Editor's Note: This article comes fromDappReview（ID：dappreview）, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Editor's Note: This article comes from
, reprinted by Odaily with authorization.
Twitter：@CaoArmand
About the author: Cao Yin, managing director of the Digital Renaissance Foundation, invests and incubates multiple digital financial projects, a staunch supporter and researcher of digital art, especially concerned about European digital art, hoping to reconcile Yin and Yang Integrating rational digital finance and emotional digital art.
Encrypted art investors will face a problem when choosing encrypted art works. The works of favorite artists will have the difference between single product (Single Edition) and multi-edition limited works of art (Multiples). From the perspective of investment return, we Should you invest in Single Edition or Multiples?
Single artwork "Green Bottle", Osinachi, 2020, Edition 1 of 1, Collector: CaoYin, superrare.co/artwork-v2/green-bottle-10560
Before giving my conclusion, let us first understand the concept and source of multi-edition limited artworks. According to the definition of Tate Art Museum in London, multiples refers to a series of identical artworks. Usually a limited edition signed by the artist specifically for sale.
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In the past, multi-edition limited works of art were mainly various casting bronze sculptures and prints, such as Rodin’s bronze sculptures of thinkers. Rodin cast a total of 25 pieces himself. This kind of multi-edition and limited edition artwork that strictly limits the output can maximize the commercial benefits of the work.
Multi-edition limited works of art are usually signed, numbered and dated by the artist, and the artistic value of each copy is the same, and there is no distinction between the original and the reproduction. In addition to artworks specifically for sale, artists generally keep master works for themselves, and this work will be marked as "AP" (Artist Proof). There are also some multi-edition reproductions of artworks produced and released as legacy after the artist's death. For example, the Rodin Foundation reproduced 26 sculptures of thinkers in 1998.
New York art bookstore Printed Matter's Artist's Multiple collection produced on the website, featuring multi-edition limited editions by Jenny Holzer, Yoko Ono, Sherrie Levine, etc. artwork.
After World War II, with the popularity of various avant-garde artistic trends, the forms and materials of artistic creation were no longer restricted, and various forms of multi-edition limited edition artworks became popular. Under the influence of the wave of conceptual art, the behavior of multiple limited editions has become a part of artistic creation. Artists use multiple limited editions of artworks as a means of realizing artistic democracy, and hope to use multiple limited editions as a means to break the elite class’s perception of artworks. The monopoly of collections, and the use of art as a means to spread the political views and social thinking of artists to the general public, turning artistic pioneers into political pioneers, a large number of artists have created various multi-edition limited edition artworks. The non-uniqueness of these multi-edition limited artworks not only does not affect the investment value of the artworks, but makes the artworks more valuable because they carry richer cultural and political connotations. The act of multi-edition limited editions itself becomes an artistic expression means.
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Duchamp's "Boîte-en-valise" (Boîte-en-valise) is one of the most famous multi-edition limited works of art, produced between 1935-1941. Duchamp selected 69 important works representative of his artistic career, produced them as miniature reproductions and meticulously arranged them. The first order of this group of works came from the Guggenheim Museum.
The art market seems to have been defying most of the traditional laws of economics, and while supply and demand have historically had a key influence on the price of art, the rarity of a work is an important source of value. However, as the attractiveness and value of art have grown exponentially, and the paradigm of art collection has changed, the principle of scarcity is also changing silently. We can learn from the "traditional" art market outside encrypted art in recent years. This interesting change in performance was observed.
Last May, Jeff Koons became the most expensive living artist at auction when he sold his stainless steel "Rabbit" for $91.1 million at a New York auction. The flamboyant steel rabbit has caused a public outcry since its debut in 1986, when influential New York Times art critic Roberta Smith described it this way: "A gigantic rabbit, With carrots, it was once made of inflatable plastic. Now in its stainless steel version, it brings the perfect form preached by Brancusi to a new level, although it seems to turn the hare into an alien invader of unknown origin. ". However, for a multi-edition limited edition of three works of art (in fact, there is an artist's reserved edition), the sky-high price of US$91.1 million seems a bit unbelievable, which violates the principle of scarcity in the art market.
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Jeff Koons, Rabbit, 1986, stainless steel. 41 x 19 x 12 inches (104.1 x 48.3 x 30.5 cm)
However, collectors' pursuit of top multi-edition limited works of art actually reveals a kind of contradictory value in the world's top rich community: they hope to be outstanding but extremely conform to the crowd. These 0.01% people standing at the top of the wealth pyramid want to have symbols of wealth that can be recognized among each other. This is true for high-end cars, luxury watches, and custom-made clothing, but these luxury items are not as symbolic as multi-edition limited edition artworks.
If you collect a Jeff Koons stainless-steel rabbit, you're entering the social club of two other super-rich (for interested readers, Google who they are) who own the same rabbit. Perhaps some kind of secret relationship can be boasted through this $91.1 million rabbit. From this perspective, those top multi-edition limited works of art are not so much a collection, but a valuable membership of the top club of the pyramid.
Moreover, because contemporary artworks are different from classic artworks such as Van Gogh, Picasso, and Monet, they have not been precipitated by time, and their status in art history is uncertain. Therefore, the value of contemporary artworks is more and more like metaphysics. No one knows what the contemporary artworks that cost millions or even tens of millions of dollars to photograph are what they are. And multi-edition limited edition artwork at least provides these buyers with a sense of security, because at least someone else has already paid for the exact same artwork, especially if there is already a well-known collector or art museum that has already photographed and collected it. For the same multi-edition limited edition artwork, buyers who take pictures after that will feel more secure. This is the case with Jeff Koons' stainless steel rabbit, the same version of which was on display at the Oxford University Art Gallery when it went to auction last May.
Although the total value of all encrypted artworks may not be as high as a Jeff Koons stainless steel rabbit, the multi-edition limited art market mechanism behind this stainless steel rabbit is also common in encrypted artworks. We can in conclusion:
1. Multi-edition and limited encrypted artworks can make the auction price of each work provide market price reference to each other, so as to achieve price support. (This is especially important for the encrypted art market as a whole in the price discovery stage)
2. Multi-edition limited encrypted artwork can become a social identity symbol of the same collector and a social bond between collectors. Imagine what would happen if you and KAWS collected the same encrypted artwork. (This is already reflected in the small crypto art market, since I started snapping Osinachi's Green Bottle, several Osinachi collectors have contacted me via private messages on Twitter)
3. Multi-edition and limited encrypted artworks have a greater possibility of display, because more collectors will own the same work (this is very, very, very important for the current encrypted art market, and encrypted artworks in the hands of collectors At present, it is mainly displayed through various social media, such as Instagram, Twitter, Wechat, Facebook, etc., and most of the encrypted art galleries are online, and are also displayed on social media and specialized encrypted art platforms, such as Superrare , KnownOrigin, etc.)
Regarding the last point, I want to continue to expand here. The value of encrypted artwork is closely related to the display traffic of artwork, and according to the Metcalfe theorem of the Internet, the value of the network is equal to the square of the traffic. Encrypted artwork is a native Internet artwork, so the value of encrypted artwork should also be proportional to the square of the display traffic. We can use a formula to express that the market value of encrypted artwork = Display traffic Volume^2*Proportional Relation constant n.
Assuming that the display traffic of a single piece of encrypted artwork is 10, its value = 100n, and the single display traffic of a set of 10 pieces of multi-edition limited encrypted artwork is also 10, and its total display traffic is 10*10=100, Then the single piece value of this set of multi-edition limited encrypted artwork = (100*100)n/10=1000n, even greater than the value of a single piece of encrypted artwork.
As generations of art collectors come and go, collecting paradigms are fundamentally changing. In the eyes of rising young collectors, the boundaries between Fine Art and trendy commodities are blurring day by day, so it is easier for them to accept multi-edition limited artworks with commodity attributes.
KAWS, “LOST TIME,” “ALONE AGAIN” and “FAR FAR DOWN” (2018),In 2018, Pace Prints introduced three screen-printed works of superstar KAWS to Art Basel Miami, selling a total of 100 copies, each priced at $65,000, and at the VIP opening ceremony of the art show on a "first-come-first-served basis" basis. 15-minute sales display at the booth. The organizers also market through Instagram. As a result, this set of 100 works was so popular that not only were all sold out within 15 minutes, but the organizer had to use lottery to sell.
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