Nfts
Web3 artist Shavonne Wong talks about the future of NFTs
It was early 2020, and Shavonne Wong I was crushing it as a fashion photographer. She has photographed for clients including HBO and Vogue. She has regularly appeared as a photographer on “Asia’s Next Top Model.” Forbes named her “30 Under 30.” At the time, she even said to herself: “You know, 2020 is going to be amazing.”
Suddenly fashion shoots stopped because you have to be in person to photograph models. “COVID hit and basically stole the spotlight from me,” says Wong. But she had a lot of free time, she was curious and she started trying new formats. If she couldn’t photograph human models, she would create her own 3D models. Soon she became good at it. She continued to practice. Then she became a master. She started selling them as NFTs.
Shavonne Wong will appear on the AI Stage at Consensus 2024from May 29 to 31.
Today, Wong is widely recognized as one of the most creative, prolific and influential Web3 artists in the industry. The secret of his success? Wong sincerely believes in the underlying technology of blockchain and how it can open up possibilities for creatives. “The future will be digital,” says Wong. This core belief makes it easier to survive crypto price reversals. “As the market goes up and down, it’s quite a roller coaster,” she says. “Having an eye on that horizon makes things less crazy.”
Ahead of Consensus, Wong discusses how she embraced NFTs, why Web3’s tools have made her truly feel like an artist, and how the advent of AI inspires her to “create work that starts conversations.”
The interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
You’ve made quite a shift from fashion photography to 3D art. How did you manage to do that?
Shavonne Wong: Basically, I spent all of 2020 watching tutorials online, learning how to use 3D software, and trying to understand all the tools. By the end of 2020, I was at the “Okay, my models don’t look like shit anymore” stage. I started creating proofs of concept for my business clients. Place my models in different scenario settings, light them, compose them. And that’s when I heard about NFTs.
What was your reaction at that moment?
My husband told me about NFTs and I was like, “I don’t know what that is. This seems very technical. But let’s try things, shall we? So I basically got on NFT Twitter around January 2021 and started checking things out and asking questions and following people. And I said to myself, “All right, I’ll do something.” » So I created a coin, minted it and it sold. So I was like, “Okay, cool.” They created more pieces and sold them. I was like, “Oh, shit.”
How did this impact you as an artist?
It was pretty cool because I felt like I was finally in a space where I was creating stuff for myself and finding people who wanted it on the other end. It was really the beginning of my approach as an artist.
Because when I was doing photography, I never considered myself an artist. I considered myself a creative, a commercial creative, but I didn’t make art for myself. I worked for clients and listened to their voices. So the NFT space was the first time I really had the chance to make whatever I wanted and put it out there.
The great thing is, I got to do this. The problem is that now everything becomes a lot scarier because it’s 100% my voice, and that means when people don’t like it, it’s hard not to take it personally. But it’s been an incredible three years since then.
In what other ways have Web3 tools impacted you?
First, it lowered the barriers to entry. All of a sudden, it gave me access to a global audience for my work. As an artist, I really appreciated instant payments and technology. I’ve talked to other creatives about this – we come from a business background – and the most stereotypical thing about most of us creative artists is that we’re terrible at finances and bad at accounting. We’re just bad at numbers in general.
I understand! I’m still sitting on bills from about two years ago.
That’s the thing. For example, when I was doing photography, I was really happy with the work I was doing, I went home, and a month later the client would email me and say, “You didn’t not sent an invoice. So now I’m very happy that there’s this whole smart contract thing, and I’m just getting the money. Like, ta-dah.
You’ve now been in the space long enough to see a bull market and a bear market, and you’ve seen the overall reputation of NFTs change. How did you experience this?
For me, it’s all about believing in technology. For NFTs and blockchain in general, this is a solid technology whether or not it’s used in art. And I believe deeply in a digital future, and I believe that art is generally representative of the times in which we live. Because I believe we are moving towards a digital future, digital art makes a lot of sense when delivered by blockchain. providence for that. So because I have this belief, as the market goes up and down and goes on all these roller coasters, having an eye on that horizon makes things less crazy.
You will join us at Consensus at AI Summit. As an artist, what do you think about AI?
I’m very excited about our future because I feel like we’re moving toward a world where there are two different realities that are sort of the same reality, right? The digital reality we live in, then the physical reality we live in. And I believe that AI will play an important role in this digital future.
Interesting. How exactly?
We are talking about digital characters. We’re talking about how AI will be a part of our emails. AI will become part of the way we talk to each other. I don’t even know what these amazing tech wizards are creating, but as they create and I learn along the way, I can learn and use tools that help me support the ideas and works art that I want to create. And I believe that in the future, everyone’s lives will be filled with AI – sometimes not even consciously, but it will be the underlying layer of so many things we do. I want to create work that speaks to this future. I want to create work that starts conversations.
I can’t wait to see what you create. Thanks Shavonne, see you at the AI Summit.