"Art NFT, it's all ruined?…as long as the work is good, it doesn't matter." > NFT_News KDCA(한국데이터공인인증원)

Prior to the "Future & Encounter with Inspiration" exhibition to be held from the 22nd at Hankyung Gallery in Jungnim-dong, Seoul, artist Sam Moon explains the digital print work "Floating head." Reporter Heo Mun-chan.

Is the combination of art and irreplaceable tokens (NFT) innovation or fraud? Advocates of NFT claim that it is a "revolution that allowed people to buy and sell digital art," reciting the latest technology terms. On the other hand, those who are displeased with NFT responded, "I don't understand that I can't hang it on the wall like a real picture, but I'm paying a large amount of money." The latter seems to be gaining strength as the price of NFT works has fallen in recent months.

What are the thoughts of artists who produce NFT art works? The answer given by Sammun (real name Moon Sang-ho, 41), a media art writer, was unexpected.

"It is true that the NFT market is extremely bad. However, popular works are still being traded at high prices. The important thing is not 'what technology or platform are you using', but 'how good the work is'. Even if the NFT market fails, good writers will survive somehow. I'm confident."

 

The first exhibition "Meet the Future & Inspiration," which introduces 21 pieces of NFT and digital print works by Sam Moon, will open at Hankyung Gallery on the first floor of the Korea Economic Daily in Jungnim-dong, Seoul on the 22nd. Having started his career in 2020, he is considered one of the leading artists in the domestic NFT art market despite his short career.

He showed his status in the NFT market. Sam Moon's NFT media art work "We are on top of the world" was sold for 18 million won at an auction of NFT trading platform "Clip Drops" last year. A mid-sized painting with decades of experience was the equivalent of a painting. The two NFT works, which he copied and sold 30 pieces each under the concept of a kind of "digital limited edition engraving," were "sold out" even though they were high prices (700,000 won to 800,000 won each) for NFT. This year, it was sold to one of the nation's top 10 conglomerates.

Sammun, who has a low career, was able to become a "rising star" in the NFT market thanks to its solid basic skills. It was around 2000 that he first entered the media art path. As an ordinary engineering student, he accidentally fell in love with the world of computer graphics (CG) that he encountered on the Internet.

After completing his military service, he entered the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) department in Georgia and studied media art. After completing his master's degree at Parsons Design School in New York, he returned to Korea and worked as a CG designer for 10 years at terrestrial broadcasters. In 2011, he produced a performance video of pop star Beyonce with famous writer Kenzo Digital, who learned media art from Paik Nam-joon.

The core theme of Sammun's works is "the light and shade of technological development." "As I worked in CG, I realized that it was becoming more difficult to distinguish between reality and the virtual world. The 'virtual humans' in the advertisement are hard to tell from the real world. The work contains the problem consciousness felt in the field, and as it is a heavy subject, the character and image are rounded and fun."

In this exhibition, he will also screen NFT video work "Blue Mountain" through a monitor along with 20 digital print works. Digital print works are usually part of his NFT video works. Let me float, which features camel-shaped characters, is a representative example. Earlier this year, he took a scene from a 40-second-long NFT video work sold at an art fair for 8 million won and printed it. Sammun said, "I removed a good scene to hang at home from the NFT video."

"I don't intend to be tied to the genre of media art or NFT. These days, I'm trying to create a pop art look with collage techniques. No matter how the media and technology change, I will be a good artist." The exhibition will be held until the 15th of next month.