As South African artist Fhatuwani Mukheli paints a portrait of a woman at his Johannesburg studio, he is creating not only the work before him but also a digital asset destined to adorn a virtual world. Mukheli uses The Tree, an online marketplace for South African artists to promote and sell their art as non-fungible tokens .
Mukheli has already made thousands of dollars by using the platform. “I think it’s important as an artist and a creative to always play where the ball is going and not necessarily where it’s at,” said Trevor Stuurman, one of the four other artists currently showcasing their work on The Tree. Critics say blockchains, digital ledgers used to store information, are not climate-friendly because they guzzle computing power.