A self-proclaimed jack of all trades and grasp of none, OSF has change into a prolific determine within the nonfungible token world in simply over two years, buying and selling his former life at Barclay’s to focus full-time on Web3, his digital artwork pursuits, his PFP venture Rekt Man and residing the lifetime of a degen collector.
The self-deprecating 34-year-old Englishman has a Swiss military knife of abilities fitted to a contemporary world of making digital objects — being a self-taught coder, understanding web tradition, with a capability to seize consideration and never take himself too critically.
Whereas he wears many hats, OSF, the artist, has been featured at Sotheby’s and has offered a number of items for six figures. He describes himself most as an artist and venture founder.
“I discover it actually robust to categorise myself as one factor or one other, however it’s definitely a query I get requested fairly a bit. I do have intervals the place I’m extra centered on sure issues like buying and selling however total, an artist and venture founder is the way in which I might describe myself,” OSF tells NFT Creator.
“I hate the thought of constraining myself to at least one factor. I believe it’s simply most likely an issue I’ve in life. My consideration will get simply captured by something actually and as you most likely can guess, I’ve ADD and all that form of stuff. I do really feel that I simply take pleasure in plenty of totally different elements of the [Web3] house, and I form of need to be part of all of it.”
Whereas initially a crypto skeptic, OSF reduce his tooth in early 2021 when he purchased some Bitcoin, however it was his good pal Mando who supplied the nudge required for OSF to really catch the NFT curiosity bug.
It wasn’t lengthy till he discovered himself making use of his previous decade of expertise as a dealer in conventional finance to this new rising asset class of NFTs. Initially minting 150 Bored Apes (0.08 ETH every) in late April 2021, OSF offered most of them a few week later for 5 instances the mint worth however remained a big Ape holder, teaming up with Mando in September 2021 to mix their collections.
The duo made headlines in February 2023, promoting round 70 Apes at a wholesome clip of 78 ETH every into Blur bids as liquidity rushed again into NFTs after Blur Season 1’s airdrop occurred. Apes’ present ground worth sits at 25.84 ETH, with NFT costs being down for many collections since that iconic commerce.
“It’s not like we have been bearish on Apes. We weren’t even actually bearish on NFTs at this time limit. I do know it now appears like an incredible commerce, however I’d be mendacity if I mentioned at that time limit, I believe NFTs are going to go to the place they’re now. I didn’t actually see that; I solely suppose that grew to become clear in a while,” OSF says.
“In our outdated jobs, if somebody might let you know you’ve made all this cash, however you continue to have all this danger, and you may clear up that danger in two trades and simply take the cash, you’d do it. You wouldn’t suppose twice.”
Crypto tradition, nostalgia and XCOPY
In an analogous vein to the likes of Josie Bellini and Trevor Jones, OSF has leaned into crypto tradition with a ardour for nostalgia that shines by his work.
That is exemplified by his artwork and Rekt Man, his PFP assortment launched in Could 2022, shortly after the demise of Terra. Rekt Man, a group of roughly 8,800, was a free mint that noticed its ground run up as most different PFPs went the other approach. The ground nonetheless sits at 0.47 ETH.
“I actually like nostalgia and capturing moments over time. I’m the kind of one who appears by my images from 10 years in the past simply to see what I used to be doing then. I’ve organized my music into quarterly playlists. I’ve 2008 Q1, 2008 Q2 and so forth. I’ve performed that since 2008 Q1, so it’s been 15+ years now,” says OSF.
“After I hearken to a playlist from, say, seven years in the past, I can keep in mind what I used to be doing at the moment. I actually like that concept of nostalgia and capturing moments and searching again on it. I believe artwork is a unbelievable approach to do this.”
As a fellow Brit, OSF mentioned XCOPY’s type of artwork and his capacity to seize tradition have performed a big position in his personal creation course of.
“I might say XCOPY is certainly an inspiration — clearly, the type of the artwork but in addition the ideologies I really like. I really like taking a look at his items by 2020. They’re very British items that you just wouldn’t actually get except you have been residing within the U.Ok. throughout COVID-19; perhaps the Aussies would, too,” he mentioned.
“I believe that that’s what I really like. That’s what artwork is. It’s like while you see one thing and simply actually join with it and get it. I believe items that may seize tradition in moments in time find yourself being those which are iconic.”
“With my artwork, I believe I simply acknowledged that, and I noticed that’s how XCOPY did it. I suppose I needed to do the identical factor, and half of it was as a result of I believed it might be profitable. However half of it was actually only for myself.”
Crimson Lite District dedication until I die
OSF likes to experiment, and for holders of his assortment, the “Crimson Lite District,” it comes with a “until the day I die” dedication, with OSF promising a brand new piece of artwork each single month till his time on earth concludes.
The story behind RLD, an version of 210 NFTs changing into an airdrop ticket to free artwork, entails his brother-in-law, who actually appreciated what would change into the primary airdropped piece: “Fuck Money Grabs.”
OSF wasn’t as bullish on the piece initially however was impressed to create it off the again of many “NFT money grabs,” similar to Pixelmon. His brother-in-law’s reward ultimately satisfied him to launch the piece, however as a substitute of promoting it, he determined to airdrop it to everybody who held an RLD.
“After a few days of the primary piece [Fuck Cash Grabs] being airdropped, I used to be like, wow, the worth of this piece is nearly the identical as the worth of the Crimson Lite District. I believed it could actually simply be a type of issues that was price zero. Individuals actually valued it, and I believed that was actually highly effective,” says OSF.
“That’s the place I believed I might simply do it as a month-to-month factor for anybody that holds an RLD version. After I airdropped the second piece, “Skilled Degen 3,” which is absolutely good and was imagined to be a 1 of 1, I believe that’s the purpose the place folks realized. They have been like, ‘Oh shit, this RLD needs to be price rather a lot’ since you’re going to get this stream of cool artwork.”
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Following the dedication of artwork without end to RLD holders in April 2022, OSF continues to get requested if he can actually hold that promise.
“I’ve zero doubt in my thoughts if I can hold it going or not. I don’t really feel like creating a brand new piece each month is a pressure on me; I actually take pleasure in it. I’ve lots of of concepts written down, and it’s most likely my favourite a part of the month. And it’s additionally my favourite solution to launch artwork as a result of [when] contrasted with a 1 of 1 or an version, there’s an expectation. For instance, what worth will it promote for? Will the version promote out? Have you ever taken care of your collectors and all that form of stuff,” OSF tells NFT Creator.
“I can’t assure that once I’m 105, the standard of my artwork goes to be pretty much as good as it’s now; who is aware of? Going again to the nostalgia factor, I really like that in 10 years’ time, I’m going to look by seasons one and two of airdrops. Proper now, in season two, it’s so early, however I’m going to have the ability to look again on all this stuff, and it’ll be like a month-to-month doc of both my life or the crypto house or no matter it’s that I’ve drawn for the remainder of time.”
From an early morning fitness center session to Sotheby’s
OSF has lots of of artwork concepts in notes however loves the spontaneous nature that artwork can carry out of him, just like the piece he did titled “Carnaby Avenue,” which ended up promoting at Sotheby’s for $75,600 in December 2022.
“The origins of “Carnaby Avenue” is a good instance of how issues usually occur within the second for me. I rocked as much as a Barry’s boot camp class and turned up too early. It was about 5 am, and I used to be simply sitting outdoors Soho in London, which is normally extraordinarily busy. It was lifeless. There was nobody there. Dawn was approaching, and there have been all these purple lights, and I keep in mind considering, I’ve to attract this now,” says OSF.
“I had about an hour to kill, so I pulled out my iPad and sat down on this bench in my operating gear, drawing this factor whereas folks have been coming by accumulating the bins and stuff. That “Carnaby Avenue” piece solely would have labored in that setting as a result of I used to be really simply drawing it within the second.”
“The truth is, although, events like which are few and much between. They are often magical items when it occurs, however usually there are blocks within the creative course of.”
Notable gross sales so far
Fast hearth Q&A
Influences:
“I actually like Alpha Centauri Child. I believe the explanation why I actually like him is as a result of I believe he’s somebody who simply places out artwork based mostly on his personal private emotions or feelings or no matter he’s going by with out actually caring about what anybody else will suppose.”
I see a chunk of his, and it simply goes deep. He does issues on his personal phrases and his personal guidelines. He’s similar to, ‘I’m simply creating stuff that I need to create, and right here it’s on my phrases, and if you wish to purchase it, you should buy it. If not, then not.’”
“I additionally like the way in which he gamifies issues and makes folks really feel a bit uneasy typically. I believe it’s sensible. He’s positively a large inspiration. I really like his stuff, however simply the way in which that he goes about conducting his artwork, I believe it’s superb.”
Which scorching NFT artist ought to we be listening to?
“I believe die with the most likes is superb. I don’t know if he’s nonetheless upcoming or not as a result of he’s been on the timeline rather a lot. However that man is unbelievable. He’s a efficiency artist, and other people haven’t seen his efficiency artwork but as a result of a few of the stuff is in actual life. It’s simply unbelievable.”
“He’s a author as properly. He writes amazingly, and he simply captures this theme of a memetic that nobody else does. His stuff is totally different from some other artist. You might say, listed below are the animated artists, listed below are all of the glitch artists, listed below are the neo-precision artists or no matter, however there’s nobody like die with essentially the most likes.”
“His stuff is simply so in your face and crass; I believe it’s sensible, and actually, I actually suppose he’s going to massive massive locations. He’s fairly a well known artist now, however in a yr’s time, I believe he might be up there with the largest folks within the house.”
Favourite NFTs in your pockets that aren’t your personal
“I’m my very own struggling” by ACK, and “Retention pond baptism” by die with essentially the most likes.
What do you hearken to when creating artwork:
“I’ve a very bizarre and broad style in music. It is perhaps Taylor Swift in the future. It is perhaps like Creed the opposite day. It’s simply actually random based mostly on what I really feel like listening to. It might be as random as piano covers of widespread songs or reggae covers of widespread songs. It’s simply essentially the most random stuff. It’s most likely a testomony to how scatty I’m normally.”
Hyperlinks:
X: https://twitter.com/osf_rekt
Web site: https://www.osf.artwork/
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Greg Oakford
Greg Oakford is the co-founder of NFT Fest Australia. A former advertising and marketing and communications specialist within the sports activities world, Greg now focuses his time on operating occasions, creating content material and consulting in web3. He’s an avid NFT collector and hosts a weekly podcast overlaying all issues NFTs.