Will NFTs Kill Traditional Art? Famed Collector Cozomo de’ Medici Makes The Case
December 16 2021 - 2:44PM
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Digital magazine and gallery Artnet gave Cozomo de’ Medici the keys
to the castle. The notorious NFT collector took over their very
popular Twitter account to raise hell. Cozomo de’ Medici’s thesis
is that “the internet killed the yellow pages. Netflix killed
Blockbuster,” and NFTs will replace traditional art. A bold
prediction, we know, but let’s give the pseudonymous collector the
benefit of the doubt and explore his thread. Related Reading | DAO
To Make Jodorowsky’s Dune Manuscript Public: Member Won $3M Bid The
story starts with Artnet NFT 30. A list of the 30 most influential
people in the NFT world. Of course, Cozomo de’ Medici was one of
them. As a publicity stunt, Artnet gave Cozomo control of their
Twitter. “And starting now, I will be taking over the ARTNET
Twitter! I warned them I may be controversial ;),” de’ Medici said.
And then, “Ok frens, so I dropped a bit of a bomb over on the
Artnet twitter account. They had NO idea I was going to do this!”
Ok frens, so I dropped a bit of a bomb over on the @artnet twitter
account. They had NO idea I was going to do this! 😂 Read this below
and please share the ArtNet post! (not this post). Let's let the
world know that WE are the digital revolution
🍷⚔️https://t.co/yP9wjmiTmB — Cozomo de’ Medici (@CozomoMedici)
December 15, 2021 Besides NFT recommendations and commentary,
Cozomo de’ Medici made a name for himself on Twitter by making
outrageous statements. One of them is, “Crypto billionaires will
flip traditional billionaires. NFTs will flip traditional art.”
Let’s explore that idea. BTC price chart on Bitbay | Source:
BTC/USD on TradingView.com NFTs Will Kill Traditional Art,
According To Cozomo de’ Medici The notorious NFT collector begins
by comparing the NFT revolution to the advent of Reality TV. “For
almost 100 years, the studios decided which actors would be lucky
or talented enough to become stars. But then in the 2000’s,
everything changed. The cameras turned from focusing on actors, to
every day people. With Reality TV, soon it wasn’t a trained actor
who was getting famous, but your classmate, co-worker, or next door
neighbor. ” 4/ Now, someone like @MrBeast could build a more
sizable, much more engaged following than the biggest tv or film
star@guyraz could have more daily listens than the biggest radio
stations And those who used both social & reality tv, like
Rogan & the Kardashians, built empires — Artnet (@artnet)
December 15, 2021 Ok, so far so good. Then, Cozomo turns to art.
For centuries, “kings, queens, and noble folk decided which art was
relevant.“ Then, the tide shifted, “in the Victorian era of the
1800s, galleries, museums, and collectors began to move markets.”
The problem here was that the public had zero access to these
artists. By the time they learned “about Warhol or Basqiat, their
work has become expensive, the best pieces gobbled up by known
collectors and market makers.” 9/ And this is not just in the major
markets – London, Paris, NYC – but globally. I was recently
chatting with a man who grew up in Morocco. As he described it, in
Morocco there are 5 dealers who make up the "art mafia". If an
artist gets on the bad side of one, they are done. — Artnet
(@artnet) December 15, 2021 Enter NFTs. “No museums. No galleries,
other than the marketplaces, and the galleries made by collectors
themselves.” A heap of now well-known artists came out of this
change of paradigm. But that’s not all, “any artist, from any where
in the world, with no invitation, can mint a drop.” Also, the power
shifted to the consumer. “YOU can decide which artists will define
this generation.“ 17/ Not by getting a museum show – but by
producing great art, and cultivating a community using digital
tools, like twitter and discord. Now, you may be wondering… is
there real size, and real provenance to be achieved this way? —
Artnet (@artnet) December 15, 2021 You’re In Control Of The New Art
Elite Then, Cozomo de’ Medici shouts out two artists. Who, of
course, are part of Artnet NFT 30 as well. 19/ Or the previously
mentioned @XCOPYART, a CryptoArt "OG" who has been minting art on
chain perhaps as early as 2016… And has had individual works sell
for $3m, $4m, $6m, and $7m… all in the last 3 months.
pic.twitter.com/zCdoXFXbTr — Artnet (@artnet) December 15, 2021
Photographer Justin Aversano and Digital artist Xcopy. Who, of
course, are a big part of Cozomo de’ Medici’s collection. To
finish, de’ Medici goes all in. “We are the market makers now. We
create our own museums. We decide which art defines this
generation. We are the digital renaissance.” We r the digital
renaissance ! @CozomoMedici https://t.co/zUz1EdkOEO — Snoop Dogg
(@SnoopDogg) December 16, 2021 The reactions have been mixed. Some
people don’t buy it, some people think Cozomo de’ Medici is a
genius. In what camp are you? Are you convinced or nah? Is Cozomo
exaggerating for effect? Or does he or she really believe that? Is
Cozomo ahead of his or her time or clinically insane? And, more
importantly… Who’s Cozomo de’ Medici? No, he’s not Snoop Dogg. That
was a publicity stunt that worked too well and even journalists
still believe. Love this. I was interviewed earlier today and asked
if crypto is going mainstream. My answer was yes, and one of my
supporting points was that Snoop Dogg had an anon NFT Twitter
account. And now he drops one of the most insightful tweet threads
on the future of NFTs. Must-read: https://t.co/ywNVaxpBN7 — Laura
Shin (@laurashin) December 16, 2021 To answer the title’s question,
let’s quote the publication that started this whole mess. In Artnet
NFT 30, they introduce him as follows: “Ever since the mysterious
collector behind this Twitter handle emerged on the scene in
August, they’ve captivated the cryptorati with a combination of
gnomic utterances and sage NFT investment advice, all packaged
under a playful identity claiming a parallel between the famous
patronage of Renaissance Florence’s Medici family (albeit with a
tweaked spelling seemingly borrowed from Seinfeld’s Kramer) and
Cozomo’s own pursuits in the digital art world today.” Related
Reading | Christie’s Will Auction Original Art From Gary Vee ‘s
Veefriends NFT Collection And about his collection, a huge part of
this story, Artnet says: “With astonishing speed, Cozomo acquired a
collection of Art Blocks and CryptoPunks alongside NFTs by Justin
Aversano, Tom Sachs, and a host of other artists. He now owns
hundreds of artworks, including coveted examples that the crypto
community calls “holy grails,” that are together valued in the tens
of millions of dollars— including what he calls a “grail of
grails,” XCOPY’s Right-click and Save As guy,” The estimation is
that his whole collection is worth $17M approximately. Take that
for what it’s worth. Featured Image from Cozomo de’ Medici's
Twitter page | Charts by TradingView
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