The look on Kurt Cobain’s face may have it all-it’s like someone in 1991 just explained to him the meaning of “irreplaceable tokens” in 2021.
Charles Peterson captured the sneer Nirvana singer in the heyday of grunge (above), which is exactly what the famous Seattle photographer needed when he took this photo for the first time in NFT 30 years later Look like.
The late Cobain is one of the rock celebrities represented in “Charles Peterson Grunge Years”, an NFT series curated by Seattle Phosphonene, On various online portals launched in May to help connect artists and collectors in the crowded digital art market world.11 photos of Peterson for sale starting today On the OpenSea market.
Kirsten Anderson, long-term owner of the Seattle Art Gallery Rock Larou, Founded Phosphene with Art Min, a technology veteran, investor and former vice president of influence of the Paul G. Allen family foundation.
Anderson called Peterson a legend in rock photography. He created the iconic Pacific Northwest “garbage age” in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and how all this revolutionized the music industry.
“Maybe everyone has seen Peterson’s photos, whether they know it or not,” Anderson said. “And it’s really exciting to be able to show famous and influential artists. They used to be limited to the realm of physics.”
Peterson makes a living selling prints and licensed images. He said that in the past year, someone had contacted him, hoping to provide his work in a new way. Together with other people in the art world and people who are curious about technology, he watched NFT subvert traditional thinking in art collection. Tokens are virtual ownership certificates recorded as part of the blockchain computing network, and have created a boom among collectors and cryptocurrency enthusiasts.
“I just can’t understand its meaning and technical details,” Peterson said. “As an artist who has been starving all my life, it’s hard to imagine where all this interesting money comes from.”
His first collection of NFT images revolved around a visual theme, celebrating the “insolent”, which Peterson referred to as “smart, funny and motivated dummies and fools… They changed shit completely because they didn’t Shit… As we know, they re-made the music.”
Most photos have not been widely disseminated in the past, nor are they “the hottest works” that Peterson considers.
His goal is to bring back some easy rock that attracted a lot of people in the early days. He called it the best memory of the time, and saw ironic humor and wit when filming Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and other bands.
Peterson said: “This is not just about grand myths like tragedies and megaliths.” “I kind of want to go back to who these people are. For me, humor can often penetrate and show a person’s true personality.”
57-year-old Peterson has never put a digital shopping cart on his computer website And sell prints to people who contact him directly via email. He may print 8 to 12 photos per month, ranging in size from 8 1/2 x 11 inches to 44 x 66 inches.
Before: Thirty years after his iconic photos captured the rise of grunge rock, Charles Peterson turned his attention to Instagram
The NFT will be a digital PNG file-scanned negatives, retouched by Peterson’s hands and his standards. He used his knowledge of his long experience in the printing industry to carry out this work and defended his continued ability to make money from art, now converting images into NFTs.
Peterson said: “I kind of have to feel guilty about business, or live on someone.” “Yes, it’s them, but if it wasn’t for me and my art, it wouldn’t be them in this form.”
Since its launch, Phospene has completed four drops of artwork. The platform is trying to differentiate itself through its curation and helping artists enter the space and enter the right market. Sustainability is a key consideration, as Phosphene purchases carbon offset credits in an attempt to solve the carbon emissions problem related to the computing power required by the blockchain.
“We have solved some problems with our business model and technology choices, and think we have found some effective methods,” Min said, adding that NFT was hit by some bear markets in June and July, but he now ” More and more people create crypto wallets to buy NFT.”
In the first batch of pictures, Peterson provided 10 of them as one-off pictures.But he is also making 10 editions for one of his people Nirvana Certificate PaperThe original lineup of Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Chad Channing filmed in Seattle in 1990. Peterson fondly recalled the embarrassment of shooting.
“It’s really sweet,” he said. “When I think of bands, I always think of them as such a lineup because I ran out of my copies ‘bleach’ When I first came out. “
This period of history, memories, and continued appreciation of art is what connects Phospene and Peterson more than thirty years after the band’s first assembly and image production.
Finding old fans and new fans in the still developing market will be a test.
Peterson said: “I think we are creating a historical archive here that contains things that people still like very much.” “This may be a depression, or it may be amazing. But you don’t know, unless you try. Otherwise, these Will stay on my hard drive forever.”