SZABOTAGE IN THE METAVERSE
NFT URBAN ART
“NFTs, or as I like to call them, New Found Territories, allows us artists to think beyond the canvas or walls. Who knows where the art will end up?! One thing that is certain... art can survive a lot longer on the blockchain than in reality.”
HONG KONG’S FIRST NFT STREET ARTIST
Szabotage was the first urban artist in Hong Kong to offer NFT art back in November 2020 on OpenSea. This collection digitised his street art murals meaning they can live on forever even after being painted over in the real world.
In October 2021 Szabotage’s second collection was displayed at the Digital Art Fair Asia in Hong Kong. This tongue in cheek collection marked Bitcoin hitting a value of $40,000 for the first time. Each NFT used animation and sound to bring the visual story to life and came with their foundation physical artwork. There is just one piece still available from this sell-out collection.
In December 2021 was two unique car art NFTs were launched at IMXpoHK. The artworks celebrated Szabotages fanatical love of cars a self confessed gearhead the pieces were an insight into his supercar obsession.
What's next? There is lots more to come in 2022: Szabotage is working with Animoca Brands and Blank.art who are trailblazers in the NFT space, collaboration projects with Unicly, Revs Motorsports and NRT-1 plus an exclusive digital artwork collection for Roger Dupuis Hyper Horology.
Yat Sui & Szabotage explain NFTs
What are NFTs
NFTs are taking the art world by storm. NFT stands for “non-fungible token”. This token represents a unique digital asset, such as a piece of art, that you own and is recorded on the blockchain. It creates provenance by logging your ownership and smart contract on a publicly accessible blockchain ledger forever. Just like physical artwork, NFT art can be bought and sold.
NFTs have opened up a new world for art in the digital space. Whilst a piece can still be copied or reused, it is now possible for the original piece to be owned and traced which in turn creates a value for that piece of art, just like in the physical art world.
As the potential for NFTs continues to unfold, the art world is set for a huge digital explosion.
Currently Available to Buy
This is a video NFT and is a Szabotage street art piece painted using one of his infamous graffiti gadgets he makes. The inspiration behind this piece is a social observation reply to the rise of the Bitcoin and how the crypto world is changing the financial system
Hong Kong Swimmers
Szabotage created two pieces to celebrate the women of Hong Kong. These artworks follow Szabotage’s ‘True Reflections’ style, where he depicts portraits of women over his iconic stencil language to tell a story. Bathing Beauties and Facekini Femme juxtapose the beauty of women and what they are willing to sacrifice for their pursuits. The swimmers wearing ‘facekinis’ highlight how women put their egos on hold for the sake of future achievements. It is a celebration of women’s strength.
These two works encompass Szabotage’s digital journey, taking his signature style, layered stencils, to screens. This distinct, complex practice features classic stencil work spiced with humour and iconic cultural references. The Szabotage stencil language is based upon elements and principles that communicate ideas and meaning to the audience without words.