SV Founder: Art, Commerce and NFT

Author Andy Weissman is the founder of the USV Fund. USV Fund is a venture capital firm where the author of the Fat Protocol was originally, and invested in well-known institutions such as Twitter, Coinbase, and Meetup in the early days. The philosophical thoughts in the text are more and more profound. Through thinking about art and business, we further explore the value and meaning brought by NFT. I hope it can bring new perspectives for readers to view and learn NFT and Meme.

scarcity

Jean-Michel Basquiat - Untitled, 1981, Estimate $300,000-400,000

1. In the past, value could be determined by scarcity

The less stuff, the harder it is to get, the more worth it you get. Even the value of a thing is more related to the scarcity of its distribution than to other measures of value. We can define value by the following equation:

Value (V) = Scarcity (S) * Quality (Q)
Of course, Q is largely subjective and cannot be measured; but S is not, and S acts as a value multiplier.

However, one of the superpowers of interconnected technology is "the network", the network eliminates scarcity as much as possible. Connected networks have enriched what was once scarce, expanding access. Eliminating scarcity is one way to create new value.

*Translator Notes:

Scarcity acts as a value multiplier, which explains why the NFT market is so prone to sky-high transactions. Of course, it does not mean that every kind of scarcity will have value. If the market defines its quality as 0, pure scarcity does not have any value. After excess hype, most of them will return to 0. But this does not affect scarcity as a value multiplier, which has the leverage to significantly magnify the market value of something that would otherwise have "quality".



2. What is art?

One can imagine art as anything—images, music, videos, GIFs, texts, memes, anything.

Art is also a mirror that reflects the world back to us so we can see it more clearly. In this way, art is not only important, but indispensable. The Velvet Underground (American rock band)'s first record, listing artist Andy Warhol as producer. Album contains song "I'll Be Your Mirror"

"I'll be your mirror of who you are, even if you don't know yourself"
This hints at an underlying overarching principle: more people with easier access to more art can only be a good thing.

*Translator Notes:

The author refers to all the products created by people as art, including Meme, and says that the essence of art is a mirror that reflects the real us. The Meme phenomenon is also something that many people cannot understand, but maybe we can let go of our inherent and limited cognition, see all this as the real side of the world, and admit its existence instead of denying it or rushing to define it all of these.



3. Maybe digital art and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are relevant here

A digital file that each of us sees when interacting with the Internet. NFTs further this concept through diverse mechanisms such as ownership distribution, community operations, etc. NFTs spread scarcity-related concepts further into a more abundant world.

Because, there is no limit to the creation of NFT assets. The combination of NFT and the Internet makes the ecology of scarce things richer and flourishing.

*Translator Notes:

As a specific tool for generating scarcity, the original Internet is the existence of eliminating scarcity (mainly referring to digital assets here). The combination of the two can not only easily create scarce things, but also widely disseminate and circulate, allowing more easily accessible to many people. This will greatly enrich the market for scarce items in the online world in the future.



4. NFTs and cryptoeconomics (tokens) allow everything to be governed by the market

This is neither good nor bad, but it is very different and deserves a deeper thought.

Warhol conceived and predicted this more than 50 years ago. He made it clear that art meant business, and business meant art. In a reversal (or provocation) of the concept of art making, he calls his studio a "factory." He also said:

"When the check clears, you know it's art."
"Doing business is the most fascinating art."
"Making money is art, work is art, and good business is the best art."
Another artist (Jay-Z) reflected this concept to us in his 2005 lyrics:

"I'm not a businessman; I'm business itself"
Artists taking over their own economies are nothing new. Maybe something new: once again large scale and variety, more people can try this concept of art institution.

*Translator Notes:

I appreciate the author's perspective on art and innovation. The author believes that the innovation that NFT brings to artists is not the economicalization of art, but it makes art easier to become economical and easier to spread widely. A further large-scale and diversified artistic economic situation may be the innovation of this revolution.