Not everyone is familiar with this modern art genre, but those who are fall into three groups: the zealous, the baffled and the unconvinced. One of the most well-known of NFT brands is one quite humorously named the Bored Ape Yacht Club. When I first delved into and even before I could even wrap my head around so new a concept of art, this “sweetheart” of the NFT world definitely did catch my eye, and my heart. Something about it resonated with me (and my pompous eye) and curiously made me feel that it might likely resonate with the likes of anyone, not just the technophile. One may like, dislike, resist or feel completely baffled with respect to digital art, but whichever you may be, I offer you a fresh perspective.

NFT collectibles are repetitive, yes. One might even say, cookie-cutter. They might therefore, and quite possibly, be perceived as lacking novelty, as ho-hum, the same ole, same ole. A template is created in which each pool of “traits” is designated a specific placement, then randomly plucked and plugged in by a program. Through this programmed method, out pop 500, 10,000, or however many NFTs the digital artist fancies for a single “drop”. This randomization and immediacy might give a sense of the industrial, as in another drop, another series of multiples. Loop, reload, and replay. 

But hear ye, hear ye, here’s what makes these digital “babes” so appealing, and close to my heart.

The nature of repetition—of the same ole, over and over, time after time, so on and so forth—has a special power. Consider a song’s chorus—phrases in repeat—replayed, recurring, reiterated. It catches on and becomes catchy, as it seeps into our memory, effortlessly. The message is singled out and the message sticks. Then suddenly we find we can’t get enough of the song. We keep hitting repea-pea-pea-pea-peat, now that we can belt out the chorus so automatically, in gushing delight. In much the same way, the case of the NFT collectible is anything but uninteresting, stale or unimaginative. It’s like the visual art form of a song’s chorus. 

Digital art collectibles, such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cryptopunks, or (my own pride and joy) the Wunderbabes, are here to show us the many aspects of ourselves, holding a mirror up to our mirror.

This digital art form doesn’t call forth our analytical intellect. Nor does it seek our deep earnestness. No, my dear Crypto Prospects, this new form of art is perfectly content having attained its own new and authentic aesthetic power, not the kind you find in the formal hallowed halls of museums, but in everyday life, on our phones, computer-screens or sleek Samsung wall flatscreens. There is no need for existential quandaries or transcendental musings here. 

Or perhaps, there could be.

Art in this technological age we live in is ubiquitous, wherever it is acknowledged, captured, snapshot with our smart phones and presented as art. Art is now considered in the clothes we don, in our hairstyles and culinary discoveries. It’s in a TikTok dance or voice over that thousands will repeat and repost. Art, thank goodness, has become the balance we need for the heavy and congested overload of information and media that is now our day to day. Art is our fun, our light antidote.

And repetition is the NFT collectible’s tactic. After all, it’s become modern-day media’s clever cleaver means. In the same unapologetic way Instagram and TikTok bombard us all with a trend or celebrity’s face, NFT collectibles reveal the powerful nature of repetition.

The artists behind these digital art collectibles might not expect their audience to come away with deep messages and interpretations. They may not expect to wow them with creative feats of the human hand. No, the NFT collectible is simply a way for these artists and their viewers to engage in a little fun, a giddy surprise or some light playful humor. And who knows, these collectibles might just be another celebrity or trend we can’t get enough of. 

We cannot deny how representative these innocent collectibles are of our pop culture and values today. And just as we continue to mindlessly voice along to a favorite chorus and blankly gaze upon another IG reel or TikTok video, with digital art collectibles, we can see ourselves and feel a sense of unity in our need for visual play.