How Web3 Empowers The Artist

As NFTs to AR become more popular, local artists are turning to Web 3 technologies to bolster their legacies and expand their reach.

- Karen Tee

Pioneering artist and Cultural Medallion winner Ong Kim Seng is one of Singapore’s most recognisable artists, known for his fluid and vivid water-colour paintings of city scenes. Even with such a distinctive style — or perhaps because of it — Ong has a strong commitment to authenticity in his work.

“I have had agents from all over the world calling me to verify my paintings,” says Ong. “When a well-known painter friend saw someone impersonate his work, that got me thinking.”

When he found out about Web3 and technologies like non-fungible tokens (NFT), where digital data is stored in a blockchain, from his children, Ong became interested in harnessing it to preserve his art while protecting his legacy.

He recently teamed up with VaultV — a blockchain-based project managed by technology company OTECH — to create NFTs of some of his paintings that are available at the Web 3 marketplace, Opensea. The NFTs function as a digital certificate of authenticity and the physical artwork can also be redeemed by buyers.

“VaultV digitally certifies the authorship of the artist off-line and online through the use of blockchain technology. The NFTs are linked to the physical paintings. Buyers purchase the physical piece, and the digital certificate authenticates the authorship of the painting,” says Lionel Otsuka, CEO of OTECH.

“Due to the immutability of encrypted blockchain transaction records and the digital signature for each artwork, the proof of authenticity will remain valid over time.”