Art Blocks Curated is a unique NFT project that takes the basic concept of NFT art and adds features like the ability to get variants such as randomly generated NFT art traits, 3D models, and even interactive content. This lets users create unique works from NFTs curated by the Art Blocks group.
When investing in Art Blocks Curated NFTs, you may, depending on the artist and the NFT, be able to obtain generous rights to use the work as you see fit whether for personal use or commercial. Not all Art Blocks Curated artists have the same approach to licensing, but the idea that some are open to letting you profit from the work they created is an intriguing one.
Who/What is Art Blocks
The official site for Art Blocks states that the platform began operating in 2021, founded by Erick Calderon and Jeff Davis. It’s a unique spin on the kinds of NFTs you’ve encountered in the past. Art Blocks supports “genuinely programmable on demand generative content”. Artists create content curated by and approved for the platform, investors can view the art and pay for a unique version of that art generated especially for the buyer. The “generated version” is sent to the buyer’s Ethereum account.
Since the start of Art Blocks, the platform has been responsible for more than $400 million in trading volume.
How Art Blocks Curated Works
Art Blocks is the name of the project; Art Blocks Curated is one of the most heavily-controlled aspects of the projects listed on the site. Each project under the Curated banner is selected by Art Blocks.
To mint your own Curated Works variant, you can visit Metamask.io and have an extension added to your browser that enables you to visit the Art Blocks site and view/purchase generated variants in a give collection.
The iterations are subject to a limit to maintain uniqueness. If a given NFT has reached its limit you may need to move on and select a different artwork. There are prices to mint and also gas fees for executing the transaction.
Buying and selling these NFTs involves a fee–Art Blocks charges a 10% commission that is paid at the time of purchase. 10% of the price is automatically transferred to Art Blocks with the remainder being sent to the artist.
How Curation Works
Curation is basically the art of selecting a collection, presenting it, and maintaining it. For Art Blocks Curated, this means having NFTs submitted to the platform via a curation board. Those who meet the standards of the board are permitted to be included in the Art Blocks Curated Collection.
According to the official site, this collection is a “group of projects that push the boundaries of Generative Art”.
The Curated Collection is updated on a regular basis and curated quarterly.
Can You Submit To Art Blocks Curated?
Creating and viewing NFTs on the Art Blocks platform is decentralized but the curation process is not. New artists are required to use a test environment for their projects before being permitted to migrate to the actual live site, and the Art Blocks team reviews all such projects for approval. It’s trickier than you might imagine to be picked up by the Art Blocks team if you don’t understand their basic philosophy toward curation.
And that philosophy, as quoted directly from the Art Blocks Curated page, holds that, “no content which could be considered even remotely offensive to anyone will be considered.”
And a quick look at the Art Blocks Curated artists’ list reveals that a large amount of the artwork available for sale and new iterations is fairly non-representational–but not all.
Art Blocks Licensing
Some NFT projects allow you to buy the NFT but not the derivatives rights associated with them. Derivative rights can and often do include the ability for the purchaser of an NFT to create “derivative works” from the art. Some NFT projects allow restricted derivative rights, others are more generous.
The approach taken by Art Blocks Curated involves letting the artist decide what type of license a buyer can have. The permissions range from an unlimited approach allowing full commercial use of the NFT down to only letting the buyer print the NFT for personal use.
If you are hoping to create derivative works from an Art Blocks Curated artist, you will have to examine the individual artist’s approach to licensing since no two artists may have identical preferences.
Joe Wallace has covered real estate and financial topics, including crypto and NFTs since 1995. His work has appeared on Veteran.com, The Pentagon Channel, ABC and many print and online publications. Joe is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter for Air Force Television News.
