Artist Finds Success After Transitioning to the NFT Industry

Cam Rackam, a 42-year old artist from California, was severely affected by the global pandemic after art exhibitions were canceled, sales of his works slowed down, and commissions slumped. This prompted the artist to transition into digital art, where he found new life following the explosion of NFTs.

Rackam was inspired to explore the NFT space following the success of prominent collections such as the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Beeple’s Everydays which sold for $69 million. “I realized being able to see all of your clients on the blockchain at the same time, you could start doing some real interesting stuff with it,” he explained. “I started getting some crazy ideas.”

A collaboration with the Instagram meme page @wallstmemes marked Rackam’s entry into selling digital art, where the artist created an entire collection featuring a Wall Street-themed cartoon bull. The 10,000-NFT collection launched on October 27, 2021, which was sold out in just 32 minutes as sales were boosted by the meme page and word got out across various digital channels.

“In the first five minutes, about 2,250 of them were gone,” Rackam recalled. “But then I realized by minute eight or nine, we were more than halfway done. I started thinking, ‘Oh my god, we’re going to sell this thing out super hard.” All in all, the collection was priced at 660 Ethereum (around $2.6 million at the time) and Rackam took home $738,593.97 from the collaboration.

The most money Rackam had made prior to dabbling in NFTs was $11,000 for a painting and sculpture piece he sold in 2015. “I kind of freaked out, I started screaming. I was calling people, hollering into the phone. I lit a cigar in the house and opened a bottle of champagne,” he added. “The neighbors probably thought it was some kind of rager, but it was just one artist transitioning to a new medium.”

Rackam is just one of the countless artists who have found success in NFTs, particularly as the industry continues to disrupt the traditional art world. By the end of 2021, it was reported that NFT sales reached $17.6 billion. However, market researchers advise caution as issues such as oversaturation of the market and the volatility of prices driven by speculation remain prominent.

Source: CNBC