for his abstract "striation" painting technique, began exploring digital art at age 67 while teaching at UCLA. He recognized parallels between computer graphics and his own paintings, noting "I've had a built-in computer ever since I've been doing art."
Using an IBM 5170 with a graphics adapter and stylus, Mullican merged Surrealist automatism with the computer's precise replication of marks. The estate sees NFTs as an opportunity to "show Lee's digital work in its truest form and share a whole body of work that wasn't accessible or appreciated in its time."
Penny Slinger: Surrealist Reimagining
Penny Slinger's first NFT, "Don't Look At Me In That Tone Of Voice," draws from her 1971 book "50% the Visible Woman," republished for its 50th anniversary. "Although I cannot claim to fully comprehend NFTs' full implications, I felt it was a field I needed to participate in," she explained.
The original work was created as a student thesis exploring Max Ernst's collage techniques, but using photographic collage to explore the feminine psyche. "I elected to use myself as my own muse, feeling that I could probe and display myself in the most ruthless ways," Slinger noted.
For the NFT, Slinger deconstructed the original collage into key elements, which she and her partner animated using Adobe After Effects, incorporating new imagery including ocean photographs and details of her own features.
"Much as analog collage was still an 'outsider' art form when I adopted it in the 1960s, the world of the NFT is especially relevant to me as an artist who uses digital tools," she said. "If the artistic crucible is a melting pot, NFTs can capture the melting moment."
Mark Wallinger: Digital Contemplation
Mark Wallinger was drawn to NFTs as an opportunity to explore a new outlet for his art. "There is something paradoxically alluring about creating something for dissemination on the web, and the structures and limits of a unique digital identifier that cannot be copied, substituted, or subdivided," he said.
His NFT "Lake Garda Full Moon" captures moonlit patterns on water, with sound enhancing the sensory experience. "It is made for and through the ubiquitous, omnipresent yet strangely intangible digital world we enter every day," Wallinger explained.
The work was inspired by a specific moment—September 25, 2018, at 11:50 PM—during a birthday celebration by Lake Garda. Wallinger incorporates poetry by Percy Bysshe Shelley, reflecting on how our perception of the moon is shaped by both scientific knowledge and cultural associations.
Linda Dounia: Personal and Political Expression
Linda Dounia's NFT "Dust is hard to breathe." reflects her experience returning to her home city of Dakar after the pandemic began. "I was craving the sense of belonging I feel when I am here," she explained. "I started to notice changes to my city and realized that I had to relearn its rhythms."
Dounia uses AI models trained on her acrylic painting practice to create animated works. "I feed the models with my work and it learns how I paint, then it generates outputs of its learning process, which I curate and stitch together into a story through animation techniques," she described.
For Dounia, NFTs haven't changed what she creates but have transformed what happens to her work afterward. "I can provide collectors with proof of provenance through the smart contract. I can retain ownership and profit from my work in an automated way," she noted.
"As an artist who happens to be Black, African, and a woman, this is revolutionary," Dounia emphasized. "The relative absence of middlemen means fewer gatekeepers, which means I am more visible in the NFT space than I would have been in the traditional art market."
Leo Isikdogan: Scientific Inspiration
California-based artist and researcher Leo Isikdogan created his NFT "Artificial Convergent Evolution" to mimic natural processes where unrelated organisms develop similar traits in response to environmental pressures. "Just like different environmental conditions may cause species to branch off, similar conditions sometimes lead to convergence despite taking very different paths," he explained.
Isikdogan designed a custom AI art model inspired by this biological phenomenon. Although created without practical application in mind, he believes the work "has good potential to inspire applied research" and might become "the first NFT to be cited in research papers for the techniques used to create it."
He sees NFTs as "a perfect way to present, transfer, and keep track of art that is digital in its native form." The technology also saves him "the time and resources of having to handle the logistics of storing, preserving, and transporting a work of art," allowing greater focus on creative exploration.
Jennifer Rubell: Conceptual Provocation
Conceptual artist Jennifer Rubell immediately wanted to create NFTs when she learned about them. "I love the idea of an entirely new medium. It's uncharted territory, which means everything we do now sets up the framework," she said. "I'd rather set up a framework than follow one."
Her NFT "Mona Lisa Sold" is the first in her "Clickbait" series, exploring how NFTs are uniquely suited to "telling lies, and disseminating those lies so broadly that they seem true." Rubell believes lies are "the subject of our times," and NFTs provide the perfect medium for both portraying and perpetrating them.
With this work, Rubell questions what exactly one owns when purchasing an NFT. "You own the original lie, not all the repeated versions of it," she explained. "The more it gets repeated, the closer to the truth it gets. You own the most purely untrue version of the lie, which might be the very definition of originality in our age."
Importantly, Rubell created the piece "in the stupidest way possible," using readily available digital resources to follow "a mainstream, populist process, the same one you'd use for creating fake news."
Troika: Social Commentary and Impact
Artist collective Troika creates work examining how digital technology permeates physical reality. Their NFT "My life in presets" comments on how default digital elements—from 3D models to motion presets—increasingly shape our perception and expectations of reality.
"The process was very similar to making a traditional collage, albeit in a virtual, animated 3D environment," they explained. The work exclusively uses preexisting 3D objects, motions, and default scenes from online libraries, with minimal alterations.
The main character is a high-resolution 3D scan of the Artemision Bronze, chosen both for its subject matter and because its T-shaped pose works well with auto-rigging software. The resulting animation presents "a Sisyphean loop of digital 'productivity.'"
Troika is donating half of the sale proceeds to build sanitation facilities for school children in developing countries. Their NFT carries a Verisart Fair Trade Art Certificate, signaling their commitment to social impact alongside artistic innovation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main reasons artists create NFTs?
Artists pursue NFTs for various reasons including exploring new creative possibilities, reaching global audiences directly, maintaining ownership through smart contracts, earning royalties from secondary sales, and experimenting with blockchain technology as an artistic medium itself.
How do traditional artists transition to creating NFTs?
Traditional artists often begin by digitizing existing work or creating new digital pieces that align with their artistic practice. Many collaborate with technologists initially, while gradually developing their own digital skills. The transition typically involves learning about crypto wallets, marketplaces, and minting processes.
What technical skills are needed to create NFT art?
The required skills vary greatly depending on the type of NFT. Some artists create digital paintings using tablets and software, while others code generative art, work with 3D modeling, or develop interactive experiences. Many NFT marketplaces have made the minting process increasingly accessible to those with limited technical knowledge.
How do NFTs benefit artists financially?
NFTs enable artists to receive royalties automatically through smart contracts whenever their work is resold, typically ranging from 5-10%. This creates ongoing revenue streams unlike traditional art sales. NFTs also reduce reliance on galleries and intermediaries, allowing artists to retain more of the initial sale price.
Can NFTs be considered true art?
This debate continues within art communities. Proponents argue that NFTs represent simply a new medium and distribution system, similar to how photography was initially questioned but now accepted as art. Critics sometimes question the artistic merit of certain NFT projects, though established artists creating NFTs has helped legitimize the format.
What should collectors consider when buying NFT art?
Collectors should research the artist's background and previous work, understand the concept behind the piece, verify the smart contract terms including royalty structure, consider the cultural significance of the artwork, and ensure they properly understand how to store and display their digital acquisition.