The Art Stoke Publication is a platform for South African digital artists to share their stories, art and NFTs in whatever format they choose, whether by linking to their NFTs on external marketplaces like OpenSea or Nifty Gateway, or by creating NFTs directly on Mirror (see limitations around licensing and royalties on Mirror NFTs below).
Change is not just about new systems, structures or technologies – it’s about new stories. Art, media and education play a critical role in seeding these new stories.
Art Stoke Café (framework)
Building Local Community
artstoke.co.za offers newcomers to the world of crypto accessible content centred around digital art on the blockchain. The Art Stoke Publication expands on this, with the primary mission of gathering local South African digital artists on the blockchain and inviting them to contribute their stories, work and experience. The Art Stoke Publication is therefore not just about showcasing and selling digital art, it’s about building community and shaping the South African digital art landscape through contributions made.
Low-Cost NFT Minting
Mirror is built on Optimism, a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum, which significantly reduces the cost of minting compared to Ethereum mainnet. Mirror uses “lazy minting”, where your article is only committed to the blockchain when a collector or enthusiast mints your work. This means South African artists can create and publish their work without the financial barrier of up-front high gas fees.
How to Contribute
South African digital artists who have sold digital art on the blockchain are invited to register here. Once registered, artists will be vetted and then added as a contributor (via your wallet address) to The Art Stoke Publication. All minting proceeds from your contributions will go to your wallet.
To build The Art Stoke Publication community and audience, subscribe and share widely with family, friends, local digital art collectives and social media followers.
Art Stoke Commons: A Local South African Digital Art Economy
Currently South African digital artists sell their digital art on international NFT marketplaces. Art Stoke Commons is a framework designed to create a South African digital art marketplace and digital art ecosystem. If you’re interested in being part of the core team to manifest the Art Stoke Commons vision, then consider becoming a member of the Art Stoke Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO).
Art Stoke Commons envisions a decentralised digital art economy that does not conform to the usual structures of organisation and work. It exists between the extremes of non-profit economies and corporate profit-maximising models, creating a slow-profit social economy where digital artists and collectors can thrive.
Creating NFTs directly on Mirror
Mirror utilizes the ERC-721 standard for its NFTs, a widely adopted protocol on the Ethereum blockchain that ensures each token is unique and non-fungible. The ERC-721 standard does not inherently include royalties or licensing and rights e.g. personal-use restrictions. NFT specific licensing and rights stipulations require contracted terms to be set by the artist.
Mirror does not currently support customization of its NFT smart contracts.
Alternative Approaches for Custom NFT Contracts
If you want to customise your NFT to include licensing, rights and royalties, consider deploying your own NFT smart contract using platforms like Manifold, or HeyMint Launchpad which does not require extensive technical expertise. Once deployed, you can integrate these custom NFTs into your Mirror posts using the NFT embed feature, enabling collectors to mint directly from your entries. By embedding custom NFTs into your Mirror posts, you can maintain the benefits of Mirror while tailoring the NFT to your project’s specific needs.