Who are you and what are you best known for?
My name is Richard, aka Mr. Y, I am best known as an artist, some would say I am an OG. I have been doing NFTs and Crypto art for over 2 years now. I have been on SuperRare since the beginning. I am varied in my art, doing a lot of different things and trying out different styles. I am not the typical artist that is stuck to one particular style, I like to hop from one idea to another as they pop into my head. I think some people know me by this.
Are you a collector as well?
Yes, I am a collector, just not a huge collector. I like to support artists that I like if they are in my price range. It’s not like I can spend a lot of money on Crypto Art. I do like to go from project to project and consider myself a smaller collector.
What are you currently working on?
Currently, I just finished the first part of my Crypto Quartz project. They were 55 handmade 3D Quartz Crystals. I am also working on a confidential project that I can’t talk about yet. I can say it is very cool and unique and will say more when I am able to.
When did you first get involved with Crypto and NFTs?
I got involved with crypto very very early, I bought my first bitcoin back in 2013 when they were like $50 or $60 dollars, but most people would call me spaghetti hands because I sold them two years later when Bitcoin hit $1,000 or $800 dollars I think. I was like haha idiots I made like $10,000 dollars look what I did. The same thing with Ethereum, I am not a whale, but I was very early into Crypto. I used a lot of different platforms that came up like steem, I was writing articles there and stuff like that. Then in mid-2019, a friend of mine told me about this thing called SuperRare.
In my main job, I am a content creator at an online agency for more than 10 years now so I am used to being creative as a part of my daily business. I have always wanted to create art, but I am not a physical artist like a painter. I have created a lot of things with photoshop but there was no real market for that back then. My friend showed me SuperRare, and so I applied and was accepted, it was much easier back then.
What is your favorite NFT project to date?
That’s a very tough question, I totally love what the Bored Ape Yacht Club did. They created something that had humor, the designs are great, I feel they did a lot of things right. You can see that every time someone copies the concept. You see new 10k avatar projects popping up every day now it seems but none of them seem to be as successful as the Bored Apes, they hit the right spot for a lot of people and did a lot of things right. I think they have to be my favorite project at the moment.
I did the same thing I did with Bitcoin, I minted like 10 of them and then the price went up and I was like Yaaas and sold them too early. I am very bad at flipping NFTs. If you see me buying something either don’t do it or hold it. The things I hold become worthless and the things that grow I sell them too early.
Where do you see yourself in this space over the long term?
I hope people know me for the art that I am creating and for my various ideas. There are a lot of things I want to do but have to wait on some of those things because I don’t have the budget to pay developers, maybe one day I will bring those ideas out. I hope to be seen as someone who has been in this space since the beginning and to continue creating a lot of very different things versus being stuck to only one style. Someone said a few months ago that it’s always a surprise when I mint something, never knowing what it will be.
On my SuperRare profile, my bio says “My mom always said Mr Y Art is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” – Forrest Gump
I hope this is something people will support and say okay, we like that.
Over the next 12 months?
I am working on my website right now and what I want to do there is to be fully transparent with the Eth that I get for my work and to show that I am supporting new artists. For example, if I sell something for 1 Eth I would like to show that .25 Eth went to supporting other artists, and here are the works that I bought. I would also like to have a portion go into a sort of bucket list of things I want to do. Another major goal or target for me is to sell a piece of art for over 10 Eth. Those are some of the main targets for me right now because I am already doing what I love, I get to create.
What inspires you as a human?
I get creative when I am in the water, if I am swimming or standing in the shower, I can totally relax and get into my mind and focus on things.
I moved out of the city and into the countryside five years ago and I love to go outside next to my house, there are huge woods and mountains there. I love to go out in nature where it’s quiet with my kids. I feel inspired there, ideas come to me from being in places like this. We don’t have an Ocean in Austria as we are in the middle of Europe, but last week I was in Croatia living for 5 days at a beach house. I think every person has to see the ocean at least once in their lives because it’s crazy to stand there and just look out there.
Do you have any personal passion projects or other hobbies?
Yes, I am running a small German YouTube channel for 10 years now as a lifestyle vlog. I am also just now starting another YouTube channel that I want to talk more about my art and NFTs
If you could have one superpower what would it be?
Wow, that’s a cool question, I’ve never really thought about that. I think it would be a really cool superpower to be able to do anything that I need at that moment. For example, if I could sit at a piano and think, I want to play it and I could instantly play it. Or if I wanted to do a cliff dive, I could just go up on a cliff and instantly be able to do a super fancy cliff dive. Something like infinite knowledge or to be instantaneously talented at anything I like at the moment.
How to reach Mr. Y
Website coming soon: Mry.art
Twitter: @MrY_Art
DMS are open for questions and connections.
