Loopify: Artist & Collector Spotlight

Loopify's work resembles the journey of a talented craftsman lost in the mountains on his spiritual path to artistic enlightenment. When Loopify occasionally emerges from his retreat, we get to see a wide-ranging and fast evolving style which blends together textures with noise for a worn out wood-grain feel or a rough cloth embroidery, etches ethereal yet relatable characters, and produces physical art books.

- zonted

Loopify sits at the perfect intersection of artist and collector in the digital NFT art space. We're excited to see how Loopify's tastes as a collector will evolve over time. And how that collector appetite will influence his artistic style over time.

🖼 view Loopify's art in the zonted genesis exhibition: https://www.cryptovoxels.com/play?coords=S@308E,583N,5U

How did you get into crypto (NFT) art?

I got into crypto (NFT) art roughly at the end of October while noticing an artist selling their work on SuperRare. Before understanding there was a lot of money in this industry, I wanted to sell my art to others.

I started on Rarible as I was denied from SuperRare originally.

What inspires you to create art? Why?

Originally it started as something I could put my mind to when I was young. I got started as a graphic designer but I was never in love with technicalities in the industry—I started creating art throughout my time as a graphic designer that meant something to me regardless of how it was made.

Can you emphasize what technicalities of the industry rubbed you the wrong way about graphic design? Was it working with clients, meeting deadlines, etc?

Regarding the technicalities of doing design work, I wasn’t the best at completing client work and struggled to meet deadlines for things I didn’t like doing so I switched over to art.

Recently you struggled with an artist block for nearly a month. How were you able to cope with that? Was there any specific activities that helped you get your creative juices flowing again?

Artists will always have creative blocks. I think the longer you make art, the longer you’ll *try* to get used to it. Personally, I never got used to it and it makes me doubt certain things I do.

The times when I struggle with artist block I just stop making art. Instead, I look for inspiration from books and other people and then block slowly goes away.

How would you describe your artistic style?

I’d say my artistic style is something that hasn’t been discovered yet, I can say a lot of people who have work that can be instantly recognized but I don’t want to rush to get to the point where I don’t like my work.

I still want to keep exploring and find my art style slowly, I have found a lot of certain styles along the time I have been designing / creating however I lose interest fast.

What has been your "favorite" style so far? As a follow up, what's something you've tried but didn't like?

My favourite style has most likely been the flat / noise used in my SuperRare genesis piece - ‘Takeda Shingen’.

Other styles I didn’t like but experimented with are different brushes in different formats like my ‘Love Loop’ one.

You are in a very unique position as both an artist and collector. Lots of crypto artists are now dabbling with collecting too. Any advice that you can shed on your collecting style? What would you want to tell your younger self about collecting if you were getting started as a collector (eg. mistakes made)?

I write articles on my personal ways as a collector and try to talk about everything I do so people don’t make mistakes at the start. Check out the recent article I wrote on "How to find success in Crypto Art":

Things I’d tell my younger self about collecting are definitely what I am doing now and hold artworks for a long time—don’t buy just to flip. Another good rule to follow is by answering the question "would I collect if this artist minted 5 works at once?"

I also like being the first collector of an artist. And I have made plenty mistakes due to FOMO from collecting whether it be scams or overpriced works *to* flip.

Being the first collector in an artist can be a bit scary for collectors since they have an unproven track record and only bits of art to look at on their social media. What are your thoughts on when to commit to being an artists' first collector besides the comment on being interested enough in their art to collect their next 5 works?

To become a first collector, I think the most important thing I look for is communication with the artist and how they want to move forward.

This gives me a clear look at what I’m aiming at in the future for their works & work ethic.

Can you add to these stories with real life examples? What were some things you FOMO'd into collecting, and/or tried to flip that ended up poorly?

An example of this would be a 20 ETH Blue Kirby piece that was before the ‘rug-pull’ which caused me to sell it for 9 ETH. I also bought a 5 ETH Blue Kirby scam so yeah... it was tough haha.

How do you balance collecting with creating new art?

I don’t stress myself to make art all the time but I believe I’ve yet to find a balance between collecting and creating new art.

Building on your unique experience as an artist and collector, let’s talk about valuing art. A lot of artists struggle with valuing their work. What do you think about pricing your work? What kind of advice would  you give to artists that are just starting out and trying to price their work?

I believe if you're coming to the industry and think in terms of value straight away, you can go wrong. Value is created slowly, it's not a one time big sale—from this I mean that you shouldn’t stress over what you can sell or what you can’t sell.

Don’t start out selling your work for 100 ETH or 0.1 ETH. Each artist has a balance they need to make before the collectors set it for them and change it for them.

I price my work a lot different to how I’d buy someone’s work due to certain factors.

Can you emphasize which factors you specifically look for?

For example, how do factors like who's collecting or the "quality" of the piece you're selling affect your pricing?

Certain factors that I look for would be scarcity, past sales & collector interest. I buy a lot of art that I generally just like too.

Before drastically changing their price, I believe artists should get at least 3 collectors interested, at least enough for a bidding war. I personally look for collectors who have a common theme in their collection—whether it be how they approach artists socially or how they adjust their bids for each artist.

When I consider selling something, I base the decision on ‘if I want to accept the offer’ and I don’t think of any other stats.

Were there any pricing schemes (eg. reserve price + auction, private DMs with collectors) that worked out better for you? And were there any models that you dislike? Why?

A model that has worked for me has been talking with collectors and setting a reserve price that initiates a countdown, this gives guarantee that that bid will be accepted in a certain amount of time rather than no connection to the collector - so it worked better for me in this aspect.

I don’t dislike any models as I don’t believe there is one way to do things—other things work better for others.

As someone who’s deeply involved with both sides of the crypto market, what’s your take on the community so far? What does the crypto art community need more of? And what could we use less of?

I believe the current community is amazing and very welcoming.

We could use less of certain people who believe it is all a scam / fake volume or money laundering however every market that makes money will have things like this. So we can just hope the crypto art community can handle them well :)

I think the crypto art community needs more people who build projects and market to others about crypto art. These kinds of projects can really help artists gain more exposure and teach collectors more about the space to get them involved.

A natural follow up to giving new artists more exposure is your Loop Box with M0NA—one of the first of its kind NFT subscription boxes. As you're familiar with your experience in art, getting something off the ground is extraordinarily challenging. What channels for hustling have worked out well for you? How do you deal with the negative nancies and non-believers?

Loop Box with M0NA is our first project and I am extremely happy with it. I think since it's my first time, I overestimated and over-expected what would happen.

Ioannis (the M0NA owner) and I are happy with how the project ended and I believe that this will help artists get into the space! As said above, negative nancies and non-believers will always be here and it just gives us motivation as it means we are doing something right.

What excites you most about your future with art? Where do you see yourself going?

I think what excites me most about my future with art is being heavily involved in the space and helping others with their art. While I do this, I will still create my own art and I hopefully will come back with big things.

Any shout outs?

Etiene Crauss—the second person I saw in the space involved in crypto art who inspires me with his art every time.

Talos—he has helped me with getting started and started my whole career if I’m being honest, one of the kindest people I have met.

Pak—reached out to me and is one of the most knowledgeable people I have met. I'm glad to have an amazing artist know who I am!

Notable past exhibitions / praise / press:

• zonted genesis exhibition
  1/1/2021—4/30/2021

The first ever ("genesis") digital art exhibition by zonted art gallery. The exhibition features sculptures, installations, videos, and digital creations by a wide array of notable international artists that are on the forefront of digital art.Visit the exhibition here: https://www.cryptovoxels.com/parcels/3734

Support the artist:

• Website: https://www.loopify.org/
• Blog: https://loopifyyy.medium.com/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Loopifyyy
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crypto_loop/
• SuperRare: https://superrare.co/loopify
• Rarible: https://app.rarible.com/loopify/created