With 2021’s Burning Man once again going virtual, artists are taking to the non-fungible token (NFT) world to sell their work.
Burning Man officials announced the event’s cancellation on June 24th, writing, “…we are still in the pandemic, and the uncertainties that need to be resolved are impossible to resolve,” continuing on that “We have decided to set our sights on Black Rock City 2022.” They also announced the theme for 2021’s virtual burn: “The Great Unknown.”
Burning Man 2021: The Great Unknown
15-year Burning Man veteran Tex Allen embraced the announcement by building an NFT gallery of work by Burning Man artists called ttitd.art. “TTITD” stands for “That Thing In The Desert,” a term of endearment burners use when describing the event. It opens on July 15th, featuring pieces from 12 artists. 85% of all sales go straight to the artist.
“I’m just going to jump into [NFT’s],” explained Allen in an interview. “As [Burning Man Cofounder] Larry Harvey said, ‘artists need to eat.’ And I want to keep this going as long as artists need to eat.”
2.5% of the profits also go to the Burning Man Project to help manage costs until the 2022 event. Among the artists included are Duane Flatmo and Jerry Kunkel, creators of the popular mobile large-scale art piece El Pulpo Mechanico.
NFTs are a relatively new way for artists to sell digital art to wide audiences. Creators benefit from the trend by selling one-of-a-kind works backed by blockchain technology. “Art has value, and this makes it easily digestible,” Allen said.
For more information, go to ttitd.art.
