On March 16, 2022, the fifth anniversary of AmPm’s debut, we have started some projects. Among them, we began a project to deliver “some sort of” information under the name of “AmPm Delivering “XXX” (XXX to change every month)” on the 16th of every month.
Our second installment on April 16 will be “AmPm Delivering “THE BOOK”,” and in it, we will talk about purchasing NFT and introduce the work.
Significance for us to introduce this
In past interviews, we have clearly stated that “We ourselves are also media.” Our background is that we created and started activities as the artist group AmPm as a means to introduce the people and things that we encountered in our travels throughout the world.
The reason why we invite different artists every time to release a song is because we also want to introduce these artists to you. Similar to this project, our playlist called AmPm Thinking, which we have continued to update every month, also has an aspect to introduce lovely songs.
Regarding music-related topics, we will try to introduce even more things, but regarding this NFT project, we wish to expand the scope in regard to introducing creators in areas other than music, but try to fulfill our original concept at the same time.
- We would be happy if you could read more about this here.
What is NFT?
We are not technicians or specialists in this field, so we will not go into the details, but NFT is an abbreviation of “Non-Fungible Token.” In other words, it means a certificate of digital contents.
Up to now, there were ambiguities about the owner and rights regarding so-called digital content itself, and it was difficult to evaluate the value of the content (as it is).
NFT is gathering attention because of the value that is created thanks to certification and being highly regarded because of the implications and possibilities related to protection of rights.
On the other hand, legislation has not caught up in Japan nor the world, and since the speed of technological innovation in this field is fast, it is also true that there is an unstable aspect that seems to be like a sort of trend or bubble.
Nevertheless, I think many people have all sorts of doubts. For example, even if they try to find information about NFT, it is still unclear. And they find out that virtual currencies involved, which seems somewhat dodgy, and they do not know what might happen if they own NFTs.
We would like to introduce NFT art, which is one aspect of this field, and its creators in a way that is easy to understand as much as possible and from our unique prospective.
This is because AmPm is conducting a NFT project too. We started this current project because we had the feeling that we wanted support and have as many people as possible to know about this and become familiar because AmPm is considering a future project in the field of metaverse, as well.
Just a summary of NFT would take up lots of space, so we won’t go further into that, but it is interesting because it is a new area and there is enjoyment in looking through the many works that are already available. We would like to focus on introducing works and artists and deliver these to you.
The first NFT that we purchased
The platforms that sell NFT works are increasing at a crazy pace and the number of creators who are participating has also increased along that. As a result, the number of works continues to increase enormously. Famous collections already fetch high prices and to encounter a work that you really want, it is necessary to keep on searching.
Through this project, we thought that we would introduce the works that AmPm purchases, while keeping in mind the following points:
・The price is reasonable
・The work has future potential
・It matches AmPm’s world view (values)
By becoming owners ourselves, we think that the feeling of closeness with the work and creators might become different, and we would gain a better understanding.
Eventually, we wish to decorate the hotel that we intend to build within the metaverse with the artworks that we collected.
Jidori Girls
This project named Jidori Girls is a work depicting “selfies” of 3,950 women taken with their smartphones. We chose one and purchased Jidori #2731.
This was not a purchase via so-called primary distribution, but it has already had 3 owners and it arrived in our hands.
The purchase price was 0.04ETH (about 13,000 yen at the rate of that time). All Jidori Girls were not necessarily this price, and they each differed in price.
We had a hard time considering which work to buy as our first, and we decided after looking at many works on various platforms.
First, we’ll introduce the reason
- We thought it was lovely as a graphic image
If we are going to own “art,” we need to like it before we want it.
This work was pop, but simple. It was modern and ironic. It was geeky, but did have a hint of fashion. We thought it was all around very lovely.
- It is generative art
It is not clearly stated in the work, but we think it is generative art. In other words, it is art that was produced using a computer. The 3,950 works were probably created by combining several hand-drawn parts. But because it was mass-generated, we think it shows the meaning and significance of using NFT and also its fun and ironic side. If it was not NFT, it would be just one image that was mass-generated.
It is because it is NFT that each one has meaning and value.
We thought it was a distinctively NFT-like work and this was one of the reasons why we decided to purchase this.
- Works that will continue on forward
It has been clearly stated there will be a male version of Jidori Girls in the future.
Some NFT projects like this one disclose their roadmap and you can know about their future plans and possibilities.
By the way, not only will there be a male version of Jidori Girls, but also a smartphone app is planned, which will apparently include a matching feature like Tinder.
The developers are also considering adding an Instagram filter feature and entering the metaverse field.
It could also be considered that demand for their work and the value increases because there are such possibilities in the future. This is one way to enjoy looking for NFT works and owning them.
- Potential of the SNS icon
This has not been launched yet in Japan, but using a feature called Twitter Blue, it is possible to use any of the NFT that you own as an icon. Meta (Facebook) and Instagram are also considering the same thing and it would be easier to see whether you own NFT or not.
From this point, we assumed that this work of “selfies” would increase in demand for use as an icon.
- Participation in the community
Many have communities on existing platforms such as Discord, and the Jidori project also has a Discord community.
Communities in this field, such as Bored Ape Yacht Club, are trying to evolve further. In any case, it could be said that there is sufficient value if there is a place where people with similar values can gather.
For these above reasons, we purchased one of Jidori Girls collective work. We were surprised to feel the joy of ownership and a feeling of fun occur naturally after our purchase.
In addition, a new possibility (although we can’t tell yet) that was totally unexpected for us has arisen by this purchase/ownership, and we deeply felt that there are various things that you can’t know without actually experiencing them.
We hope to buy one item each month and introduce it, as we did this time. Also, as written in the beginning, we hope to deliver other topics on the 16th of every month under the name of “AmPm Delivering.”
By the way, you can purchase Jidori Girls at OpenSea.
Please take a look if you are interested.
