Did you make the artwork into actual NFTs?
No, I did not. All of the artworks in the game are simply representations of an NFT, so they aren’t actually minted (if that makes sense). I can’t afford the gas fees, even if there are ways to get around that. I also thought it would be better for the capstone itself to be relatively neutral, and making actual NFTs out of the digital files would make it decidedly not neutral.
How did you come up with the idea?
I’m a big fan of a manga called Blue Period, which is about a high school student, Yatora Yaguchi, who suddenly falls in love with art and decides to aim for art school. Because he came to art late in life, Yatora is missing a lot of background knowledge of the arts. In one chapter, Yatora and his friends go to an art museum, and are amazed by Diego Velázquez’s art. Yatora, however, questions why Velázquez’s work is considered valuable. He thinks it’s beautiful, but to him it has no discernible deep meaning, and thus far he has been told that the most important element of an artwork is its meaning. This causes one of his friends, Hashida, to explain that different things have been valued in art depending on culture and time period.
One of the topics I originally proposed for my capstone was “stolen art”, which was inspired by a Netflix documentary on the Isabella Gardner museum break-in that I had watched. My capstone teacher for that semester, D.J. Trischler, mentioned that the stolen artworks were interesting in part because they were extremely valuable, and that comment reminded me of that scene in Blue Period. I changed my topic proposal to “valuation in art”.
I’ve always loved art and going to art museums, so the topic fit neatly into my interests. Originally, the capstone was going to be some kind of AR exhibit, with frames on the wall answering different questions. However, when I was doing preliminary research, NFTs kept popping up because they were getting popular around that time. Finally, I realized that NFTs had enough depth to be its own topic, so I decided to focus in on that.
Why is the color palette primarily blue?
Well, the game was originally inspired by Blue Period, and the title of the manga is a reference to Picasso’s Blue Period paintings. Blue is also uncommon as a color in historic art, because traditionally it’s been very hard to make blue pigment for paint; not many things in nature are blue. Blue in modern times has a strong correlation with technology/the Internet, as seen in the branding of companies like Facebook or Twitter. Due to all of these associations with the color, I thought that a monochromatic blue palette made sense with the capstone.
Why did you decide to make this into a game?
The game idea came about because I wanted to create something more interactive, to make learning all these complicated tech concepts more engaging. It was also inspired by the metaverse, and all the virtual galleries that opened during the pandemic. Plus, because the topic is NFTs, I thought it was only appropriate to make a project that was staunchly rooted in the digital world.
I love video games, so a part of me has always wanted to make one. The other option would’ve been to turn the research into a motion piece, but I figured I should try to stave off carpal tunnel for at least a little while longer.
Did you sleep at all?
I assure you that I did sleep, for the most part. Making this was so technically challenging that I had to sleep; working on it sleep deprived would lead to too many mistakes, which would set me back time-wise even more. Sleeping is one of the greatest joys in my life, so I wouldn’t deprive myself of it unless I absolutely had to. Yes, it is somewhat unfortunate that I chose to go to design school, knowing that about myself.
What is your personal opinion on NFTs?
I’m actually a little torn on NFTs, which I think translates in the final product. On one hand, I deeply sympathize with digital artists who want to make a living. If I hadn’t done design, I would’ve been an illustrator, and I would’ve been in similar shoes. Just from being in the art and design world, I’ve talked to many people that have had issues turning their work into anything resembling a career, because it’s hard and there’s little support. NFTs have allowed digital work to be seen as culturally valuable, and I think that’s transformative in a way that is even bigger than the monetary aspect. I also appreciate that, in theory, NFTs would allow artists to take back control of their work from spaces that would exploit it without credit.
On the other hand, NFTs have a ton of issues associated with them. I don’t think they change how the art world works in a meaningful way, despite all the claims that NFTs would transform the arts into a more inclusive and equitable industry. Combining crypto and art links people like Mark Zuckerberg to the concept, which understandably turns a lot of people off due to what those super prominent tech billionaires represent. Then there’s the scams, copyright issues, and the unresolved environmental concerns, alongside other contentious points.
Ultimately, I do think artists deserve a way to monetize their work, but NFTs aren’t it.
Why didn’t you make the project revolve around your personal views on NFTs?
I used to do speech and debate, so on some level it’s instinct for me to want to understand and research both sides of an issue. Besides that, one of the games that inspired this capstone is the series Ace Attorney, where you play as a lawyer in a very dramatized courtroom. The game is basically a beefed-up visual novel, and you have to use logic to figure out what actually happened in the cases. I think what’s interesting to me about Ace Attorney is that, sometimes, the characters aren’t lying in their testimonies, but are telling their version of the truth. Of course, their version of the truth is colored by their life experiences, biases, and priorities. Their version of the truth isn’t the whole truth, but combining all their versions of the truth helps to lead the player to what actually happened in the crim.
I find that concept really interesting, so that’s what I ultimately did with the game. The influence of Ace Attorney can be seen most strongly in the dialog. The characters in my capstone are saying what they believe, but combined it starts to give the player the whole picture.
There’s a million works already on the pros and cons of NFTs, and someone who’s really invested would’ve already sought that out. I decided that I would rather give something of a primer on NFT issues for those that don’t religiously follow NFT-related news than communicate my own viewpoint.
Why did you name the project This Is Not an NFT Art Fair?
The short answer is that it’s a slightly pretentious art history joke. The long answer is that it’s a reference to René Magritte’s The Treachery of Images.
In the painting, there’s a picture of a pipe, and underneath is the transcription “This is not a pipe” in French. The work is a play on language and pictorial representation; it’s not a real pipe, but a picture symbolizing an object recognizable as a pipe. Likewise, the NFT art fair in my capstone isn’t a real NFT art fair, but a game symbolizing an experience recognizable as an NFT art fair. Like I said above, a slightly pretentious art history joke.
The Treachery of Images