Romero
Avant Garde Artist
“We create in a non physical space and it is in the midst of this nexus that we relate to each other” by master wordsmith Michael K Brown
art by Darren Kleine
Quantum Nonfungible Assets Proposal or QNA 2/9/2025
QNA's are unique digital assets that cannot be exchanged as like-for-like with another asset. It can be a series collection, but can also be of fractionalized digital assets that can exist or did exist in two different spaces created by the same creator. The Arweave quantifier of the asset should refer to the original link to complete the quantum reference.
QNA's can exist individually, or as a unique asset or as part of an issue of a finite set or fractionalized collection.
QNA's are recreated on a permanent AOArweave database usually but not only because the original digital database has ceased to exist, is no longer accessible or is no longer supported in space.
The reason for this proposal to use the name of ‘Quantum Nonfungible Assets’ in place of NFT’s is because we needed a more suitable way to describe the permissionless, permanent use of the AOArweave database as creatives in storing assets to solve various solutions and situations that the term NFT does not allow.
How do we solve the issue of assets that were created and existed on now defunct digital databases and websites. Some of these like assets on OpenSea exist as aggregations on places like IPFS but not on the original defunct platform.
So here we propose the term Quantum as it had existed, but still exists in another state, but may still need to be in an additional state determined by the creator to add some functionality to the original core creation. At this point we can determine that all these various states of existence can be owned and collected as long as these states are well documented and defined as coming from the creator not as duplicates, but as various states of the original asset.
Below is one of the issues that lead to this proposal with the use of DarkBlock
Romero Bio by Corinne Moshy
Early adopter of using blockchain technology in his artistic practice, we look at Romero, winner of the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Avant Garde Art/Music Award- Who's Who in America, to see how artists can continually leverage the latest in technology to further their careers.
Early days of digital art
A New York City native and Pratt Institute alumnus, Romero began experimenting with the digital as a medium in art school when only the architecture students had access to a single computer. He grew restless during his time at Pratt as the school wouldn't let him experiment with digital art. While studying traditional mediums he couldn't let go of his curiosity to explore how working on a computer could change the way he produced art. As frustration grew, Romero left Pratt in pursuit of creating art the way he wanted and made his way through NYC's Soho galleries, pushing his own work himself. In the early 90s while Romero was working at a telecommunications company, he was still stuck on the idea of creating digital art. Studying the Giclée process, he used the materials he had at his disposal and created paintings on Microsoft Paint and printed them out, producing works instantly. Romero remarked that he loved the immediacy of digital art. He said he never liked the idea of working on one work for months at a time, but instead loved the ability to sit in front of a computer and create a work in minutes and then print multiples, harking back to a Warhol-like process of silk screening. His digital art practice took off from there.
An under discussed benefit of creating digital art, Romero says, is the environmental impact. By creating digital works and selling them online, his eco footprint is incredibly small, especially when compared to most traditional artists. In a time when climate change and environmental impacts are a growing concern, the world of digital art avoids shipping, packaging and storing art as a powerful contribution to the art world and the planet. When it came time to sell his works online, Romero hit blocks and realized there were no good solutions for artists, especially digital artists, to sell their works online. The reason for this, he hypothesizes, was likely due to being a little too early to the party. Romero joked that this has been an ongoing issue he faced in his career. When he recognized the power blockchain could have on his work in 2016, he began searching and subsequently creating blockchain solutions for his digital artwork for provenance and sales. He has his own gallery—Ikohaus, and utilizes Codex (defunct circa 2019) to leverage the benefits of blockchain for his digital art practice.
Codex for archiving an artist's portfolio
Romero notes that one of the most important things for an artist to do is to archive their entire portfolio. Artists often sell through multiple marketplaces, auctions or galleries, and records of their portfolio are scattered among various platforms. Having one comprehensive archive of your work is crucial, and something you can do securely and easily on Codex. Romero is in the process of registering all of his artwork on to the Codex Registry; not only does this make it easy to track where his works are, but it gives anyone the ability to browse through his entire oeuvre. While most collections can be handled privately on Codex, Romero uses Codex's Gallery feature. This is a publicly viewable gallery that allows anyone to see the works registered in their Codex collection. Viewers can browse through Romero's gallery, view works in his collection and subsequently decide to purchase any of his available pieces.
Authenticity on Codex
Proving authenticity had been no easy feat for digital artists in the past, and Romero says this issue is one directly solved by Codex for artists like himself. Art has always been the most valuable when it can be shared, but that becomes a dangerous slope when the work is digital. Sharing digital art online used to put one at risk of losing the ability to prove they own the original image. Romero recognized the dichotomy between sharing one's work and risking the loss of proving ownership. But registering his digital art on Codex gave him more freedom as a digital artist can use the Codex Records as proof of authenticity. "It allows me freedom to make my work anyhow I like to, and that doesn't matter, what really matters is who owns the Record, that's all that's important, if you didn't create the record you're not the owner." He loves that people can own an original and authentic piece of his art, but have the opportunity to share it with the world. Digital art is a booming medium as technology has caught up with the needs of the practice. As digital art continues to flourish, it's crucial that artists understand how they can navigate the space, and taking steps to ensure their works have provable authenticity is of paramount importance.
Selling art on Codex
Romero was one of the first artists to use Codex to leverage sales. Not surprising, as he sold a digital artwork in Bitcoin to a patron in February of 2017, just before the cryptocurrency's boom. Romero has experimented with different marketplaces and sales platforms with Codex, and says that the ability to buy directly on Codex would be a great feature to see.
Romero is excited about using his digital art practice to "change the perception of how you work with art. It's about breaking the norm and recreating art". As we continue to communicate and engage with Romero to build a platform that is as beneficial to artists as possible, he is excited at what we together can build for the artist community.
**Local NC Artist Wins Who's Who In America Lifetime Achievement Award **
https://wwlifetimeachievement.com/2018/07/21/carlos-lucien-romero/
My Codex Protocol Public Gallery https://codex-viewer.com/#/galleries/ikohaus
Press release https://codex-viewer.com/#/galleries/ikohaus
NFP Podcast with Darren Kleine https://open.spotify.com/episode/01n60EyGXe3imvDNbOnWzq
Now I have gravitated to AO Arweave mainly on the BazAR platform
My profile and work can be found here https://bazar.arweave.net/#/profile/BldK57Yr9J413iAiBIiilLt9AIOtDDYZiewRrcjszbQ/assets/