Soey Milk Pushes Boundaries with ‘Dare to Love’ NFT Project
Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs have graduated from the laughing stock of the crypto world to a global phenomenon fuelled by celebrity and ‘memelord’ endorsements. So what are they? In short, they enable buyers to purchase a digital version of a piece of art which resides on the blockchain. While NFTs started out with trivia such as memes, the art world is beginning to grasp the potential benefits.
Even the British Museum has jumped on the trend, selling NFTs of Hokusai’s The Great Wave. One of the advantages to artists is that they can earn royalties from each subsequent sale, which is of course not the case with physical artworks. Think of Banksy for example, whose art is worth millions but he wouldn’t see a penny from its sale at Christie’s – hence his ‘Love is in the Bin’ stunt in 2018.
Interview: Illustrator & Cartoonist Tom Dearie Keeps it Surreal
Since graduating from the prestigious Royal College of Art in London where his focus was painting, Tom Dearie has made a successful leap over to the world of comics and illustration. Last year he received the coveted ‘Grand Prix’ award at the 31st International Comic Competition (Komiksus) in Poland for his comic F is for Fire. Inspired by the fire department Tom lives near in Warsaw, the comic tells the story of a heroic firefighting father who is injured in service.
With satisfyingly simple forms and eye-catching colour palettes, Tom’s work feels both completely current and strangely familiar. It would be equally at home in a classic comic or on a New Yorker cover. While the commercial potential of his work is obvious, it’s also playfully surreal and often catches you off guard – his Steamy Pete illustration for example looks like some kind of psychedelic Where’s Wally or Tintin in a parallel universe.
