War Wanarat Fuses Nature with Digital Art in ‘Missing The Missing’

“‘Missing The Missing’ is a play on the word’s two nuances – to be missing something and something being absent. The concept is about the act of reminiscing about nature, how, despite the fact that it can heal our mind, it’s slowly going missing.”

Actor Wanarat “War” Ratsameerat tells us about his latest project ‘NFT: Missing The Missing by olulo objects,’ which explains why his characters come with transparent heads and why you can see bodies of water, tree, grass and other living things in them.

A lover of art and science since he was a kid, War always tries to get his points of view across whenever he creates art or expresses his personal opinions. ‘Missing The Missing’ is no exception. Today, EQ chat with the actor-turned-artist to find out more about this project, art, and his thoughts on NFTs.

From a university project to NFT

Before ‘Missing The Missing’ came to be coveted collectibles for NFT collectors today, War told us that when he was studying at the Faculty of Architecture, KhonKaen University, he created a ceramic terrarium project inspired by life-giving nature. He wanted it to convey the message that if human beings don’t take responsibility for their actions, nature will eventually disappear and be reduced into a small jar. When cryptocurrency became a hot commodity, he thought it would be a good idea to transform the project into NFTs.

“I feel like even though nature has the physical and mental healing powers of nature, it’s becoming noticeably scarce. With this project, I drew a comparison between our planet and the small terrarium garden that I made. If the ecology is in perfect balance, you probably don’t need to keep watering it. On the other hand, if nature keeps getting destroyed, natural resources will dwindle until a fragment of it could only be kept in a small jar. The characters I drew vary – sometimes they resemble me, other times they resemble rare items like this Shiba Inu (SHIB) or a whale that represents a big-shot crypto investor.”

How did ‘olulo’ come about?

“I love when I see faces in random objects and I like to take photos of them and post them on my IG. This has inspired the logo ‘olulo’ which is a palindrome that looks like a face. It doesn’t have any special meaning, I just love how symmetrical it looks.”

Thoughts on NFT and crypto trends

Having already dabbled in bitcoins, War’s transition to NFTs could be called a natural course of action. This differs from most of his fellow artists who started learning about bitcoins at the same time as NFTs.

“In the beginning, I used to think that bitcoins worked like a pyramid scheme. But when I did more research on it, it dawned on me that it’s actually a strong currency which drew me to the whole scene. When I learned about Ethereum or ETH, I also wanted to join that community because it seemed like a really cool platform. During the pandemic, I spent a lot of my free time learning about NFTs. It took me months to figure things out because there were a lot of details involved. You have to plan everything carefully before you upload your artworks. Actually, I’m still a little confused by the whole process,” he says with a laugh.

“NFTs stand out because their authenticity or ownership can be 100% proven. With traditional paintings or drawings, as time passes, you can never really be sure which is a real deal.”

Crypto art Vs. hand drawn arts

As an art lover who’s involved in both cryptocurrency and NFTs, what does he think about the NFT art trend? What does it mean for the future of art as a whole?

“One can’t replace the other because you can’t really compare their value. But I believe that they will continue to grow alongside one another.”

His answer goes to show that, despite NFT art having become a hot trend, there are still people who prefer tangible art. NFT art just gives people more options, especially those who appreciate certain forms of art that cannot be drawn by hand.

NFTs Vs. environmental issues

Apart from the claim that crypto art is not real art, it’s also said to be partially responsible for destroying the planet earth. As someone who’s environmentally conscious, what does he think about its impact on the environment?

“I think we should separate art from environmental issues. For example, when someone makes ceramic art, a certain amount of clay, water, and fuel goes into that process and it may take thousands of years for those resources to be replenished. Does it necessarily mean that that particular ceramic art destroys the environment? Probably not. NFTs for me are just another platform for art. As for environmental conservation, I believe that the digital world will be advanced enough to the point where we can just rely on solar energy. I think it’ll be much more fun then.”

The value of art in the eyes of the government

Many artists we have spoken to previously agreed that if the government were more supportive of art, the local art scene would be thriving and people would learn to appreciate it more.

“We’re surrounded by art but many of us fail to see its value. It’s a long-enduring issue for this country because the government is constantly getting rid of the tools that would otherwise enable us to appreciate art. The government has gone down the wrong path, especially during the pandemic when everybody is struggling to survive. We tend to appreciate things that surround us a lot less. To be honest, we have to instil this appreciation for art in our youth, but sadly, our educational system has been designed to turn students into robots. There’s no room for creativity and since art has a lot to do with that, we don’t have it in us to learn how to appreciate it.”

Advice for those who want to get started with NFTs

“I decided to expand into NFTs partly because my fan club encouraged me to do so. I also did it out of my own curiosity and I wanted to be able to teach other people how to go about it. Now that I’m actually involved with NFTs, my advice is to go for it. Keep creating your art because, who knows, one day it might be of interest to someone out there. Another important thing is that you have to have your own cohesive style. If you want to create a collection, everything that you produce has to be cohesive and consistent. If you want to go more conceptual, think about how to make it appealing to collectors.”

War concludes that since he enjoys creating NFT art so much, new collections will be coming very soon in the near future. There will also be other forms of art available like ceramics and other tangible products. He also sets his sights on having his own art gallery.