The Story Behind my NFT Art
- Christina Plummer
- Jul 4, 2025
- 6 min read
I'm not sure exactly when it started (it was recent), that I began to dabble in the weird world of NFT art. I think I asked ChatGPT what the hell it was, just out of curiosity. I'm interested in copyright law and intellectual property, so, naturally, I was curious as to how NFT art affects your own rights over what you create and ownership rights over the art you generate with AI.
I dove in head first into this thriving, strange, surreal, dark sub-virtual world I never knew existed. This world has existed for some time now (at least over 10 - 15 years?), so, obviously, it's not new, but it is new to me. It's also not for the faint of heart, or, the virtual faint of heart. It's tech challenging, because, essentially, when you sign up you are joining a corner of the dark web that (I suppose) is trying to go more mainstream? I don't know. It's definitely not for the tech challenged. I'm not very tech savvy, but, I'm curious and tenacious, so I'll keep trying until I get it or I get sick of it.
So far, it's been like a mix between Alice in Wonderland and Indiana Jones adventures; carefully navigating a surreal world while at the same time trying not to step on the wrong stone or risk falling deep into a pit of vipers.
My first foray into the glitch-verse began on Objkt.com. Again, fair warning, this is not for the faint of heart. It's very frustrating. There are many rabbit-holes that you run down, stop, turn around, and wonder why you went there in the first place.
Real money is involved too, so there are real life consequences for mistakes. Thankfully, it's not crazy expensive so the stakes are relatively low, but there is a real risk of getting sucked in too deep; and if you aren't careful (or don't figure out the tricks quickly) you can and will lose actual, real money.
So, just briefly, the rabbit hole is this: you have to figure out how to buy crypto currency (the currency that whatever platform you pick accepts), find and download an appropriate virtual wallet, connect your wallet to the platform that hosts you while you move your art through the blockchain. It's glitchy, to say the least. And, now that I also started using Opensea.io as well, it appears to me that the glitches are purposeful. Whether the purpose is nefarious or necessary, I haven't decided yet. But, the same glitches I'm having on Objkt are exactly the same as the glitches I'm experiencing on Opensea. At this juncture, I'm leaning towards user error since I'm new to the game. I just kinda think that at this point in our digital history, if an industry wants something to be easy and simple, easy and simple it is. When an industry wants something to be difficult, burdensome and obnoxious (think health care/Insurance/ billing), then difficult, burdensome and obnoxious it is.
In any event, the challenges I'm experiencing may be intended to keep the techno illiterate away; but, I just can't help but notice that it's a lot easier process to spend money on these platforms than to make money. Of course. Your intuition is correct if you think it's kind of scammy. It is. The other part of it, which is secret until you dig a little is that you have to join some sort of social media platform in order to sell any work you create. And, of course, the more active you are on the social media platform, the more you are rewarded.
Here's another little clue that it's a very exclusive club (for members to actually make money) . On Objkt, you are required to use Tezos (you may be able to use other crypto, but I was lead into using Tezos). The social media platform you are secretly required to use is X. (All social media is RIFE with scammers, so beware on all sosh meed no matter what). So, let me think, hmmmm.... isn't Musk the owner of X? And Tezos sure does sound a lot like... Bezos? The King of the Amazon? Yes, yes and yes. I haven't really done a deep dive into that little conspiracy, but I think it's more than just coincidental.
On the plus side of playing their little game (voluntarily), I am discovering a new and amazing world of techno-art that is quite visually stunning and extraordinary. I've got a (very) small collection of pretty cool techno art. But, quite frankly, the truly extraordinary techno-art that I've seen (and tried to collect) is either too expensive or just unavailable. Which, again, makes me think I'm playing in a sandbox that's meant for a different beast. I don't think this playground was built for non-tech-y old ladies.... unless they bring their wallets to the playground.
It is fascinating, though; I am learning something entirely new and I'm watching artists push the boundaries of conventional art. We'll see how far I get into this new world, but for now, here are a few examples of my own new, animated NFT art:
2025 - Andy's Office - Whirly Twirly
And, this...
Just a final thought on NFT art. I have discovered that AI generated art, using AI with only written prompts, does lead to derivative and duplicative art work (I know, duh, right?). I try to be careful and I've uploaded only pieces I've actually created with my own two hands. I'm mostly just interested in how AI morphs or improves it. It's guided not solely by my prompts, but also by my actual work, my actual intellectual property (however that's defined individually or legally).
In any event, I have noticed, though it's subtle at first glance, that AI likes certain imagery, and it has a playlist of images that it uses on repeat. I'm assuming it received great feedback on some of the images it's re-generated, so it uses elements that it knows people will like. In my work, for instance, I use arches frequently. The reason for this is that when I lived in Italy, I studied art and that included learning about ancient architecture. Living in Italy, you cannot get away from the plethora of mind-blowing ancient columns and arches. Here are a few examples from my own work (from many years ago when I lived in Italy):
See? Arches. I like arches. Have trouble painting and drawing them, but I like arches.
Even my cookie monster drawing includes arches in the background. So, why am I hung up on arches? Or, more importantly, why is AI hung up on arches? I don't know. All I know is that it likes to add arches and I can only assume it's because people reward it when it produces cool arches. Unfortunately, for people who are concerned about copyright, their intellectual property and protecting their art work, AI is not.
So, you may wonder why, then, I dove head first into this weird world and offered up my work like a lamb to slaughter? Well, I'm not entirely sure how to answer that except two reasons come to mind: 1) eh, curiosity; and 2) in the world of graphic and virtual art, one way to lay claim to your work is to throw it into the blockchain and record the meta-data electronically.
As per an article on the Opensea platform, "[e]ach item has an owner, minter, creator, and history that can be verified onchain, similar to the 'provenance' documented for physical artwork and antiques." Meaning, when you Mint your work, you've now got an electronic, meta-data certification of your work. People can buy it (or collect it), but your retain the actual rights to the work.
Bottom line is, a contract is actually drafted and then attached to your work when you mint your NFT piece. Now, I'm not a lawyer, but I do work in the legal word, and I have thoughts about contracts. I won't bore you with those thoughts here and now, just know that I feel like I'm on shaky ground so I won't be spending a fortune on this new game.
I'm still pretty early on in my little wonderland adventure game, and I'm not quite sure if I'm tall or if I'm small, but I've definitely gone through the looking glass.
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