it's been bothering me for a while that the current "meta" in the digital-art-on-the-blockchain world is to give your work away for, essentially, free. i was trying to make peace with it. because let's be real, there's a bit of a stockholm syndrome thing going on here. i have audiences on platforms like zora and rodeo, and i'm scared to bite the hand that's been feeding me (when you're starving, the smallest crumb tastes good). "if only i could grow my following on those platforms," i'd tell myself. "then, maybe, maybe, i can find 'bigger-deal' opportunities that lead to income."

two months ago i started a new job. trying to "make it" as an artist in this space was becoming too stressful. i needed a break so that art could become fun again, and so far, that's kind of been working. but it also made me realize that i don't really have to put up with this shit, if i don't want to.

"mint anything," "onchain instagram" (because instagram is totally something we want to replicate), "don't overthink it." bröther, i am overthinking it like hell.

free mints do not primarily benefit artists, aside from potentially exposing their work to a wider audience. free mints primarily benefit the platforms that the works are being posted to. they encourage an inflated number of transactions that those platforms can then use to show how well they're performing. (look mom, we're helping create shareholder value.)

i don't mind the "mint anything" idea, per se. but we started participating in this game before we knew how the rules were going to change. with zora, we used to have so much more control: we could decide how long the mint would be open, or close it manually if we wanted. we could limit the number of mints per address. and we'd get a few dollars per mint, which was...a slightly bigger crumb. there were some great projects that worked really well with the time-limited-mint feature.

then, rodeo (a platform launched by foundation) came up with even cheaper mints, zora followed suit, and the rest of us started crying. i've spoken with other artists, and the general sentiment can probably be described as "glum disillusionment."

while "overthinking it," i came up with the following list of options for myself moving forward:

1) keep going as i am and eventually mint "higher value" pieces as 1/1s on other platforms (that is, works that require more effort, like 3D pieces)

2) boycott free mint platforms entirely, potentially to the detriment of my onchain career

3) shift to minting a different kind of content on these platforms - only works in progress, behind the scenes, etc.

4) compromise. instead of minting the entire piece, what if i were to just mint part of it?

as regards 1), i don't really want to keep going as i have been. i hate that i can't close my mints manually anymore on zora. i could just use rodeo instead, as the time limit is set to 24h, but i can't add much of a description there and the creator tools are worse. plus, it feels like such a slippery slope. if i value my work at 50 cents now, how can i justify wanting to charge more for my other work later? when will i, as an artist, suddenly become "more valuable"? 2) i am not ready for a full-scale boycott right now. people see my work being minted, people check out what i'm doing, maybe they like it, maybe they follow me. 3) i don't really want to mint my wips and behind the scenes?? i don't think these things need to be onchain as nfts. (ymmv)

but is option number 4 a cop-out?

my thought process is that this way, my work still gets more eyes on it — while i maintain control over the actual piece it is derived from. if someone were to want to own it digitally, they could contact me and we could arrange it.

will this have repercussions for context? is this a weird frankenstein way of going about it? probably. will i change my mind again in a month or two? very likely. but the fact of the matter is that there is no "right" or "best" way to do any of these things, and we're all just stumbling along more or less in the dark, feeling the wall for the damn light switch (it's got to be here somewhere).

i just feel a bit frustrated, and i know i'm not the only one. these models incentivize the consumption of art as a quick bite, something you scroll past once, double-tap, and never look at again. meanwhile, your wallet is getting bloated. these models incentivize the creation of art as something quick, low-effort, and easy, because why pour hours of your time into making something with such a low ROI?

please, tell me if you think i'm crazy and looking at this entirely the wrong way. i am open to that possibility.

regardless, i'm going to give it a shot.