Digital art and tattoo art share something in common: Both have been underappreciated by gatekeepers of the traditional art market. Crypto-art pioneers already helped elevate digital works by decentralizing curation and fueling the emergence of NFTs. Famed ink artist Scott Campbell is about to make a similar breakthrough with a new approach to tattoos. He recently launched All Our Best, an online marketplace where tattoo artists can tokenize their designs and sell them as NFTs.
“An incredible group of tattooers and myself are getting together to change the industry we love,” Campbell wrote on his Instagram page. “Using NFTs as a certificate of authenticity for our tattoo designs and the tattoos themselves, we shift what we are giving to clients from time in our chair to an archival original artwork, with the option to get it tattooed. We are doing what we’ve always done, but in a way that our work is non-perishable, and the client holds something of real and lasting value.”
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Campbell, who rose to fame with Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn, counts top designers and celebrities among his clientele. His work transcends the chair with art exhibits and fashion collaborations with brands such as Louis Vuitton. Other tattoo artists on All Our Best include Sean from Texas, Tati Compton, Dr. Woo, Grime and Mister Cartoon, and the first NFT offerings are set to premiere July 9.
Describing the vision for the platform, All Our Best says it hopes to shift “the way tattoos are valued in order to elevate the craft of tattooing to a true archival artform. Traditionally, we tattooers have sold time in our chair. We charge for our craft based on how long it takes us to apply the image… We are updating the value of what we do.”
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Each tokenized tattoo will be an authenticated piece of art that can be traded or passed down. The owner of the NFT has exclusive rights to the design, including the right to have the tattoo applied by the artist who created it. This represents a huge bonus because iconic inksters such as Campbell rarely accept new clients.
All Our Best will start with its current roster of six tattoo artists. More talent will soon join the fold, and if all goes well, Campbell hopes to open a digital marketplace where any tattoo artist can tokenize and sell their designs.
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