SUMMARY

Tech Talk Media LLC, an award-winning US production company, announced its production of a new documentary series called NFTme. The series will cover the NFT Digital Art & Cryptocurrency industries, both of which are currently experiencing rapid growth.

 

About Tech Talk Media LLC 

Co-founded by serial entrepreneur and creator Jonny Caplan, the award-winning production company Tech Talk Media is renowned for creating high-production factual TV and film content for tier-one broadcasters. Their programming features technology, innovation, outstanding individuals, and major lifestyle shifts.

 

Photo credit: Tech Talk Media LLC

 

In addition to being a hit Amazon series, Tech Talk Media‘s flagship production, “TechTalk,” may now be viewed on Apple TV, Discovery, Roku, and Peacock (NBC) reaching 500m viewers monthly and broadcasts in 80+ countries. PwC & NASA also signed strategic alliances with the company in 2020, which has received 15 International Film Festival Awards. Moreover, since the series debuted in October 2019, more than $350 million in funds and strategic partnerships have been raised by 50+ under-the-radar tech start-ups on TechTalk.

There are several upcoming productions by Tech Talk Media, including Inside NASA’s Innovations – inside NASA’s US facilities and technology innovation – The Rise of A.I. – a peek into the artificial intelligence industry – The Cannabis Biz – discovering the Cannabis market, innovators, and brands – TechHeroes – a sustainability competition series – and Women in Charge – a docu-series on female entrepreneurship – among others. 

A selection of trailers is available through the Company’s website.

 

Jonny Caplan: The Visionary CEO & Co-founder

Jonny Caplan has a diverse range of talents and skills. In addition to being an architect and multidisciplinary artist, he is also a successful entrepreneur and NFT artist. He was often featured on television and the front page, and social media of major NFT platforms. He was also one of the featured artists in the NFTs.Tips 2021 Miami exhibition.

“Total sales in the online art and antique market worldwide roughly doubled in 2020 over the previous year, as the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic forced auction houses and dealers to find alternatives to in-person events. Overall, global online art and antique sales amounted to 12.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, rising from six billion U.S. dollars in 2019.” – Statistica

 

Being Executive Director, Producer/Director, CEO, and Co-Founder on most projects, Caplan notes that he is very enthusiastic about the NFT market. After noticing the wealth of activity, innovation, support, and creativity, Once he’d researched the space, Caplan remarked “This is exactly what the world needs right now: an army of creatives and innovators to make a positive impact and global effect. The spirit and unity inside the NFT community is something I haven’t seen before, the sense of community, the supportive nature, generous actions, and commitment are second to none. Frankly, the world is missing these very values, and I am hugely encouraged by what I have witnessed over the last few months.” 

By producing the NFT Documentary Series, Caplan, who was reluctant to share too much information about the Series at this early point in its production, intends to make an important contribution to society. He says, “We are currently in pre-production, with an incredible guest list and spectrum of content. The idea is to educate the masses on the wonderful innovation and community inside this fast-growing industry. I mean, if we can really make a change in the world, it’s to accelerate its exponential growth and transmit all these values across the globe.”

“2020 was undoubtedly a turning point for the online art market. Auction houses and art fairs boosted their digital presence, relying on formats such as Online Viewing Rooms (OVRs) – letting art collectors and enthusiasts experience 3D digital reproductions of artworks – as well as streaming auctions and events. During ONE, a global online auction organized by Christies, a Roy Lichtenstein’s painting was sold for more than 46 million U.S. dollars, making it the most expensive lot sold by Christies in 2020. 2021 also looks to be an important year for online art sales, with non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and crypto art hitting the news when a digital collage by American artist Beeple was sold in an online-only auction by Christies for 69.3 million U.S. dollars.” – Statistica

 

NFTme & its NFT Utility Tokens

The company has stated that they will launch NFT utility tokens alongside the production, connected to the production, and give individuals a chance to collaborate and participate. In short, NFTme Season One will feature 50 Utility NFTs which will be released in July 2021– accessing a share of the profits from the production along with their pro-rata DAO on the content direction. 

In addition to their track record of award-winning productions, Tech Talk Media specializes in business, innovation, technology & media, making it the perfect time to create a documentary series like this. “No doubt can be made on the shift, uptrend and global interest in NFTs, as of June 15, 2021, the aggregated sales value of NFTs over 30 days amounted to approximately 58.4 million” – Statistica 

 

LINKS

Tech Talk Media LLC: www.TechTalkMedia.tv

Jonny Caplan, CEO: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/jonny-caplan-897755a

NFTme Documentary Series:   www.NFTme.tv

Jonny Caplan Art:  www.linktr.ee/futuresurfer

Featured Image: Photo Source: Tech Talk Media LLC – CEO & Co-Founder Jonny Caplan

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Bobby Davidson is a Brooklyn-based artist and cinematographer. Bobby has established himself as an interdisciplinary artist using painting, sculpture, video, and virtual reality. Assembling works from both the physical and digital world, he has sequentially created a lineage of works that navigate beyond a singular dimension, capturing an extension of both the physical and nonphysical world we live in today. Bobby’s series Parasitic Capacitance is currently on view with Launch F18 Gallery in New York City, and he is the first artist to debut his NFT as part of their virtual “Viewing Room” series. 

Bobby Davidson
Bobby Davidson

Much of your recent work comments on technology, old and new, and employs digital manipulation to bend reality with references to art history. Do you feel a viewer must be aware of these processes and concepts to appreciate your work?   

My relationship with art and art history really grew out of a passion for learning about the masters, which lead me to examine my own personal motivations to become an artist, specifically beginning with photography. My interest in technology and the mechanics of how things are created allowed me to experiment and expand in my artistic practice arriving at a place where I feel most comfortable not being defined as an artist only working in any one given medium. 

 

I try to be as enigmatic as possible but for a purpose. My goal is to give a subtle wink to the audience but at the same time have the viewer think beyond their own conventions and sensibilities so they might find greater meaning in their own everyday lives.  

 

Bobby Davidson
Bobby Davidson

 

Who are your biggest influences? 

The Pictures Generation had a huge influence on me. This was the first time I thought outside traditional means of producing. I think this movement really challenges traditional art forms. Ideas like authorship and appropriation really resonated with me, challenging me to start thinking about what can and can’t be art. When image culture and media are your subject matter, all of a sudden, there are limitless possibilities. This was a huge growth period for me as an artist. 

 

Both your digital and physical works push boundaries relating to the limitations of traditional film and photography. What have you discovered about these mediums that you hadn’t considered and/or wish to explore further?  

Using a doorknob as an example…From a utilitarian standpoint, a doorknob serves a purpose; to be used to open and close a door. But the practicality of that doorknob can represent so many other purposes. The ability to recontextualize any object in order to have a dialogue is why I think art is so special. The doorknob can be many different things in this case.  

 

My practice is slowly moving towards simplicity and I’m finding a synthesis in the process of making work, especially with NFTs. I feel like I can explore augmented and virtual reality and find conversation with a community already engaged in these discussions and new ways of creating. 

 

Do you feel more creative freedom as a multidisciplinary artist? How do you define your style as an artist who explores a variety of mediums?  

In a strange way I’ve always wanted my work to come across as author-less, but at the same time still, maintain certain characteristics. I think that’s why my work often takes on a variety of forms. It’s my way of not taking the work so seriously and allows for a bit of mystery and humor. There is always a through-line with my work but with the purpose of not being so rigid or self-conscious.

 

I recently published an interactive augmented reality zine called Ultra HD Premium Features. The zine invigorates the viewing experience through the playful use of augmented reality. Much like photography, cinematography is constantly innovating and evolving and as a result, it’s become a highly scrutinized medium. From dynamic range of an image, resolution size, full-frame versus Super 35mm, anamorphic versus spherical, and signal to noise ratio – the tools are seemingly endless…We have lost sight of what these tools were actually designed to do which is to help us tell a story. These are the methods I used in the zine, teasing out different materials to create a dialogue about a time-based medium that’s also a physical object that you can interact with virtually using a smartphone.  

 

Your current series Parasitic Capacitance is a body of work that explores several mediums including a variety of digital pieces. Can you speak about the genesis of this series and the ideas behind these works? 

This work really grew out of my unending reliance on screens, whether that be on my smartphone or studio workstation. It would be easy for me to say that this daily consumption has had a negative impact on my everyday life. But instead, I feel these tools, which by using on a regular basis, become a performative experience of our everyday screen-based lives where we can begin to consider technology as not in conflict with nature but possibly an extension of the human realm and how we define the authentic connection in these times. I wanted to play with this duality of worlds by creating the architecture of connecting the physical with the non-physical or technological.  It was also a way for me to recontextualize some of my older work but also challenge myself to explore new realms such as virtual and augmented realities.

 

Bobby Davidson

 

What was the inspiration and story behind your current NFT titled New American Landscape? 

New American Landscape is actually based on a Frederic Edwin Church painting titled Twilight. I was drawn to his highly romanticized and oftentimes photorealistic depictions of nature. I found myself seeing deeply into these paintings, falling through the canvas, much like we fall through our screens and devices. I’m interested in how we can communicate, explore, and play with modern-day escapism. 

 

The New American Landscape NFT is a vignette that examines the aberrations of screens and dissection of what is real. It’s the ‘what are we looking at?’ at any given moment that I find to be both uncanny and exciting. Reshaping the conversation around humanity, media consumption, climate change, natural disasters, and how our views can be skewed by experiencing different forms of reality; the limitlessness of digital manipulation coupled with elements of the real world is what I find to be intriguing. 

 

To learn more about Bobby check out his website and follow him online:

 

Bobby Davidson

Website: untitledproof.com

Instagram: @davidson_bobby

Twitter: @BobbyDa71616116

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Anyone who can make a living doing what they love should consider themselves lucky. Yet for blockchain copywriter and Etherpoet Margaret Corvid, also known as MargaretLabour, her luck never stopped, all thanks to her day job. Since selling her Reply Guy NFT for 50Ξ ($110,000), a gift from Twitter for tweeting her NFT poem, it’s back to business as usual for Corvid, whose recent streak of crypto successes is barely luck; not by a longshot.

“I only owned the NFT for I think like an hour, and then I picked up my phone and there was an email from Rarible, and I looked at it, and then I started swearing and shouting at my husband,” Corvid recalls. “And then, obviously, I had questions, so I went to my favorite servers which are Etherpoems and Taylor.wtf’s Discord—they’re full of really wise people—they gave me good advice, so I took the bid,” she said. “And then I looked in my fucking Metamask and there was $110,000 in there.”

While acknowledging that none of this is financial advice, Corvid shared her philosophy about cryptocurrency, which has always been to not use it as a speculative tool primarily, but more so to invest sweat equity—i.e., labor, in exchange for cryptocurrency. 

“I don’t want to be spending this principle really at all,” Corvid said of her cryptocurrency coffer. “I want to be earning crypto through the sweat of my brow,” she emphasized. Corvid is currently taking poetry commissions in addition to her work as a copywriter for NFT artists. Painter and art collector Dario De Siena is among her current contractual and collaborative clients.

“I looked around the markets, like OpenSea, and I immediately saw a need for someone with my skills,” Corvid said. I saw a lot of really talented artists with amazing work, but they don’t necessarily carry the confidence in presenting their work in words and descriptions,” she realized. “This is something that I can do.” Corvid’s way with words helps artists articulate what they want readers to connect with about their art—whether it’s helping to establish their identity and brand story in their artist bios, or crafting the narrative for artist statements, grants, contest submissions, artist residencies, exhibitions, and more. 

Corvid also writes about the creative process and symbolism in an artist’s work, which she is uniquely skilled to articulate. Her role as a writer and poet in collaborations with other artists often serves to connect visual and literary elements. Being involved with a branded content agency in fiat, Corvid knows how to work through the editing process and give the client exactly what they want. Her experience contributing to publications like The Guardian affects her ability to deliver freelance copywriting services at the highest professional standards.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGR8Tm2bFbE

 

When you’re working for crypto, you have to be your own bank. That’s the whole point of decentralized finance, which can lead to financial freedom and generational wealth. DeFi isn’t easy to learn, and if it was, everybody would be doing it. It’s a privilege and a given that you’re down for doing your own DeFi when you’re banking on the blockchain. 

 

Remember doing decimals in math class? Did you ever take a home economics class and talk about Compound interest or dollar-cost averaging? That’s the essential math we need to grasp to be our own brokers. Yes, our computers can solve these equations, yet we need to know what to ask them in order to benefit from knowing the answer.

 

Corvid started counting crypto in 2012 when she first bought Bitcoin. Now that NFTs are here, there’s no question where her focus is, and of course, she’s at the forefront of the crypto art movement. One of her clients even pays her in NFT collectibles. “Those NFTs perform better than any currency I got, so yeah, I’ll take ‘em,” Corvid says. She’s doing the math.

 

 

Since becoming 50Ξ richer, Corvid rolled up her sleeves and returned to work as a writer—like her 15 minutes of Twitter fame never happened—except now she’s the proud new owner of a CryptoPunk; one of the very first NFTs minted on the Ethereum blockchain. Corvid’s CryptoPunk purchase for 17.7Ξ has effectively minted her belief in the crypto community she is writing and fighting for every day.

 

 

“Instead of looking in my wallet, and knowing I had $110,000Ξ yesterday, then seeing I have $101,000Ξ today, this CryptoPunk sort of hedges me a little bit and I actually feel a lot calmer about it now,” Corvid reflects. “I’m a lot more confident.” Her CryptoPunk makes her an ambassador for blockchain culture and a visible reminder of stored value. CryptoPunk owners command a level of respect in the crypto hierarchy of notoriety and influence that is immediately bestowed upon their owners. As a cultural status symbol, CryptoPunks enhance the value proposition in every crypto space they occupy. While presenting itself as a privileged asset of choice among a forward-thinking few. CryptoPunk ownership embodies Corvid’s enduring presence in the NFT community even while her immutable legacy is still being written.

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The use of NFTs as futuristic sales tags that automate complex processes is growing not just for physical items but also for more abstract entities such as royalty streams. While this shift may seem to be another logical use of NFTs, taking advantage of blockchains as open ledgers. It will also bring the issues accountants encounter in other fields to the shores of NFT Land. In the case of A Tribe Called Quest, what at first looked like a basic false claim appears to be a legitimate claim to long-forgotten royalty rights that simply caught the artist by surprise. Unfortunately, the resulting headlines will likely increase the growing mental connection between NFTs, and digital crime.

 

Though NFTs have many possible use cases, art and media ownership has received the most attention to date. However, using an NFT for a transaction that not only reassigns royalty rights but provides data for automated distribution of a percentage of those rights at a later date is one of the more widespread use cases currently under development. In the example of music royalties, companies such as Royalty Exchange have been exploring the concept of auctioning music rights for many years, before the popularization of NFTs. Thus, they are well-positioned to develop related NFT use.

 

At the end of June, news spread that Royalty Exchange’s new NFT program was being used to sell a percentage of the rights to early albums from legendary hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest. Within less than a week, the rights sold, A Tribe Called Quest denied the validity of the sale and then, after sorting out the situation, explained the backstory. Definitely worth a read in that it gives one a bit more insight into some of the peculiar arrangements that occur in the music industry, causing problems years later. In this case, the rights ownership appears legit, and the NFT listing is still live on Royalty Exchange’s site. 

 

Another situation giving outsiders a look at the twisted world of music industry deals and disputes as intensified (or illuminated) by NFTs involves the 25th anniversary of Jay-Z’s iconic hip hop album “Reasonable Doubt.” A confusing lawsuit regarding Dame Dash’s activities around a different “Reasonable Doubt” NFT continues to twist and turn with an official Jay-Z directed NFT now in the mix. Note that a related lawsuit involving the original album cover photographer does not involve NFTs and one begins to realize that NFTs may not be the problem here.

 

Ntfs indeed offer quicker resolutions to processes which can also benefit scammers desiring a quick exit. But a certain amount of what NFTfi news hits the press in the coming months and years will be the direct result of NFT and blockchain tech bringing industry-specific issues into the light. Unfortunately, the juxtaposition of “NFT” and “lawsuit” in headlines may cause general readers to assume that the NFTs were part of the problem. When, in fact, they actually may reveal and address issues with already existing standard industry procedures. As difficult as it will be for some to understand, NFTs may not just reveal such problems but sometimes offer solutions as well.

Featured Image Courtesy Vevo

 

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I had the privilege to sit down with Mr. Y and discuss his latest NFT project called Crypto Quartz. 111 handcrafted, beautifully rendered 3D quartz crystals with varying degrees of rarities and special traits.  I asked Richard (aka Mr. Y), what the inspiration for this project was, and his answer painted a picture of the human behind this creation, which made me want to know more.  Living in a small town of around only 3,000 people in Austria, Mr. Y discovered a small quartz crystal shop in town and was fascinated by these chaotic creations of nature. He described to me “I loved the colours and the look, and how nature creates something with chaos; because they are basically pure chaos” 

I found that answer and his enthusiasm about the aesthetics of these natural crystals to be thought-provoking.  The natural processes that go into the formation of these types of gems are indeed pure chaos. Often violent and destructive forces combine with just the right levels of pressure, heat, and magical Earth alchemy.  And in the end, these elements form these incredibly beautiful quartz crystals.

 

https://twitter.com/QuartzCrypto/status/1412714418492805120

 

For those who may not have experienced Mr. Y’s work, it is quite eclectic and out of this world. I really enjoy the randomness of his different works and his style demonstrates a really vast mastery of various forms of art.  You can see some of his incredible works here on Super rare.

 

NYC Love by Mr Y
NYC Love by Mr Y

 

The Crypto Quartz project was conceived rather quickly after he felt inspired by the local shop in his town, and so he created a prototype that was sold with added utility for the holder of this NFT that would grant them a super special ‘Crypto Quartz’ NFT once the project was ready. 

One of the other really cool aspects of this NFT series is that not only are each of the 111 crystals meticulously handcrafted over months but also the final files were rendered by The distributed GPU rendering network on the blockchain called RenderToken.

When is the Drop?

Starting on the 9th of July 2021 the 24-hour auction for the first 10 Crypto Quartz NFTs will begin, and the remaining 45 will go on sale for .2 ETH on July 10th at 10 am EST/2 pm UTC/10 pm ET. This drop will be split into different stages, with the first 55 NFTs dropping on July 9-10 2021.

 

Here is the official link to the Drop below:


Link to the CrytoQuartz Drop on Rarible


Here is the full roadmap for this project with the different phases

 

https://twitter.com/QuartzCrypto/status/1413162593527771145

https://twitter.com/QuartzCrypto/status/1413162594857365506?s=20


You can also check Mr. Y. out and the CryptoQuartz project below 

Mr. Y on Twitter

CryptoQuartz on Twitter

CryptoQuartz Discord

Superrare

Mr Y. Super Rare

 

Mr Y on Super Rare
Mr Y on Super Rare

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“Be The House.” That’s the motto and key strategy for Decentral Games founder and project lead, Miles Anthony, aka “Baus.” With a capital raise of $5 Million USD, Baus and his team are ready to expand their impressive metaverse casinos.

 

Decentral Games (DG) is the first metaverse casino business on the Ethereum blockchain. They operate virtually in Decentraland (not affiliated), an open-world metaverse platform with a rapidly growing community. What sets DG apart is their decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), which allows the company’s future to be voted on by holders of their $DG token.  

 

These tokens give users a say in company policies as well as an attractive return on investment when staked. These tokens can be bought and exchanged like most cryptocurrencies, but many choose to ‘mine’ the token through DG’s unique play-to-earn model. By betting cryptocurrencies on blackjack, roulette, and in the near future, poker: users earn $DG tokens. The more users play, the more $DG they earn. This model has led to a very active and loyal community, making these casinos high-roller hotspots. 

 

This unconventional structure proved attractive to investors like Metaverse Ventures (Digital Currency Group) and the AU21 Capital, companies well-versed in blockchain opportunities. 

 

“Decentral Games offers players both the novelty of avatars gambling in a virtual world and the great user experience that gamers demand. We’re excited to back Scott, Miles and the team as they continue to bring the massive opportunity in blockchain-enabled gaming to life.”

     – Casey Taylor, VP of Development at Digital Currency Group. (Source)

 

With a successful capital raise from strategic partners, DG is ready to continue its trailblaze through the metaverse.

 

I spoke with Miles Anthony about how DG has evolved since its founding and the exciting plans his team has in store:

 

Baus
Miles as his avatar, ‘Baus’, in Tominoya Casino

 

Has your vision stayed the same for DG or has it changed now that you’ve been in the space for a year?

It’s similar but our vision kind of shifted when we introduced our token [$DG]. I didn’t write the white paper until, I think it was around August, September of 2020. So when we raised the original equity round, run by Digital Currency Group, we were thinking it more along the lines of just having a traditional casino structure where it’s basically just run by the shareholders and the company would make money from the proceeds of the casino. I think I’ve touched upon this in other pieces, but basically, I kind of felt with the whole narrative growing around DeFi and these community governed treasuries that projects are based around, we would be in the position to grow a bit faster because we include our players and our community on the upside of the growth of the project. I think it was good to kind of couple that with this whole narrative around play-to-earn and DeFi where you give tokens away to the people who are using the product. It creates this interesting fly-wheel where every one of your users kind of turns into an evangelist because they obviously have a vested interest in the project growing.

 

I feel like that is the most unique aspect, being able to empower the players.

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I think there are a few other projects that are trying to do something but not entirely along the same lines as us with our DAO-governed casino and then distributing the tokens, dropping them out to people that are playing the games with real money. So yeah, I’m really glad that we introduced that because I don’t think we would be where we are today without that aspect. […] The people that were early on mining DG back when it was $15 or $20 a token, I know a few of them. The ones that held and mined a bunch early, they’re sitting on pretty big bags of $DG so their expected value is actually pretty positive.

DG Roundtable
DG Roundtable

 

I can’t imagine that happening in a real-life casino. To be able to profit on the side that’s not directly related to gambling.

Exactly. I mean, we do kind of take some things from the playbooks of traditional casinos in the sense that they’re focused on entertainment and usually, they have a hotel, they run shows like Cirque du Soleil and concerts.

 

We have all these types of artists that want to do shows, even stand-up comedians. Stuff that gets people excited about being in the metaverse that will add entertainment for a bunch of these virtual events, because we feel like the virtual events are really what the whole metaverse is about. The games are really, from a user experience standpoint, almost secondary — like they are something to do while socializing.

 

With this recent capital raise of five million, do you feel like a lot of that is going towards those entertainment efforts? I don’t think too much. We’re going to put up the site and have a featured section where we can show our artists’ information and the ability to buy their NFTs. But I would say the majority of development funds are really around games. I feel like we’ve expanded the team considerably over the last 2 months. I would say we’ve made eight to ten hires mainly in just the technical areas.

Atari Casino
Atari Casino

 

What do you feel was so attractive for investors to put forth large sums of capital towards DG?

It was really tough raising our round last year. I spent months talking to people and we’re raising like 300K. It was like pulling teeth to get people to invest in equity of a gambling company that’s a gaming start-up, so that versus this last raise we did is like night and day. But I would say, just from a product standpoint, I think a lot of investors just realize that the metaverse is going to be big. Obviously, we’re very early. We still have performance issues with ‘X’ amount of users and Decentraland is working on these issues. 

 

We’re basically one of the only projects that are built in the metaverse that generates real volume and real cash flow other than NFT projects. Axie is another great example of a project that’s blowing up right now in this metaverse space, but the main volume is around the kind of trading NFTs and a marketplace. 

 

The fact that people keep coming back and it is generating dollars that are profitable from the games, I think was really attractive to [investors]. They say, “a rising tide raises all the ships.” So I think us being early, it’s definitely helped us in a lot of ways, like for example, getting LAND cheap that’s obviously gone up a lot in value. But I think they’re making a big bet on the metaverse.

 

Do you feel that having DG be a DAO-governed entity is a benefit or does it raise a potential risk for incorrect decisions? 

That’s a good question. I mean, it’s interesting, over the last several months there have been people that bundle up a lot of tokens and become pretty influential in the community. I feel like that aspect has a lot of value and ultimately, you know, even though I’m the founder and project leader of the project, what really motivates me to go to build this is this idea that what I’m building is not for me, it’s for the community of people that are holding $DG. At the end of the day, if $DG holders want something that’s not necessarily aligned, it’s really about what they want because the product is used by and is owned by the community ultimately, and I think that’s exciting from a lot of different standpoints. 

——-

 

As Decentral Games continues to expand its vision for the metaverse, it is clear the strategic use of play-to-earn and decentralized governance can lead to amazing experiences. 

 

You can visit Decentral Games’ casinos in Decentraland:

Tominoya: Japanese-themed casino

Chateau Satoshi: Art deco inspired casino, theater and nightclub

Atari Casino: The official casino of Atari Games

Decentral Games Twitter

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Ishita Banerjee is a Canadian artist and creator. Ishita moved to Canada from India in 2010 to pursue a full-time art career under the name Soul Curry Art. With a specialization in visual narrative art. She trained as a classical fine artist. Her art is an assimilation of her life experiences, largely influenced by her relationship to impatience and impulsivity. Ishita merges imagination and memory to create vivid and bold abstracts, people, faces and non-traditional portraiture, rendered in strong colour, motifs and details. Her work is deeply inspired by the Cubist style of art, unconstrained, and breaking free of traditional rules of perspectives.

Inshita Banerjee
Inshita Banerjee

 

You’ve made a career in the field of broadcast design and book publishing and as a lecturer at the Delhi College of Art. How did you arrive in the visual arts? 

I started my art journey by going down the traditional art school route. Pursuing a Bachelor’s in a Fine Arts degree and then a Masters in Fine Arts […] helped me delve deep into the various techniques, methods and materials of art. Art College helped sharpen my artistic instincts and also helped me understand and accept critique. Working as a lecturer in art and design opened my mind into teaching art, mentoring students and helping them to appreciate and approach design projects with an artistic vision. My many years in the broadcast design space introduced me to design software, motion design, animation and post-production techniques. I was able to visualize art concepts, branding and network designs for some of the world’s largest broadcasters. Through these experiences, I felt my art horizon-broadening and I was able to embrace multimedia experiences in my own art practice in the contemporary art space.

 

How did your journey with cubism begin and what attracted you to this style of art?

My final year MFA dissertation was on the sociology-cultural impacts of the Cubist art movement and that propelled me into learning deeply about the art philosophy of Cubist Art. Drawing upon Paul Cezanne’s emphasis on the underlying architecture of form, Cubists used multiple vantage points to fracture images into geometric forms. Figures were depicted as dynamic arrangements of volumes and planes where background and foreground merged. This was an aspect that fascinated me. Positive and negative spaces were unified and the same objects were broken and represented in multiple vantage points. I loved playing with the human face, breaking it apart, exploring how our narratives as humans and emotions flowed and fit into one another’s. I found myself experiencing and experimenting with this style over and over again until it became my signature style.

 

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Human interactions, emotions, moods, and feelings inspire my work. I love abstracting these feelings and associations. Depicting people and nature in their tempestuous forms plays a big role in my work. Actively seeking out gnarled, broken, rocky, cyclic, layered, and grungy aspects of nature, I try to find the beauty in the bizarre, the unexplained.

 

Through my art, I strive to give tangible forms to complex emotions like grief, longing, loss, love, suffering. The interplay of human relationships, whether with one’s own self or with others is a recurrent theme in the pieces I make. Threading lines, textures and markings in my work tell the story of the passage of time, the inter-connections of forms, both tangible and abstract.

 

As a woman how do you feel about your place in art history being part of an art movement traditionally occupied by men? 

Cubist artwork is often associated with a very “aggressive” style and has long been a space dominated mostly by men. In my early days, working under my brand name of Soul Curry Art, many people often mistook my work to be that of a man’s.  However, the universal feelings of love, longing, and loss that I explore in my artworks are free from the constraints of gender. All-encompassing abstract moods, feelings, and associations, find their way into my artworks and I soften the hard planar angles of this art form. I continue to be fearless in my use of vivid colours, bold faces, and compositional choices. I think my art perhaps is an act of striding confidently and making my presence felt in a male-dominated field. 

 

As you moved into a digital space with your work did your process change? 

I continue to straddle both traditional mediums and digital mediums in my artworks. Most often, my pieces begin on board, canvas, or paper. I work in acrylics, archival ink, gouache, and markers. I love textures, play on light, and the balance of positive and negative spaces. I use collage techniques and layer photography in some of my work as well. Some of my artworks are natively created on Procreate and I love the ease of having my studio at my fingertips with drawing and painting digitally. I’ve been able to push myself creatively after experimenting with uniquely digital artworks. Adding motion, light and music also have been a learning experience and the resulting art pieces have been a sheer joy to create.

 

Inshita Banerjee
Image by Inshita Banerjee

 

What has your experience been so far specifically with your NFT’s featured on several platforms? Do you feel inspired to continue creating in this space?

Recently making my foray into the NFT space, I have been successful at selling my NFT’s on Foundation and OpenSea. My genesis piece “Shiva” was sold within a few days along with a number of other pieces already in the secondary market.

 

Being in the NFT space absolutely inspires me. It fuels a fire not just to create, but to experiment, learn, grow and evolve. Actively seeking out what I can do in this space rather than what this space can do for me, it has been a very rewarding few months, creating, connecting, and building a community. Collaborative projects and bigger ideas are what I’m working on next. Working with other artists, musicians, and developers to realize larger projects. I also want to showcase new and emerging artists from underrepresented communities, work towards curating NFT exhibitions and continue to push boundaries in my own work. I hope to never stop learning and playing through my art.

Inshita Banerjee

 

Ishita Banerjee

Website: soulcurryart.com

Instagram: @soulcurryart

Twitter: @soulcurryart

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The 140 Collection from Twitter

The news that Twitter was dropping NFTs on Rarible seems like it could have received more attention but it was an NFT drop and those happen every day now. On the other hand, Twitter is not only a leading social media site but also quite likely the foremost social media site for NFTs. So perhaps the news was simply underwhelming given the outsized possibilities, a bunch of fun NFTs versus Twitter going full-scale into NFTs as they probably should have. 

 

Twitter’s drop was well organized, led to some excellent NFT art, a quickly heating secondary market, and a positive reception overall. Unfortunately, Twitter did not take the opportunity to visibly include the artists in the drop and so missed out on deepening community connections. Such connections will be increasingly powerful as we see the further intersection of NFTs and the creator movement.

 

A Solid Launch

Twitter’s The 140 Collection, named after the early 140 character limit on tweets, was released June 30th by a team led by Bianca Posterli, Twitter’s “over-caffeinated Head of Social Marketing & Campaigns.”

 

The reveal was stretched out over the day with drops on Rarible and additional background info and discussion on Twitter. The extra-brief intro created some confusion but it also opened up a bit of a treasure hunt between tweets on Twitter and posts on Rarible as folks sorted things out.

 

The historical moments were chosen to document and record as NFTs were solid picks and the ‘campaign simply focused on the art’ model is a good fit for such a rich collection of individual artworks. 

 

A number of major media outlets including TechCrunch and Bloomberg chose to play along with the bare bones announcement.

Numerous personal touches reminded us there are humans in NFT Land from Twitter leaders like Phonz.eth supporting the project to NFT Land personalities like artchick.eth getting a guest appearance on the official Twitter account’s banner:

Twitter use of Artchick.eth

 

But Where Were the Artists?

Despite the strong presence of art, the artists themselves were mostly invisible though mentioned as members of the Twitter team that realized this project. One of the more interesting dynamics in crypto art is the movement by artists between commercial, corporate settings and independent, direct-to-collector approaches. Moving between such worlds sharpens one’s perception and sometimes offers opportunities for raising basic questions that otherwise get lost in the art business as usual:

 

 

 

 

Ideally, such questions can lead to rich open-ended improvements and possibilities.

 

As Florez notes, it really would be amazing for crypto artists if Twitter decided to “launch and immerse themselves in our culture by making exclusive #cryptoartist drops honoring our decentralized methods and highlighting the amazing talents!”

 

Such a process could have begun with this very first drop and info about each artist and their art. Many of us would find the creation process and workflow of interest as well.

 

The 140 Collection team had numerous options but also constraints of which we are not aware. That said, making the creators the center of campaigns would allow any company to get closer to the heart of the energy driving the art. Given the current noise in the NFT space will only increase moving forward, building deeper connections will be an important key to remaining relevant to the life of one’s community.

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With the super hot NFT collectible drop hype cycle going on right now, many in the community are apeing into NFT project after project.  From fucking pickles, bananas, rats, misfits, camels, strawberries, ducks, and now some undead monsters to boot, there is an emerging trend in collectible drops.

We have a large number of NFT drop examples to pick from and many in the community are letting it be known what they don’t want to see more of.

Take this tweet from one of the most vocal on-chain evangelists J1mmy.eth,  founder of NFT42, Nameless, and Avastars

Obviously, there are pros and cons to any line of logic, and J1mmy himself notes that there are some useful reasons to use a delayed reveal mechanic in certain situations, but not in the way we are seeing it used for the sake of pumping the floor price before a reveal.  This is a trend that I agree, we as a community should push back on.

To be contrarian for a moment to J1mmy.eth’s point, instantly revealing when a collectible NFT is minted, whales often have a serious advantage over us mere mortals who would like to participate in certain drops. We must find a solution that keeps things pointed towards a more egalitarian outcome,  in my personal opinion. 

Then there is this rather concise summary of what many in the community are not liking about these recent collectible NFT drops:

I would agree with all of these points.

While I do understand that projects are all working to extract attention from a rather modest NFT-aware userbase, as we slowly creep towards mass adoption. The FOMO mechanics of many of these projects are merely trying to replicate what they have seen work in the past.

If every NFT project team is replicating what they think will sell out the fastest, raise the most funds, or create the most hype and attention then we will keep getting more of the same repeat mechanics in future NFT drops. 

I will not lie and say I don’t fall victim to the collectible hype, but I think we as a community should become more thoughtful in what we vote on supporting with our participation and spending.  In full transparency, I own at least one of each of the NFTs I mentioned earlier( besides a banana).  This is all mostly due to my efforts to diversify which projects I currently own, but low key because I am still butthurt that I didn’t get a few Bored Apes when I had multiple chances to.

For me, bonding curves will keep me out of a project. Anonymous developers just feels like trouble, and no real utility being added to a project just spells a HARD no for me. Now, fun and novelty can be an underestimated utility especially if there is strong community involvement.

 

NFT Collectible Drop by Cake’d Bored Apes
“I Think We Did Too Much” Caked DMT Monster by Cake’d Bored Apes

 

This commentary is mostly referencing these newer NFT collectible drops and not just crypto art that I like or supporting artists that I connect with.  I don’t necessarily buy all NFTs because I think they may be worth more in the future, I will buy something that I really love, if I can afford it at the moment, or if it’s from an artist that is someone I really want to intentionally support because of who they are as people and/or if their work is just really dope.

This would bring me to my next major gripe, especially around Avatar NFT projects. I want to pick what my avatar looks like, and not just randomly receive something I may not like at all. I see the outcome of this quite often when people start dumping avatars they don’t like on Opensea for lower prices than they paid for them. 


Now I understand there are issues with letting everyone just choose what they want, but I am putting it out into the universe. If someone can come up with a novel method that protects the masses from gas wars and whales from just taking over while allowing us to build out avatars that we can love, then I think we would mostly agree: that would be cool!

Perhaps without revealing the rarity of those physical aspects that are ‘choosable’ then we would have a win-win, or if rarity was not tied to only visual attributes but instead non-visual attributes to allow for customization. I know technically this could just be wishful thinking, at least for right now, but if we can send chunks of silicone and metal to Mars I think we can at some point figure out how to let me buy an avatar NFT that I fucking love before it hits the secondary market or I get priced out of what I want.

 

NFT Collectible Drop #6812 by Boring Bananas co.
#6812 by Boring Bananas co.

 

Many projects are thinking in the short to medium term and not thinking about their futures, where new technical possibilities can and will exist. This is where the on-chain gang argument really does shine with merit. Being able to reference things on-chain in the future will be a really powerful asset and boost the longevity of the projects that keep that future-focused mentality. 

I spoke with Michael Keen, founder of NFTcatcher.io, that is building a really fantastic platform that aggregates the most significant upcoming NFT drops in a comprehensive and useful way. I asked him about what he does not like to see in NFT drops because, honesty, he probably participates in and is aware of more drops than any single person that I know. 

Michael echoed many of the similar points listed above with some additional nuance:

He told me “I don’t like to see metadata leaks before a reveal, any issues with the smart contract implementation really scares buyers” and he “doesn’t like to see the developers hiding and not answering questions”

I would like to second the metadata leak issue as there were early rumors that were later confirmed during the Misfit University drop, which can be exploited by the technically gifted over the average user to mint the token ids with the rarest traits.

Crying eyes and duct tape drama debacles aside, a responsive team can work through issues with the community as they arise. I personally watched as NFT Twitter wanted to burn the devs of the Misfit University project at the stake, with the alleged rape culture references, but they were responsive and listened to the community and arrived at a solution that in many ways has saved that project, at least to live or die another day.

If we want to see better NFT Collectible Drops with less of what we don’t want and more of what we do want then we as a community should be having these conversations with the developers and creators of these projects. Above all, we should be putting our crypto where our mouths are and voting with our fungible token spending.

 

NFT Collectible Drop
Image by Strawberry.WTF

 

Main Featured Image Credit: Remix of Slacker Duck & Arabian Camel by Albert Polanco

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The latest addition to Kofi Obuobi’s “3D African Masks” series, a project aiming to reclaim African history via NFTs, dropped on June 30th. The series represents masks that have been stolen from Africa at least since colonial times. Many of these masks today lie in private collections, accessible only to those who pay millions to own them. Obuobi is fighting against this privatization of his heritage by recreating these masks as NFTs, making them and their stories accessible again. Fifty percent of the proceeds collected from the NFT’s sales go toward funding Bezalel Oholiab, an incubator for artists, who can live for free and follow their dreams.

 

Bobo Mask NFT by Kofi Obuobi
Bobo Mask NFT by Kofi Obuobi

 

The Initiator: Kofi Obuobi 

Kofi Obuobi is an artist and activist with a background in product design, a field he sees as a blend of arts and engineering. Obuobi is from Ghana, a country with a stable government that, nonetheless, imposes many limits on opportunities. He has worked on many projects including the BBC Africa Awards held in Kenya on the 26th of May, 2007, and has also taught arts at the Queensland International School in Ghana (2011 – 2017).

 

The Project

Obuobi’s inclination to act came after learning from his mentor, Dr.Malcolm Donald McLeod, about the grand scale of the masks that were taken from Africa. Many remain locked away for only private eyes to behold, thereby distancing descendants of the artists who made them from their roots. Obuobi does not believe this is the proper way to do things.

 

Obuobi stumbled upon NFTs relatively recently, after a chance commission for a sneaker design came his way from Casmir Patterson, at SneakrCred Inc. After immersing himself in the required technology, he realized NFTs could provide the perfect package through which to democratize information while limiting ownership. Obuobi connected this with his ambition to re-appropriate the masks stolen from Africa throughout history. 

 

The match was lit and he began to create stunning representations of many masks, attaching their respective stories to them. A total of 29 masks to date have been made into NFTs, and can be found on Obuobi’s Opensea profile (under the account name, JAYREHMIGADE) .

 

The Drop

Two new mask NFTS were minted on June 30th as additions to the ongoing “3D African Masks” series. They are representations of masks worn by the Bobo tribe of Burkina Faso, and by the Kru–Grebo tribes of Liberia, countries where these tribes have hundreds of years of history.

Photo Credit: Kru-Grebo Mask by Kofi Obuobi
Photo Credit: Kru-Grebo Mask by Kofi Obuobi

 

Bobo Tribe Mask  –  Link to NFT on Opensea

Kru-Grebo Mask   – Link to NFT on Opensea

 

This NFT drop aims to shed light on the stories of these tribes, showcasing the masks that were an essential part of ancient African cultures. The project is successfully re-appropriating the stolen masks that were critical to daily life in these tribes. The impact these masks had is communicated in the story contained within each NFT and is made visible to all, while still allowing ownership by an individual.

 

According to Obuobi, “The BoBo mask was used to ward off bad fortune amongst the people. On days when unused, they were hung in front of homes […] that owned that mask.” The Bobo placed great emphasis on the masks they wore, believing they were essential in maintaining the balance of the universe. 

 

Regarding the Kru-Grebo mask, Obuobi says “The Kru-Grebo Mask on the other hand [was] made by […] privileged craftsmen. The masks were made for Seers of the community. These Seers mediated between the people and God.” In this case, the religious importance is clear, as these masks served as conduits for worship. 

 

Whereas the physical versions of these masks are held in private collections, owned by one person and viewable only to whomever that individual chooses, Obuobi aims to make the masks visible for all to learn from and appreciate while still allowing a lucky collector the chance to own them.

 

Photo Credit: Bwa Mask by Kofi Obuobi
Photo Credit: Bwa Mask by Kofi Obuobi

 

The Impact

Beyond taking back what culturally belongs to him and his community, and by making the information and heritage available for all to experience, Obuobi wants to further maximize his impact. He has two partners, Daniel Ampofo Twum and Joseph Afari,  who are equally convinced of the importance of helping people. Obuobi has experience in education and product and graphic design, while his partners have backgrounds in music production. 

 

The partners have been building Bezalel Oholiab together, having paid start-up fees from their own pockets. Obuobi donates 50% of the proceeds from his NFT sales to the organization for ongoing financing. He envisions Bezalel Oholiab as “a result-oriented talent nurturing and innovative institute,” that will become a “kind of African X-Men with great talent to serve their brothers and sisters on the continent.”

 

Bezalel Oholiab already serves as an incubator for three artists, providing them with free shelter and allowing them to pursue their dreams while providing the tools they need to enhance their craft.

 

Photo Credit: Kofi Obuobi
Photo Credit: Kofi Obuobi

From left to right: Daniel Ampofo Twum, Nii Tetteh Badger, Kofi Obuobi, Kissi Joee, Tino Black

Beyond shelter, Bezalel Oholiab intends to implement a podcast entitled “THINK BIG AFRICA TV” that will “get, grow and retain creatives,” while also supplying content to be monetized on Youtube, Facebook, and other social media platforms. The proceeds collected will also go toward expanding Bezalel Oholiab.

 

Further services provided by the company include Music Business Training, 3D Visualization, Branding, and Design, all of which are taught to the incubatees for free. The financing comes from Obuobi and his partners’ pockets, the monetization of Bezalel Oholiab content, and from the “3D African Masks” NFT sales. 

 

The program is free for the incubatees who live there while learning from experts in art and music. There is hope that they’ll become passionate about the “3D African Masks” project and be inspired to help. Otherwise, they would make incredible art to share with the world that would in turn lend to the promotion of “THINK BIG AFRICA TV” and Bezalel Oholiab.  All art created by incubatees will be owned completely by them.

 

Photo Credit: True Love Mask by Kofi Obuobi
Photo Credit: True Love Mask by Kofi Obuobi

 

Featured Image Credit:  Kifwebe Mask by Kofi Obuobi

Reach out to Kofi Obuobi or check out his art below!

 

Kofi’s Links

Kofi’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kofiobuobi/

Kofi’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/OBJClothing

Kofi’s Opensea: https://opensea.io/accounts/JAYREHMIGADE

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The First Social Impact NFT Exhibition In AR

SUMMARY

SuperWorld, an Augmented Reality (AR) virtual world, is participating and partnering with Flint Water Festival, for their annual event this month. The festival’s purpose is to raise funds and awareness to provide clean water to communities who have been affected by the Flint water crisis – domestically in Flint and abroad – through an exhibition of fitness, art, technology, and education. To support these efforts, SuperWorld is curating the first-ever ‘AR Art Walk’ and social impact NFT exhibition called “Digital See.”

 

SuperWorld: A brief introduction

SuperWorld is a virtual world built-in Augmented Reality (AR). 

The SuperWorld platform allows people to create virtual real estate by creating 64.8 billion non-fungible tokens (NFTs) corresponding to real-world space, including historical landmarks like the Great Wall of China, natural wonders like the Great Lakes, and other iconic or personally meaningful places. 

Each plot of unsold property in SuperWorld starts at 0.1 ETH and can be purchased and sold by anyone; from content viewers and collectors to developers and marketers.

“At SuperWorld, our vision is to help build a better world, and a move toward greater environmental stewardship is a critical part of our business model,” says Hrish Lotlikar, Co-Founder and CEO of SuperWorld. “I am excited to announce our partnership with the Flint Water Festival, and hope that the “Digital See” exhibit will help promote art and AR content that not only entertains, but educates, and serves as a catalyst to combat issues like the water crisis, hunger, poverty, inequality and climate change here in Flint and around the world.”

SuperWorld has had other partnerships dedicated to giving back to the community and the planet. The virtual real estate site and Augmented Reality (AR) platform announced a partnership at the end of April, this year with One Tree Planted to plant 5,000 trees in one month and restore 5,000 acres of landscape. From April 30th-May 31st, SuperWorld committed to planting one tree per plot of virtual land purchased to help advance sustainability efforts around the globe.

One Tree Planted Canopy Director Diana Chaplin says: “While SuperWorld creates an exciting digital experience we are happy to be a reforestation partner to make a tangible positive impact by planting trees in the real world! These trees will contribute to cleaner air, water, and biodiversity, supporting a healthier future for nature.”

SuperWorld co-founder and CEO Hrish Lotlikar adds: “Team SuperWorld is dedicated to giving back to the environment and helping to stem the climate crisis, and this partnership gives us and our users the perfect opportunity to affect real change in the world,” 

 

The Exhibition

In an exhibit titled “Digital See,” renowned international and local artists from around the world are displayed alongside one another. Among the great talents to behold is  Krista Kim, the renowned contemporary artist, founder of the Techism movement, creator of Mars House, and one of Architectural Digest’s 100 “game-changers.” 

“SuperWorld is a breakthrough NFT platform that allows artists to make a positive impact that changes the world through Augmented Reality,” explains Krista Kim, the Global Ambassador for SuperWorld spearheading the exhibition. “The next generation of NFTs is about creating experiences, and SuperWorld is the AR internet that allows creativity to flourish in our real world.”

In addition, artists such as Marjan Moghaddam, former Adobe Artist-in-Residence, and Flint artist Isiah Lattimoore and other local and international artists have offered exclusive works for the show. A QR code and the SuperWorld app will be required to take advantage of SuperWorld’s first NFT AR drop. Ten works that have never before been shown will be displayed during the drop.

 

An Overview of the Flint Water Crisis

The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department temporarily switched Flint, Michigan’s water source from the Detroit River on April 25, 2014. To connect to the Karegnondi Water Authority, the department had to switch pipelines. The adverse impact of this measure would prove to be devastating to the Flint community. 

In Flint, the crisis of contaminated water began 7 years ago on April 25. News of Flint’s water supply continues to be headline-grabbing and captivate people around the U.S and abroad. Although this year’s anniversary marks the end of the replacement of lead service lines in the community, its long-term effects will remain even after the works have been completed. These problems serve to underscore the importance of better water supply management in the future.

As a first step, the United States Environmental Protection Agency required Flint to replace 18,000 lead- and galvanized-lined water services (i.e. underground). According to the city of Flint, in total, 26,000 residences have had their water pipes checked and 9,500 have had their pipes replaced with lead or galvanized steel. Approximately 500 service lines remain in Flint to be checked. 

The replacement project was originally planned to finish by 2019. The project fell behind schedule, however, when the present administration took office.

 

Flint Water Festival

Funds raised by the Flint Water Festival will be used for the replacement of pipes in the remaining 18,000 homes that need it. Typically, pipe replacement costs are approximately $5,000 for each home. The organization offers a plumbing replacement program for low-income homeowners that anyone can sponsor. 

The festival began at Flint’s historic Berston Field House on July 2nd, featuring activities and live music. On July 3rd, festival-goers could already view and purchase AR pieces as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) at specific locations in Flint that display art through the SuperWorld app on their mobile phone. The NFT art can be purchased at SuperWorldapp.com, with portions of each sale donated to Flint Water Festival in support of their mission to replace pipes inside local homes needing clean water.

“We are thankful to Krista Kim and Hrish Lotlikar at SuperWorld for using technology to make a positive social impact, and for helping us close the digital literacy gap in Flint,” says Kay Smith, founder of the Flint Water Festival. “Local and international artists have used their talent to support this important cause and to bring a unique experience to the festival through AR.”

“Digital See” is a free event beginning July 3rd that runs through July 31st, 2021. 

 

LINKS

SuperWorld: https://www.superworldapp.com/

Flint Water Festival: https://flintwaterfestival.com/

Krista Kim: http://www.kristakimstudio.com/

One Tree Planted: https://onetreeplanted.org/

Featured Image: Project Lifeline by Mike Han in collaboration with Abin Thomas

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The LGBTQIA+ community has always been known for innovation, so it’s no surprise that there were high-profile auctions and IRL events involving NFT technology during New York City Pride. From the world’s first pride-themed NFT to an expansive “Digi/Physi” drop from wunderkind Fewocious at Christie’s – the NFT community continued to expand its footprint. Here’s a look at some of the NFT showcases that took place in the Big Apple last week – and insight into ongoing/upcoming auctions and events.

 

FEWOCIOUS x Christie’s

A seven-day auction ended a few days ago at Christie’s, featuring artwork by 18-year-old LGB[T]Q+ community member, Victor aka FEWOCIOUS. The collection features a limited edition of five pieces, which span Victor’s life from ages 14 to 18. The artist candidly documents his life throughout his artwork, including emotional struggles that have matured him way beyond his years. The visceral nature of his story was discussed on Clubhouse with rooms led by resident drop moderator Farokh Sarmad and on Christie’s website.

 

Fewocious at Christies

 

One of the most powerful and inspiring pieces in the collection is “Year 5, Age 18 — I Taught Myself How To Fly.” The piece marks the beginning of the next chapter for the young artist. According to Christie’s notes, FEWOCIOUS created the artwork after he had moved from his hometown of Las Vegas to Seattle. The relocation was made possible by his very first drop on Nifty Gateway.

 

By allowing his community to get up close and personal, FEWOCIOUS has been able to bring his art to life through multiple senses. The inclusion of a physical art piece, physical trunk, and archival drawings was an excellent example of pairing the digital with the physical.

 

The five pieces in Hello, I’m Victor (FEWOCiOUS) and This Is My Life, which Decrypt is calling crypto art surrealism), sold for a total of $2.16 million.

 

Christie’s continues to innovate, jumping in early into the NFT space and also redesigning its auction formats. Their ability to reinvent has resulted in a number of record-breaking sales. In fact, their 20th and 21st Evening Sales included bidders from 29 countries and “realized sales of more than $691 million over the course of two nights in New York.

Madame Vivien V at XO Crypto by Fiona Aboud

 

XO Crypto

What the hell’s an NFT? Luckily some insight was provided to members of the LGBTQIA+ community this pride at the Blockchain Center on the Upper West Side. Although the center isn’t quite open to the public, approximately 150 guests received a sneak peek at this Pride social. The event, in partnership with NFTs.tips and La Casa Arthouse, presented a showcase of 30 LGBTQIA+ artists who are part of the NFT space. The event was billed as an educational social and included information on NFTs for varying knowledge levels. XO Crypto also featured a live raffle done utilizing the POAP (proof-of-attendance protocol) wallet. The prize was a limited edition pride-themed Satoshi is Homeboy shirt from Brooklyn-based Satoshis closet.

 

Visual Artists featured included David Cash, Handiedan De Verbeelding, Midwestmisfit, Yiliang Yang, Yosnier, Klara Vollstaedt, Diana Sinclair, Ksenia Salion, Sam J, and Brendan Miggins. The artist’s work is on display in a Cryptovoxels gallery provided by Madrid-based Zardoz Club. A closing part for the show is planned for mid-July.

 

 

PLAYBOY & NEON GOLD x Nifty Gateway

Playboy also dropped a series of digital art pieces for Pride with Nifty Gateway. In addition to three images of David Bowie that were taken from a 1976 Playboy, there are also collaborative pieces with many prominent LGBTQIA+ musical artists. Troye Sivan and 3D Artist Jason Beyer have collaborated on a digital a/v series entitled BLOOM2021. Charli XCX created 1700 B.C. (XCX) with Australian artist Sewah Attafuah. The Knocks have collaborated with moistbreezy, and Pabllo Vittar’s drop included works made with Nico Panda and Dutch digital fashion house The Fabricant.

 

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