In the midst of the current growth of NFT artworks, and to counter the misconception concerning their uniqueness as an artwork, I will now produce all new works with NFC tag encrypted certification. Each new work will leave the studio embedded with a digitally and physically signed NFC (near field communication) tag.

This tag securely authenticates the artwork simply by passing any web-enabled mobile phone close. Scanning the tag will bring up the artwork’s encrypted provenance on the scanning device, confirming the work and tag provenance.

Every time the tag is scanned it will retire the previous encryption and generate a new one, ensuring a future-proof anti-counterfeit system with no third parties involved and no need to download a special app. This internally developed system positions the studio as a standard bearer for uncompromising provenance verification without the unnecessary carbon footprint associated with a blockchain-based system.

a high pass (x-ray type) scan through a print showing signature recto and NFC encrypted tag verso.

This final point is an important one for consideration when evaluating other artwork verification systems: their footprint. Based on the number of Bitcoin transactions over the twelve-month period 2020–2021, total energy usage is estimated at around 123 terawatt hours. Researchers have found that a single Bitcoin transaction can use an average of 1,173 kilowatt hours—enough to power a typical UK home for more than three months. I am noting a worst-case scenario here, but surely verification of art should not carry such a carbon burden.

The only thing unique about an NFT is the small piece of blockchain code attached to the digital asset in question. There can be (and usually are) thousands of copies of the actual image or file, but only the blockchain code owner can claim ownership of the “original” token. By turning this notion on its head and enforcing singular uniqueness in the physical world, every piece leaving the studio is unique because there simply are no copies leaving the studio. The owner of the print, sculpture, or painting also owns the authentication tag attached to it, along with the unique encrypted code.

So what are NFC tags? NFC tags come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The simplest are often built as a square or circular sticker. These tags have a very simple construction: a thin copper coil and a small storage space on a microchip.

The coil allows the tag to wirelessly receive power from the NFC reader through electromagnetic induction. Whenever you bring a powered NFC reader (a web-enabled mobile phone) near the tag, the tag is energised and transmits stored data to the device.

The system we are implementing adds an extra layer of security: each time the piece and tag are scanned, a new encrypted code is generated, with the previous scan history logged in the database. Tags may also use public-key encryption if sensitive data is involved, to reduce spoofing and malicious attacks.

Each tag is unique and is pre-coded in the studio to perform its authentication process, then paired with its corresponding artwork.

So far, we’ve discussed NFC tags, but what about readers? NFC readers supply power and read data from passive tags. To achieve this, a reader needs a power source to pass an electric current through its own coil, generating an alternating magnetic field nearby. Bringing a tag into that field results in inductive coupling between the two coils, thanks to Faraday’s law of induction.

Once the tag is powered, the data transfer process is simple. Readers detect how the NFC tag modulates the electromagnetic field. A technique known as Manchester coding is used to determine binary values from the electromagnetic pulses. You don’t need to know any of this to use the system in practice—just pass your phone near the signature area of the piece, and your phone will do the rest.

Plate 1027 from 'Empirical research & evidence' 2022, unique 16 13⁄24 × 23 3⁄8 inch print with embedded NFC encrypted provenance tag

Since 2013, all the photographic works I have produced are unique, with no editions ever to be released. The current reproducible capacity of photography is both its force and its failing. I am provoked by the notion that a painting is intrinsically more valuable than a photograph primarily because of its singular uniqueness. To counter this perception, I produce only unique prints from each work, in an attempt to challenge ideas concerning the spiritual and economic valuation of artworks and to create an exciting tension between their individual present and relinquished, reproducible past.

Uncompromising artwork provenance verification without needing to download an app, and with no associated carbon footprint. This unique artwork verification platform was developed in collaboration with 123Automate.It and the Distil Ennui Studio founder Alexander James Hamilton.

Plate 0603 from 'Empirical research & evidence' 2022, unique 16 13⁄24 × 23 3⁄8 inch print with embedded NFC encrypted provenance tag