NFT.NYC 2023 Recap: Everything you need to know
NFT.NYC is the first and biggest annual conference dedicated to NFTs and blockchain technology. With multiple events taking over various locations in New York City, industry leaders, artists, and NFT collectors gather in the big apple for a week to network, collaborate, share, and learn.
Since the first conference held in 2019, NFT.NYC has partnered with significant players in the space such as Coinbase, Dapper, OpenSea, MoonPay, Polygon, and Immutable. Visionaries in the NFT community have been featured as speakers, and major projects like OpenSea, CryptoPunks, the Sandbox, Nifty Gateway and Rarible were discovered at NFT.NYC 2019.
Over 150 satellite events take place around the city during NFT.NYC, featuring NFT artworks by both emerging and established digital artists, as well as educative panels, workshops, and networking events.
So yes, it is a big deal.
NFT.NYC 2023 took place on April 12-14 and Digital Arts Blog gathered what stood out from the conference for you.
In a nutshell:Times Square was taken over by NFTsArtificial intelligence was a hot topic, as expectedIt was an inclusive and diverse stage for speakers and artistsWeb3 Poetry was the star of the showNobody was denying the Bear MarketPROOF x Beeple event was overshadowed by crazy masks9dcc Treasure Hunt grand prize was a Chromie SquiggleTezos NFT Summit provided a great opportunity for emerging artistsnftnow celebrated talents and leaders at the NFT100 GalaNFT.NYC craze continues
Times Square taken over by NFTs
On the hottest days of spring, Times Square's biggest billboards were taken over by more than 200 artists and community members. Thousands gathered in the square to see the NFTs, along with tourists who aren’t necessarily crypto-enthusiasts but just happen to be there during the biggest NFT event of the week.
Keeping in mind that Times Square has 1,500 businesses and is one of NYC’s most visited tourist attractions with an average of 360,000 pedestrians visiting each day, it’s quite significant to have your digital art featured on a huge billboard in the square.
So congrats to all the NFT artists whose works were selected for such exposure!
AI was a hot topic, of course
With an estimated contribution of $15.7 trillion to the world economy in 2030, artificial intelligence is a highly conversed topic in almost every industry and NFTs aren’t an exception.
Numerous panels were held on the the role of NFTs in the context of AI art, such as “Can NFTs Save Artists from Artificial Intelligence” by Maximillian Piras and “AI ART and NFTs” by “madbutter” Bob Stratton, discussing if non-fungible tokens can act as a copyright protector for artists.
The panel called the ARTIST X AI // 000003 co-curated by Claire Silver, who is a digital artist that works collaboratively with AI, was held by SuperChief Gallery at their new NYC location at the Oculus Westfield World Trade Center. The event established artificial intelligence as a tool to enhance human creativity in contrast to the highly conversed issue of it stealing from artists.
Other notable events included the panel “Art in the age of AI” by Refraction Festival and Proof of People by Vertical Crypto Art, moderated by Danielle King and featuring speakers Ira Greenberg, Sasha Stiles, Connie Bakshi, Chris Ostoich, and AJ Bernie. The panel was an opportunity for digital artists to share their experiences using the AI technology to create unprecedented art.
An AI Poetry Performance called VERSES BY VERSA took place during NFT.NYC 2023. VERSA, an AI poet developed by Ross Goodwin in collaboration with poetry NFT gallery theVERSEverse, is trained on the collective’s writings to generate poems from photographs using Goodwin’s image-to-text device called word.camera.
All these industry professionals and digital artists’ discussions around the role of artificial intelligence in art show that, like any tool, AI can be the most amazing and the most destructive device according to its user.
Inclusive and diverse stage for speakers and artists
The conference featured and celebrated artists from all over the world and gave the stage to women, LGBTQIA+, and non-binary industry leaders. Having diverse voices and various backgrounds in discussions contributes immensely to the progression of the NFT world towards being an inclusive and welcoming space for all.
SI HER hosted an event to unify 100 female and non-binary web3 community leaders, founders, and media visionaries. The panelists Kim DePuy (Chief of Staff at Polygon Labs), Erin Murphy (Chief Growth Officer at Topl), Nesma Bensalem (Founder of WeCareImpact), Lisa Rubin (Blockchain Attorney at Paul Hastings), and Ariba Jahan (VP, Head of Product Experience & Innovation at AdCouncil) discussed the defining and driving impact at their web3 organizations.
Kara Howard, the founder of SI HER, talked about developing a women-led web3 ecosystem as well as the impact of the collaborative nature of web3 and how female community leaders can accelerate it together.
Similarly, Unstoppable Domains and Wendy Zhou hosted a brunch and networking event for the Women of Web3 and held a keynote on digital identity as well as a panel on community building in Web3.
In line with the efforts of creating an inclusive web3 art space, the HUG debuted a digital art exhibition in partnership with the Seaport's 0x17 Gallery during NFT.NYC 2023. The collection is curated by a global community of art collectors and features works from diverse creators “spanning mediums, miles, and experiences.”
Web3 Poetry was the star of the show
NFT.NYC 2023 was inclusive in terms of its panelists and speakers, but also its mediums. Digital arts of all kinds were on display across New York City including video, generative art, and poetry.
The panel called “The Future of Poetry is NFTs” was held with poet Katie Dozier, the Editor of Rattle Timothy Green, and poet, artist, AI researcher and co-founder of theVERSEverse Sasha Stiles. The discussion brought up the ways how the blockchain technology changes the way we experience poetry and how NFTs can help empower poets creatively as well as economically.
A generative poetry workshop also took place during the conference with Sasha Stiles and Nathaniel Stern, who is a writer, teacher, poet, dad, and an OG digital artist for 25+ years. The workshop was held at Token Art NYC, which is an “unconferencing event for artists, builders, and thought leaders.”
Another leading voice in literary NFTs, and the co-founder of theVERSEverse, Ana María Caballero was a featured speaker on the creative and economic opportunities afforded to writers by blockchain technologies and NFTs.
Ana María Caballero is also featured in 10 Digital Artists: Women in digital arts you need to know
Having poetry at the heart of discussions at the biggest NFT conference of the year showed that there is so much to admire and explore for poets and enthusiasts in the realm of crypto art and web3.
Nobody’s denying the Bear Market
The NFT space had way different vibes when the conference was held in 2021 during the NFT boom — this year the attendees had to acknowledge the bear market, albeit with rather high spirits. This year’s signature cocktail at the open bar, for instance, was called “Bear Market.”
In line with these concerns, a panel called “Surviving the Bear Market as an NFT Artist” was held by 3D artist, NFT Collector, and Metaverse Architect Psychdre to raise hope and trust in web3 for creatives.
With NFT sales dropping by 72 percent since last year, the community no longer consists of make-money-fast opportunists but is stronger than ever with dedicated digital artists and those who believe that NFTs and crypto is a great new economy for creators and decentralized organizations. DAB included!
PROOF x Beeple
PROOF x Beeple event was one of the most anticipated events of NFT.NYC 2023. It was exclusive to PROOF Collective, Moonbirds, and Oddities_xyz holders, but being a holder only got you so far. The holders had the chance to enter a raffle to become one of the 400 attendees to win a ticket for Beeple’s Live Everyday event.
The event was held in Brooklyn on April 13th and live streamed for all PROOF holders. It was filled with music, networking, a live performance from Beeple, a sneak peek at the Diamond Nest Trailer, and 10 lucky in-person attendees received a special NFT during the event.
The PROOF x Beeple event was one of the most buzzed events of last week, but it’s safe to say that it was overshadowed by the insane masks that Beeple commissioned to take over Times Square.
Beeple (Mike Winkelmann) is a digital artist that creates weird and often controversial images that reflect a commentary on pop culture and politics. Most of the world heard of him after his historic NFT called “EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS” was sold for $69,346,250 at Christie’s.
9dcc Treasure Hunt
Another anticipated event during NFT.NYC 2023 was the 9dcc Treasure Hunt. 9dcc is a crypto-native luxury house and lifestyle platform under the creative direction of gmoney.
The Treasure Hunt kicked off at a bodega where complimentary 9dcc ITERATION-03 Luxury Baseball Caps were distributed. Not to be mistaken for your average cap — The ITERATION-03 is made from luxury materials and is equipped with 9dcc’s Networked Product technology, which means that you can scan the chip embroidered into the cap to generate an NFT to represent the item on the blockchain. By doing so, holders are now eligible to participate in future gamifications and events created by 9dcc.
Furthermore, the grand prize of the hunt was an unminted Chromie Squiggle!
Snowfro, the highly-praised generative artist and the founder of ArtBlocks, created the Chromie Squiggles in October 2021 and 9,675 of 10,000 available squiggles have been minted and are referred to as being the symbol of generative arts since then. Needless to say, this prize is exceptionally valuable.
Tezos NFT Summit
Tezos NFT Summit was held during NFT.NYC 2023 to bring together voices from across web3 ecosystems about building the future of NFTs and web3 on Tezos.
The Summit consisted of an NFT competition, portfolio review workshops, panels, and talks. Emerging digital artists had a chance to ask questions and get feedback from established artists, industry professionals, and art experts in a rather informal setting.
Tezos is a blockchain that stands out for requiring significantly less energy and cost to operate than Bitcoin or Ethereum, therefore being an ideal alternative platform for building eco-friendly blockchain applications.
The NFT100 Gala by nftnow
Another anticipated event held during the conference was the NFT100 Gala by nftnow. The gala is organized to honor the 100 influential creators and 100 community leaders that are chosen by nftnow for their achievements over the past year in web3. The annual list aims to recognize and provide a diverse array of talents and organizations that push the needle forward in the space.
nftnow is a media company that believes in the power of NFTs in creating a new economic model that champions and protects creatives of all disciplines and domains. They bring together a community of artists, collectors, and technologists, and they share all things web3.
Not just for a few days
Having NFT enthusiasts from all over the country and the world gather in New York City for the conference creates a massive energy field, and it doesn’t fade away after these few days. NFT.NYC is providing all attendees with an NFT.NYC Community Web App where they can keep in touch and share news with one another. Each NFT attendee card features NFTs in the attendees' wallets as well as digital artworks and their Digital Twins.
The conference organizers will also be sharing NFT.NYC Commemorative NFT Ticket Stubs with 18,000+ past attendees, which commemorate attendance at past events and unlock future benefits.
These are only 10 of our highlights from NFT.NYC 2023, let us know your notes from the conference!
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