Candy Digital Partners With Getty Images for Spooky Physical and Digital Art Collection

It is the day after Halloween. Today is Day of the Dead. And this next NFT project is inspired by paranormal activity. Ghost In The Machine is the fourth initiative in a partnership between Candy, Digital and Getty Images. Joining us now to discuss is Candy Digital Chief Creative Officer Strait Trader. Welcome to the show Straight. Hey, it's great to be here. It's great to have you here, tell us about the collection. Uh What is this paranormal activity that we can expect through the uh digital collectibles collection? Yeah. Well, very excited to share some cursed images with you all. Um over the course of the past year, Candy and Getty images have been working together to build a photography platform that's really dedicated to looking at how we use technology to tell stories and to look at how we can use the Blockchain to preserve photography and to create this on chain archive of important images in our historical movements. One of these is spirit photography. So this collection goes in the machine. It maps the origin of paranormal photography across 20 landmark images and never released photographs from the Halton Archive in London. Together these images are so critical because what they do in addition to capturing ghosts is they bring to life, this really fascinating history of visual manipulation, the way artists and people have used photography or whatever tools they have to give form to the invisible. And I think that's a topic that has become so relevant as we weigh a world of deep fakes and really what it means to create with A I. So this collection take a deep look at the origins of spirit photography and it also maps the impact. So with ghosts in the machine, we have a digital exhibit running concurrently that looks at the impact and the influence of spirit photography across contemporary art. And what you can see in the in the work of artists working today is really kind of the power of the paranormal in giving form to the things that we fear and once we give form to them, it becomes a little bit easier to face them too. I know you can't speak on behalf of giddy, but this is the fourth initiative that you've worked on. Um uh as a collaboration. Have you had any conversations about using NFTS as royal as ways to distribute royalties? Back to the creators, back to the photographers, you know, Betty's Getty's business model is really a royalty based one. Any conversations there around that? Yeah, I mean, I think that we are continuing to look at ways in which we can use the platform that we've built to provide a resource for creators to enumerate creators. The mission here is bigger than any market. Um This is about preserving and archiving art history. Um It's really critical that these moments, these movements, these images are preserved and looking at, you know, the way in which that impacts royalties is certainly something that we have talked about. Are the ghosts compensated? And if not, aren't you just exploiting ghost Americans? Is it wrong to exploit ghosts? I, I mean, you know, they didn't ask to be exploited. I think they should do, don't they deserve some royalty? They do, they do. I mean, I think what's in these images is really interesting. It's not just kind of creating this record of visual manipulation or even a record of ghosts, whether they are real or documented or artificial. I think what's so powerful about spirit photography and broadly about photography is it creates a record of us, the viewer. I think photography is so important because it always reveals the artist, but it also reveals the person looking at it. Um And so I think in thinking about this collection, it's really, it's really interesting to see how we can see, not just the the ghost in the image but ourselves outside the image looking in. So speaking of dead things NFT haven't been doing so great recently. So can you explain kind of what's going on here in terms of uh you know how how are you trying to bring people to, to, to buy NFT when, when it's so well dead? Yes, I mean, I think like I said before, the mission here is bigger than any market. This is about cultural preservation and Blockchain technology is absolutely the best way for us to preserve and archive information in a way that is decentralized and secure and accessible. We need these images now and we need them available for future generations to be able to view and access and learn from. I think as we continue to build this platform with Getty and with every partner that we work with, we really believe that the future of NF isn't speculative, it's connected and we think that the platforms and the NFT features of the future that will drive growth going forward are the ones that will center fan interest and fan communities, the experiences that empower people with access and reward them for their support and provide them with a stake in what they love and the means to create with it too. So aside from a haunted wallet or a haunted Blockchain, what do you get with this NFT? Sure. So this is actually our first physical digital collection with Getty. Um You have the opportunity to collect the artwork as well as a framed fine art print. So it comes and you could get like different sizes and things depending on. Yeah. So there's uh there's one size for the for the print um that's based on the artworks themselves. What, what's, how big is that? What are we looking on? Um I think it's nine by 15. I wanna talk, I wanna uh change gears a little here and talk about some of the other big partnerships that Candy Digital has. Of course, Candy Digital has worked with MLB Netflix, Lawrence was just alluding to, you know, NFTS uh sales being down, trading volume being down. Can you talk to us about some of those big partnerships? How are these big multinational brands looking at NFTS? Um Are they still moving forward? Is the excitement still there? Yeah, I, I think that the, the excitement is still there for both the IP that we work with as well as with the fan communities that we work in over the course of the summer with DC. Uh We've continued our comic book voting program and seen uh the fan community that participates, that launched the first official Canon DC super villain, which is really exciting. So seeing fans be able to participate in new ways through NFT experiences is really, really powerful and similar through ticketing. We're creating a new touch point with fans both at the game and afterwards for MLB uh for MLB and baseball fans. So seeing a lot of traction and sustained excitement from both the partners that we work in as well as the communities that we work in as well and really quickly before we wrap here, the SEC brought two actions against NFT projects earlier this year. Has that affected how um big mainstream brands are looking at NFTS. I think from our perspective, again, the way that the brands that we work with, the way that the communities that we work in are approaching these as platforms and experiences that allow communities to be empowered to connect with the things that they love, to create with the, that they love and to have a stake in what they love too. So we are always recalibrating according to the needs of the communities that we work in. And we will continue to develop experiences that we think are really transformative for fan communities to begin to and to continue to create with the stories that they love.