Land artist Strijdom van der Merwe described his creative process during the creation of the Fifty Two Collection as “cowboy art”. Inspiration sometimes “strikes on the fly” and in the moment, said Van der Merwe. GRAPHIC: Kara Olivier
A well-known Stellenbosch-based land artist and sculptor has created more than 35 non-fungible token’s (NFTs) as part of an ongoing year-long project. The 36th installment in the collection will be launching this week between 5 and 11 December.
Strijdom van der Merwe, a globally renowned South African artist, embarked on the project in March 2022. The Fifty Two Collection involves Van der Merwe creating an original piece of land art once a week, every week for the duration of the project.
“Strijdom van der Merwe has figuratively and literally changed the landscape of South African visual art,” said Warren Knight co-founder of the Art on Church gallery.
Van der Merwe was approached by the technology firm Fanfire with the idea of capturing “the fleeting nature of his artworks” in this new digital format, said Van der Merwe.
Documenting the ephemeral
After completion, Van der Merwe documents each installation with photos or videos which are then sold as part of an NFT package, according to Van der Merwe.
The digital originals of each week’s installation is available for purchase every Thursday at 13h00 on Fanfire’s online platform.
The Cotton X Of Prague NFT increased from its initial sale price of R4186 to nearly R90 000, according to Strijdom van der Merwe, a Stellenbosch-based land artist. Van der Merwe created the artwork in 1995 in Prague. The artwork was sold earlier this year in NFT format as part of the Fifty Two Collection. PHOTO: Instagram/@strijdomvandermerwe
“Land art can be a challenging art form to share with your audience,” said Van der Merwe. His work makes use of natural materials and thus is often remote or lasts only for a limited amount of time, according to him.
Land art can be a challenging art form to share with your audience.
[Van der Merwe’s] work is mostly viewed in print or in digital form and the NFTs are another way of appreciating his creative process, said Van der Merwe.
The ideas for each NFT comes from the context in which it is created, said land artist Strijdom van der Merwe. GRAPHIC: Kara Olivier
Shaping digital landscapes
The digital nature of the Fifty Two Collection allowed Van der Merwe to cross continents while creating. Some of the NFTs were completed while traveling to the United States of America and Switzerland for other projects. “It is wonderful to be able to take in new landscapes and create work from anywhere in the world,” said Van der Merwe.
Land artist Strijdom van der Merwe highlights Drawing with Water: Brooklyn Bridge as one of his favourite NFTs in the Fifty Two Collection, his ongoing collaboration with the technology company Fanfire. PHOTO: Facebook/Strijdom van der Merwe
The ownership of each artwork is represented by the ownership of the NFT, said Van der Merwe. Buyers obtain the full commercial rights, including the online rights and reprinting rights, upon purchase, he said.
“It’s really a bargain when you think about the possible resale value and the scope of what you can do with the purchase,” said Van der Merwe.
“A lot of people are skeptical of NFTs,” said Van der Merwe. He explains that they simplified the purchasing of the NFTs by allowing buyers to pay using credit cards or electronic funds transfers (EFT).
The NFTs allow visual artists the opportunity to receive royalties the same way that musicians receive a commission whenever their music is replayed – something that was not possible in the past explained land artist Strijdom van der Merwe. VIDEO: Kara Olivier
The NFTs can also be resold at any time either through Fanfire or other platforms that are enabled for NFT sale, Fanfire’s online platform.
One of the advantages of the smart NFT technology, developed by Fanfire for the Fifty Two Collection is that a portion of the resale royalties is paid back to the artist if the NFT is resold after its initial purchase, said Van der Merwe.
This allows the artist to benefit if their work increases in value as time goes on as they maintain an annuity income stream, said Van der Merwe.
The collection will culminate with the launch of a book documenting the process and artworks in March 2023, said Van der Merwe. “It has been a challenging but rewarding experience so far. I am waiting to see where the project takes me.”