Some of you might remember the opus I wrote on NFTs about a year ago. Even though the heat on NFTs has cooled a little, I’m still involved in the scene, especially on Twitter which has a very strong and vibrant NFT community. My feed is often filled with gorgeous artworks, posted by artists trying to get their name out there. About ten months ago I was scrolling Twitter and came across an absolutely stunning piece by a Chinese artist called Mear. I commented on it, we chatted for a while and got to know each other a little bit, and I decided to buy the NFT. In fact, I fell in love with the entire series and bought all six pieces. It feels very special to have supported Mear as she was starting out in the NFT world, and over the months we have come to know each other quite well. One of the reasons I love NFTs as much as I do is that as a collector you can discover art that you never would have otherwise been exposed to. And for Mear, as an artist, the converse is also true. Would she have sold the entire collection of her Swaying series to an Australian woman working as an air traffic controller in Dubai if it wasn’t for NFTs? I highly doubt it. I feel very honoured that Mear took time out from her very busy schedule as a full time artist, teacher and prospective PhD student to answer a few questions about her art and about herself. Mear’s English is way better than my Mandarin so we conducted our interview in English, with a little help from Baidu and Google translate. I do hope you enjoy our conversation as much as we did.
Thank you so much Mear, for taking the time to talk to me about NFTs and art, and in particular your specialty, Chinese painting. I absolutely treasure the six NFTs in my collection that comprise the Swaying series. Can you tell me the inspiration for the series, what each one of them means and why you chose these individual names: Imagine, Disconnected, Vague, Praise, Flourish and Indigo? The Swaying series is based on the practice of using heavy colour to create small paintings. I was inspired by some wildflowers on the side of the road. It was a rainy day, and the wildflowers were swaying, east and west, causing the water on the petals to produce a magical refraction effect. I imagined the flowers floating in the buoyant sea, swaying in the water and creating beautiful ripples. So, I began to draw these pictures from my imagination.
The Swaying series is a dynamic description of petals floating in water. The Chinese word for each of the paintings is very simple, but very clear. Imagine is the first painting in the series, and represents the fluctuation of my creative thoughts. When I was a child I remember watching a cartoon called Bug Division, and a scene from that impressed me very deeply. So I used rattan yellow and a little gold to try to recreate the gold and black space from the TV show.
Imagine
Disconnected describes the camellia at night, a bit like smoky moonlight. Vague uses the purple tone that I like, but purple is very difficult to show, so I added some clam powder to foil to make it stronger. Praise depicts the summer forest, with a variety of different colours of leaves. I added the rock colour, to make it look even more gorgeous and thick.
DisconnectedVaguePraise
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Indigo depicts a four-leaf clover floating in the lake in winter. The lake is usually blue, and the water is very deep, but clear. And Flourish depicts a variety of colourful flowers blooming in spring. It represents the Chinese people walking in the flower filled street during the Spring Festival. Very rich and beautiful, it indicates strong vitality.
IndigoFlourish
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You hand painted each one using ink and brush on paper, and digitally added the Chinese characters in the background. What do the characters say? Do they have a special meaning? The calligraphy pictures in the background are high-definition pictures I downloaded from an app called China Treasure Museum, which are all very good works by famous masters before the Qing Dynasty.
For example, as the background in Imagine, I chose a short section from Zhu Dao’s Seven Frames of the Interior Classic from the Qing Dynasty, which is a work mainly about the preservation of health. And in Disconnected, I chose a paragraph from the epitaph of Zhang Sizhong of the Liao Dynasty. The epitaph is written for the dead, recording the names, titles and life stories of the deceased. These pieces were chosen as the backgrounds because the calligraphy is really very good, and worthy of our observation and study.
I’d love to go back to the beginning, if that’s OK. Your formative years, your childhood, where you grew up, how you grew up. Were you raised in an artistic family? People who know me well are aware of my cheerful disposition and how I love to crack jokes. My mother often refers to me as the “happy nut” in our family. However, in public, I tend to come off as introverted and shy, speaking very little. This is for two reasons. Firstly, I’m near-sighted and don’t like wearing glasses, making everything seem blurred. This causes me to overlook many people and things, but it also makes me more focussed on myself, rather than paying attention to external gazes and discussions. Secondly, my dad taught me from a young age that, “The more one talks, the more mistakes one can make”, so I’m always extra careful when I speak or act outside.
I suppose my personality could be classified as a people-pleaser. Much of it has to do with my parents’ subtle influence. My sister and I are twins, and we were born when my father was quite old, so he’s always been particularly protective. Even to this day, he often warns us about dangers (which I understand, considering he grew up in a time of turmoil, poverty and hardship). For instance, he advises us to be cautious about falling when using an elevator, to keep looking behind us when walking in case someone is following, to not accept food from strangers and always to bring him along for job interviews (though I’ve never actually done so).
I was born and grew up in Guangzhou, China. Cantonese and Mandarin are my mother tongues. My English education began with my mother, who served as my father’s translator in the 90s; she isn’t so proficient now due to lack of practice. My father only speaks his dialect and isn’t keen on learning new languages. From an early age, he taught us calligraphy and seal carving, but because I was too playful, I didn’t learn calligraphy well, which I regretted later in university (where I was even more playful, haha!). We visited parks every year for our birthdays, so it’s fair to say we’ve explored all the parks in Guangzhou. I joined a sketching training camp one summer in middle school which meant I woke up at 5am and finished at around 5pm every day. And in the final semester of high school, I attended a painting training camp. My sister and I were admitted to one of China’s top art colleges. Traditional Chinese painting is something that I picked up in university and have been studying since.
When she was young, Mear’s father taught her how to do seal carvings, a traditional Chinese art form that dates back 3700 years.
I have to admit that my dad is a good teacher. His knowledge is extensive and he is incredibly smart. At my graduation, he was able to discuss poetry and classical texts with my tutor for an entire afternoon. He has indeed taught me a great deal. However, he can be too dominant, overly protective and he limits our actions a lot. By the way, he is a Leo, and I have decided never to marry a Leo man, haha!
I enjoy discussing artistic concepts and creative processes. And I also really enjoy painting and I love the surprises that uncertainty brings to my work. If the surprise is upsetting, I laugh it off, change it and make it beautiful. Its beauty then reaches others who come in contact with it. If the surprise is just right, I am overjoyed and celebrate.
Can you tell us about what you learned at art college? Have you been working as an artist since then? When I was admitted to college, I chose to major in Chinese painting, which is completely different from sketch and colour. It is the pursuit of two-dimensional performance, such as painting figures in exquisite black, white and grey. The description of the painting “object” must be very accurate and careful in order to create a three-dimensional sense from it. Traditional Chinese painting pays attention to artistic conception. Artistic conception is hazy beauty, or transcendent beauty, from limited to infinite. The concept of “mood” is richly embodied in Chinese painting. The theme, its composition, depiction, emotion, and overall arrangement must all convey this mood, sometimes described as the soul of a painting. Chinese paintings are often called silent poetry. The harmony between an object’s characteristics and the artist’s emotions is what gives a painting its poetic essence, creating art that intrigues and resonates. A painting that deeply conveys emotions and has strong expressiveness captivates its viewers.
Traditional Chinese painting is done with a brush. The front of the brush can be long or short, and the amount of hair will affect its water absorption. Therefore, there are often uncertain factors when using a brush, so strong control ability is needed. When I was an undergraduate, the teacher let us learn landscapes, figures, flowers and birds, and then choose the direction we wanted to further our study. I chose landscape painting. To draw a landscape, we must first practice the basic elements of the painting method, such as: trees, stones, clouds, water flow, etc. And then, we do a lot of copying. We copy the excellent traditional paintings of ancient times, for example Wang Meng’s Seclusion in Qing Bian, Fan Kuan’s Journey to Xishan and Huang Gongwang’s Residence in Fuchun Mountain, etc.
Fan Kuan’s Journey to XishanWang Meng’s Seclusion in Qing Bian
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Huang Gongwang’s Residence in Fuchun Mountain
And then, we go back to sketching again. Every year, we follow our teachers all over the country to sketch. Places such as Taihang Mountain in Henan Province, Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang Province and Jinggangshan Mountain in Jiangxi Province. And finally, the creative stage. Creation stage is the hardest; to draw a picture from present life, and to combine the techniques learned to make the performance work. In this process, I often experience long periods of self-doubt because a brush stroke might not meet my expectations. It’s just a very struggling process.
Taihang Mountain
Sketching!
I am a professional artist, but not full-time, I am an art teacher for children because I need a stable job to guarantee my life. My teacher at college told me to “Live first, and then pursue the ideal”. I am an idealist in the bottom of my heart and a very romantic person, but I also know that I must face reality.
Two of Mear’s students earnestly creating their masterpieces
How did you first hear about NFTs, and how did your classical art training translate to digital art? I heard about it from my friend. At first, I didn’t care about it, but later, when more people discussed it, I gradually learned more and then became interested. I draw with pen and paper and then take photographs of the artwork, which I adjust through the computer to form an NFT. I use simple retouching tools like Sketchbook, because I feel that the computer is hard to operate, at least for me.
What advice would you give to artists who know nothing about the NFT space, but are interested in trying it? At present, I often mention NFTs to my classmates, but because we have to use a VPN to get access, many people are not willing to really understand it. They think it is a new field, or that it is very troublesome, and that it is better to just draw their own paintings. I would like to say to the artists who are interested in NFTs, that you are very welcome to the world of NFT. Although it is a little difficult to cast into it, isn’t it good to share your works and to find people who like them?
I agree totally, and I’m so glad that you did join the NFT community! Finally, Mear, can you please share with us what you are working on at the moment? And what are your wishes and hopes for the future? At present, I am drawing some large landscape paintings, and plan to participate in more exhibitions held by provinces, or by the state. Of course, it is difficult to get the qualification for these exhibitions, but I will try my best. For the future, I hope to become a successful professional painter, just like the famous painters in history.
Mear’s large-scale landscapes. Amazing, am I right?
If you are interested in checking out (and even better, buying) some of Mear’s work, you can find her art at OpenSea and Foundation marketplaces.
DAY #8 – FRIDAY, 20th MAY 2022 Today the newbies (yes, we’re still the newbies, we’ll always be the newbies) attended an Art & Business presentation in the salon, where Beulah talked about the necessity of understanding and taking control of that side of your career as an artist. It wasn’t really geared towards writers, but as an avid art collector it was still very interesting to be in attendance and to learn about what goes on behind the scenes in galleries. Beulah’s experiences in the art world brought home the reality that most artists will never exhibit, most artists will never make it big, and most artists will never be able to make a living from their art. Afterwards I had a chat with Catherine about NFTs, and how they are a way of directly connecting artists and collectors, and doing away with the middle-people; the gatekeepers, the galleries, the dealers and the brokers. NFTs allow artists to actually sell their works and have them be seen by a larger audience than the traditional art world allows. I’ve been considering doing a presentation about NFTs for my Writer’s Open Studio in a few days, and Catherine’s enthusiasm during our conversation has cemented my decision.
I had lunch in my room today, foregoing my usual glass of wine. I’ve decided to skip the day drinking. Not because of what anyone thinks, but because it’s making me sluggish. While I was eating I received a message from David complimenting me on my new overalls. I had no idea what he was talking about, and was a little bit confused until he referenced the picture of Marcie I’d sent to the family group chat yesterday. OMG, even my own husband is mixing us up!
After lunch, I ran upstairs to the studios and interviewed Catherine, a painter who primarily uses oil on canvas (and sometimes wood) to produce captivating small-scale works. When I walked into her studio I was enthralled by all the beautiful pieces hanging up on the wall. Each of them inspired by Orquevaux landscapes, architecture and colours. Catherine lights up the whole room with her energy and I find her really engaging, spirited and fun to be around. So of course I loved our chat. She reminds me of my friend Ellen, who I love very much, so it makes me very happy to spend time with her. After we finished the interview I hung around, and we gossiped about our perceptions of the Chateau. Our expectations, our reasons for being here, and our experiences of it so far. We learned that we’d both been promised self-contained guesthouse accommodation, but ultimately been assigned a room in the main house. And, we’ve both come to the same conclusion that, even though we were initially disappointed, we’re actually much happier to be staying in the Chateau, the beating heart of the residency, rather than in the village. We agreed that being so much closer to the action has elevated the experience for us. Which is when Beulah, who was (apparently) in her office down the hall, and could (apparently) hear everything we were saying, shouted out, “You two are hilarious!!” Oops! Catherine and I looked at each other, as our jaws dropped in unison. I mouthed, “Shit!” as Catherine mouthed, “Whaaat?” And we burst into laughter! Beulah came in to explain the reasons behind the accommodation swap, but we didn’t really care. We’re exactly where we need to be.
I sheepishly excused myself to drop in on Avital in the studio next door, and luckily she was also free to do our interview. Avital is an Israeli collagist, and it’s been so illuminating for me to learn exactly what collaging is. I must admit I had kind of conflated it with scrapbooking before I met Avital. I now know that it is a serious visual artform combining photos, pictures and objects to create something that is completely new, whether that be an idea, a message or a concept. It felt great to have two more awesome interviews under my belt. I feel very comfortable with both Catherine and Avital, and have from the beginning. Is it because we started our residencies together? Is it because we are the grande dames of the Chateau? Or is it something else? Maybe we just really like each other, and our friendship takes little effort. Avital is really affectionate and maternal with me and I love that. Whenever she plays with my hair or squeezes my arm, I feel like purring and curling up at her feet.
My babes, Catherine and Avital.
Tonight was the Pomme Frites concert so I wanted to dazzle at dinner, but I’m running out of unique and interesting clothes to wear. I scraped the bottom of my suitcase and decided to just fuck it, and wear a skimpy little silk robe as a dress. Rock ‘n’ roll, baby!! This thing is uber short but I’m no longer self-conscious about dressing up, and I’m actually having a lot of fun being a little bit daring. Forcing myself to take risks has made me feel so much freer about what I’m wearing, and I’ve always promised myself that I’d be a more flamboyant dresser in my 50s, so now’s a great time to start.
Before I left, I polled my friends about what sartorial vibe I should go for during my artist residency, and the overwhelming response was to stick to my usual palette of black, black, black. I decided to completely ignore this advice and packed a bunch of bright, whimsical, outlandish and swashbuckling clothes instead.
The Pomme Frites concert was a wild success. Noah, Jad and Jonny performed a really fun 45 minute set for the rest of us on the steps of the Chateau. We danced for ages on the front lawn, fuelled by rosé, joy and a beautiful sense of camaraderie, and when the party was over, we all walked down the hill to kick on at Charles and Jonny’s house in the village. I was a little tired, so after a drink or two I hitched a ride back to the Chateau with a couple of the others on a commandeered golf cart. Despite my best intentions, it was another late night.
DAY #9 – SATURDAY, 21ST MAY 2022 While everyone else went to the shops this morning, I stayed and interviewed Elissa, who is also a writer. She’s a published novelist though, with a number of literary awards under her belt, so we’re not exactly in the same league. She’s so passionate and knowledgeable about her craft, and very generously shared a number of sources and tips with me. It’s been really great interviewing everybody because the very foundation of an interview is asking people to talk about themselves. It’s not a real conversation but, still, the act of communication creates intimacy and closeness. When I’m interviewing someone, I feel confident and sure of myself. And so far everyone I’ve interviewed has been very generous and open with me. I’m enjoying the process a lot, and I’m really proud that I pushed myself to do this project.
After lunch I took off in my car and drove 15 minutes down the road to see my friends Nat and Andy, the ones who’d told me about the Chateau and the artist residency in the first place. It was so wonderful to be with people who know me and love me. It was so wonderful to leave behind, for a couple of hours anyway, the constant worry of how I’m being perceived and where I fit in. It was a respite, and a salve for my soul. We sat outside drinking wine and eating charcuterie and chatting for hours, and it felt like home. I was a new woman on the drive back to the Chateau because I’d remembered who I was. Carefully navigating the winding roads, I rolled the windows down, turned the music up and joyfully sang at the top of my lungs.
Everyone was tired from the night before so they went to bed early, but Otto and I stayed up quite late, drunkenly chatting and getting to know each other better. Otto, my fellow big drinker. Otto, a beautiful and gentle soul from El Salvador who came to the Chateau to volunteer his time as a general hand, in exchange for a room and the chance to paint. Otto who is learning how to speak French beautifully, but English not so much. Which doesn’t really matter when you’re in the countryside, sitting under the stars next to a fire and sharing whiskey from the bottle. I was thrilled to learn that Otto’s paintings had recently been accepted to an exhibition being held in Paris at the end of the month. He’s so incredibly talented and I’m so happy for him and this amazing achievement. He’s such a sweet, humble man and he deserves great success.
DAY #10 – SUNDAY, 22ND MAY 2022 I am finally at ease now, on day 10 of 14. My jaw no longer locks and clicks when I’m talking to people. And today I talked a lot, racking up five interviews!! First up was Charles, who creates wonderful street installations from reclaimed wood. I chatted to him in his studio at The Stables, where he was putting together a large scale piece. I love the organic nature of his work, and that he creates art for public spaces. A few minutes into our interview, Charles became quite emotional as he recounted the connections he’s made with people that he’s met on the streets and on his travels. When I saw him wipe away some tears, I jumped up and gave him a big hug. I love a man who’s in touch with his emotions and is unafraid to express them, and Charles is all heart.
Afterwards I walked back to the Chateau, and interviewed Jad in the upstairs studio he shares with Noah. Jad is a Canadian singer-songwriter who was accepted into the residency as a musician but has been inspired to try his hand at painting after spending time with so many talented artists. And that’s the beauty of this place. There are no rules. Everything is possible. I love being here because I’m surrounded by creative people who are actively and passionately pursuing their art. My creativity was always something that I kept close to my chest because I was never around creative people for any significant length of time. The environment in the Chateau fosters an understanding and an acceptance of the creative process, which has been such a luxury for me to be around, and which will change the way I live my life.
Jad and I talked about how being here has reawakened his desire to paint, something that he hasn’t done since high school. He opened up to me during our interview, and once again I felt a growing sense of ease and closeness with my confrère. We finished our interview with a beautiful long hug. Hugs all day!! Maybe that’s what I’ve been missing.
On a roll, I went searching for Christine, who was painting in her studio. I really wanted to try and connect with her during our interview because we’ve kind of kept each other at arm’s length so far, and I desperately wanted to bridge that gap. During the next thirty minutes I was surprised to discover a side to Christine that I’d hadn’t seen before. She revealed herself to be a serious person and a very deep thinker, taking the time to carefully consider each question before answering. It was enlightening to learn about how seriously she takes her work, pouring her entire being into every brush stroke. I enjoyed spending a little one-on-one time with Christine, and as she spoke about her life and her work, I got an even clearer understanding of who she really was. I realised that her aloofness doesn’t mean that she doesn’t like me, and it doesn’t mean that she’s judging me. It doesn’t mean anything. Thinking that I’m the only one with shit going on is so self-centred. Everyone is conquering unseen mountains, and everyone is navigating unseen depths. Just as Christine couldn’t possibly know about the turmoil hidden behind my smile, there’s no way for me to know what’s hidden behind hers. We didn’t hug after our chat, but I did feel like the heaviness between us had lifted.
Later in the day, I grabbed a few minutes to interview Andrew in his room, and when we were done he offered to show me some of his work. His beautiful, reverent photographs of men’s bodies absolutely blew me away. And gave me an idea. I’ve long dreamt of posing nude for a Helmut Newton or an Annie Leibovitz. I don’t really love my body, but I’ve always thought that it would be wonderful to have a beautiful snapshot of what it looks like now, knowing that I’m not getting any younger (or thinner, or firmer). Knowing that one day I’ll look back and admire my relative youth (and relative perkiness). Quickly determining that I may never again have 24/7 access to a photographer of his caliber, I blurted out to Andrew that I would love for him to take some photos of me sometime? Maybe in the woods? Maybe topless? He said he would be honoured. OMG!
After dinner, while everyone else watched the comedy special Nanette in the adjacent salon, I notched up my fifth and final interview of the day, spending 90 minutes quietly whispering with Viktoria in her darkened studio, so as not to disturb the movie-goers next door. It was the longest interview I’ve done by far, easily outlasting Hannah Gadsby’s stand up show. I’ve enjoyed a few long conversations with Viktoria in the last couple of days, and this one was no exception. I find her a little bit mysterious, and a little bit enigmatic. She fascinates me. Everyone here does.
DAY #11 – MONDAY, 23RD MAY 2022 Just as I’ve been interviewing all the artists here, Andrew’s been photographing them, and today it was my turn to be snapped. For my photo shoot Andrew and I went downstairs to the spooky basement and took some very cool pictures, playing around with lighting, props and poses. He makes me feel really comfortable, so hopefully I do get the courage to actually go through with a semi-nude shoot. It would truly be a once in a lifetime experience, especially with such a talented photographer.
Tonight was Literature Night. I finally decided to just go for it and read my essay about not wanting to have children, and my decision to have abortions. I was super nervous about speaking in front of everyone, but I made the executive decision to just be bold. Bold in what I chose to read, and bold in what I chose to wear. Earlier that day I’d found a very fancy, over-the-top, dusky pink dress in the basement costume room which was absolutely perfect for my reading. After dinner I got changed into it, twisting my hair into space buns, and creating a persona. An alter ego. Cruelly, I was selected to speak first, and as I approached the lectern I looked around at all the familiar faces looking back at me, as my heart pounded in my chest. I’m a writer, I’m not a performer. But this was my chance to show everyone why I am here. To prove to them, and maybe even to myself, that I am an artist after all. I looked down at the words on the page, words that I had written, and as I read them out loud I could see that everyone in the room was in my thrall. No-one was listening out of politeness. No-one’s eyes were glazed over. And when I was finished, I had a truly raw and authentic response from the audience, my peers.
I feel so, so good about exposing my true self, and allowing myself to be so vulnerable in front of everyone. We’re all artists here, but the art that I create is words on a computer, or on pieces of paper. It’s been impossible for anyone to see the work that I’ve created the last ten days, or to know what I’m even capable of creating. Tonight, I showed everyone what I can do, and so many people approached me afterwards, and congratulated me or told me how much I’d touched them with my story. For the first time, I feel seen as a real artist. I feel validated. I’m floating, and I love this feeling.
DAY #12 – TUESDAY, 24th MAY 2022 This morning I walked to The Stables to sit for Jonny. I was a bit nervous but, as always, my boy effortlessly put me at ease. He played me some of his favourite hip hop music and we made each other laugh while he painted my portrait. I love the way he sees the world; with a beguiling combination of childlike innocence and refined sensitivity, and when he showed me the finished canvas after a couple of hours, it took my breath away. I absolutely love it. I love the way he sees me, and I love the way he’s painted me. Is it wrong that I really want to buy it and put it up on a wall in my house? Vain, much? I am really going outside of my comfort zone during my residency and feel so good about doing things that I normally wouldn’t have the courage to try. I’m so glad I was brave enough to ask Jonny to paint me, and that he said yes. Working up the nerve to actually disrobe for Andrew is going to take a lot more guts. And I’m not sure that there’s enough rosé in all of France.
If you zoom into the coffee cup, Jonny has inscribed it with, “I only drink coffee for coffee naps”. ♥
While I was at the Stables I ran into Charles and, feeling kinda sassy, I asked him if I could take one of his pieces back to Dubai with me, with the intention of putting it up in a public place. He said he would make something small for me to take back in my suitcase. And that’s one more item ticked off my residency bucket list.
In the afternoon I saw Noah chilling under the big tree overlooking the lake, and I approached him about doing our interview there. Noah is a self-taught artist, which makes his work all the more amazing. He’s a versatile and multi-talented threat who seems to excel at everything he does! Noah is an absolute powerhouse of a personality. Happy, confident, loud and always the life of the party. It was nice to get to know the man behind moustache.
After dinner Jonny mentioned that he had a studio session scheduled with Ziggy to paint his portrait and I thought that would be the perfect opportunity for me to interview the man responsible for all of this. I was so happy when Ziggy agreed, and we had a nice half hour chat while Jonny did his thing. When we were done, I took advantage of the fact that Alonso was right next door, and checked off his interview as well. A Mexican architect turned multidisciplinary artist, Alonso is so fucking beautiful that it sometimes hurts to look at him. He’s warm natured, charismatic, and has a dazzling smile. Oh, and the peachiest butt you ever did see. If you watch Andrew’s video below, ladies and gentlemen, you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. You are so very welcome!
During my bedtime shower I discovered another tick, under my right breast. I initially thought it might be a mole, but it felt a little flicky, just like the first tick that I found under my knee a few days ago. On closer inspection, yep, it was a little bloodsucking tick. Unbelievable. It was after midnight, so I couldn’t ask anyone for help to remove it this time. I’d have to do it on my own. Google helped me out with instructions on how to extract the nasty parasite using tweezers, making sure to pull straight up, so as not to crush it or detach the body from the head. Apparently crushing it, or detaching the body from the head is very bad. Contorting my naked limbs by dim lamplight, I anxiously placed the tweezers around the body of the tick and pulled up, but the little cunt held on for dear life. I kept pulling, nervously, and eventually the freeloader’s face let go of my boob, making quite a horrible, loud “pop” sound when his head came out. I grabbed that fucker and I squeezed him, I squeezed him until he was dead. No mercy.
DAY #13 – WEDNESDAY, 25TH MAY 2022
Open Studio Day
Today was Open Studios. Exhibition day. We started in the morning, all of us going on a walking tour of the estate to check out Marcie’s botanical sculptures and Charles’ wood installations that he’d put up all around the village of Orquevaux. Seriously spectacular works of art from both of them. We then took a fabulous group photo at the village entrance. We’ve all been through so much together the last couple of weeks. Even if we never see each other again, right now it truly feels like we’re a family.
We headed back to the Chateau and were treated to a slide show of Andrew’s beautiful photos as well as an incredible video, composed of footage of all of us throughout the two weeks that we’ve been here. Andrew’s movie is a priceless memento of our collective experience and I will always cherish it. I’ve already watched it about a hundred times. How lucky are we that we got such an accomplished photographer and videographer in our residency group. Talk about winning.
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Suddenly it was time for my talk on NFTs from the artist’s perspective. This is a topic that I’m super passionate about, and I feel like I got a really good reception to it. I received a lot of thoughtful questions, and a few of the artists approached me afterwards to tell me that they wanted to learn more. I’m not 100% sure how to go about it, but I would love to help facilitate the transition of artists from the traditional art world into NFTs. Watch this space.
After my talk, Charles asked me to meet him in the foyer, where he presented me with the piece that he’d custom made for me. It’s an absolute masterpiece, and I fell in love with it instantly. I honestly think it’s one of his best works. I asked him how much I owed him and he said that he wanted me to have it for free, since the plan is for it to go up on a public wall in Dubai. But as I held it in my hands, I knew that I would not part with it. That it was too beautiful, and that I selfishly wanted it for myself. We settled on $200.
Isn’t it beautiful. I look at, and touch it, every single day and it takes me back to Orquevaux.
At 5pm we all marched up the creaky stairs to the studios to check out everyone’s work. I was so proud of all my friends for the beautiful art that they have created during their time here. I am in total awe of every single one of them, and their incredible work ethic and their drive to just produce, produce, produce. That’s something that I would like to take away with me. I particularly loved Christine’s paintings and arranged with her to buy one of the medium sized ones. I’m splashing the cash today, but it feels so good to support the artists that I’ve met here, and I love that I’ll have a couple of beautiful and lasting reminders of my time at Chateau Orquevaux.
A Little More Growth #3 by Christine Olmstead.
Later in the evening most of us walked down to The Stables to do a burn of one of Charles’ wooden sculptures, called Dead Man. It was a beautiful night and everyone who was gathered around the installation made an offering to the piece that was being sacrificed. I wrote a haiku about the Chateau, and pinned the piece of paper to the sculpture, watching the flames lick at it until it floated away in ashes. It was beautiful and cathartic to watch, and reminded me of the impermanence of life.
Jonny left earlier today, and I miss him already.
DAY #14 – THURSDAY, 26TH MAY 2022 Avital left yesterday and I miss her too. She was always the first person I saw in the mornings, and my morning ritual doesn’t feel the same in her absence.
After my shower I finally caught up with Beulah, for her interview. I still have Otto to do but he’s been too busy this morning. Even though we have one day left, it kind of feels like the end already. The energy feels different, and everyone is running around cleaning up their studio spaces and preparing for their early trains in the morning. I’m not leaving until midday tomorrow so I have the luxury of packing later. So I’m just chilling, and writing this. It’s kind of crazy that I came to Chateau Orquevaux to write, but haven’t written nearly as much as I thought I would. Which is OK, because, even more significantly, I’ve been creatively activated. And I think that will manifest more fully when I leave this place and re-enter the real world. The Chateau’s mission statement declares: The Chateau d’Orquevaux Artist Residency emphasises the human experience and the creative process. The residency creates an environment for the artist in their quest for personal growth and artistic expression – while reinforcing that the end product is not necessarily the principal focus. Well, I’ve certainly been on one helluva quest. And I am hoping that the body of work I create when I collate everyone’s interviews will result in a beautiful piece of art.
Before dinner I sought out Andrew and asked him if he would photograph me. Like, now or never! He said yes, and I took him on a short walk to my special place near the swimming hole, the little copse of trees that I walk through every day after my morning skinny dip. With my two buddies at the entrance of the grove keeping watch for me, I slipped off my bra and flung it into the trees, baring myself. I took a deep breath and tried to relax, knowing that I was in the capable hands of a world class photographer. It wasn’t easy, but I stopped focussing on Andrew and his camera, and started focussing on where I was; in my secret garden. Chateau Orquevaux. France. In my own skin. Right here, right now. The poses that I’d practised in front of the mirror felt wooden and contrived, so I softened and just allowed myself to be. I was still awkward as fuck, but it felt more natural to just be myself. The timing was just right, and the golden hour light was absolutely perfect. And at that very moment, magic happened.
At our final dinner, everyone took a turn to say a few words to the group. It was super emotional and by the end, we were all in tears. I haven’t had an easy time of it but Chateau Orquevaux, and the people I’ve shared this experience with, will course through my veins for the rest of my life. I know this. And, as cliché as it sounds, I’ve learned so many lessons about myself along the way. I’ve grown, not just as an artist, but as a person. I’ve learned to look at the world around me, and not just focus on the world inside of me. I’ve learned to be vulnerable. I’ve learned to be courageous and bold. I’ve learned to bare my body, and my soul. I’ve learned to ask for the things that I want. I’ve learned that being an artist means doing it, and not just talking about it. And I’ve learned to say yes, fuck it, why not!! And I have developed real friendships with my fellow artists. Friendships that I know will last a lifetime.
As the night came to a close, there was a flurry of individual goodbyes, and farewells. So many emotions, tears and hugs. So many promises to meet up in other parts of the world. I genuinely love every single person here, but from day one, Marcie has been my le plus aimé, and I absolutely hated saying goodbye to her. It physically hurt. We hugged a lot, and when we couldn’t hug anymore, we said goodnight and went to bed.
DAY #15 – FRIDAY, 27th MAY 2022 It’s time for me to leave. I woke up early enough to fit in one final yoga session by the lake, and one final skinny dip in my swimming hole (yes, it’s mine now and they should just name it after me already). I wanted to stay in the water forever, but I had a lot to do. Having to pack away everything in my room (my room!) into a suitcase hammered home the reality that it was all over. And most of the others have already gone. I shook off the shroud of melancholy threatening to engulf me and lugged my suitcases downstairs. In a mad rush, about fifteen minutes before I had to go, I cornered Otto and we finally did a quickie interview in the dining room. It wasn’t an easy one, as we were unable to communicate in a common language (where’s that bottle of rosé when you really need it?)! Despite that, it felt really wonderful that I had this last minute chance to talk to Otto, because it meant that I actually achieved my goal of interviewing every single artist at Chateau Orquevaux. High five to me!!
Once the interview was done and the car was packed, I did that thing I’m prone to doing; of already checking out mentally, already looking ahead to what is coming and no longer seeing what is in front of me. Even if it’s important. Which is why I was almost startled to see Noah, Christine and Charles waiting to say goodbye. I almost cried! And in my mentally frazzled state I totally would have just taken off without saying farewell to Andrew. I’m so grateful that he came out to wish me happy travels because I would have really regretted not saying goodbye to him. He’s one of the loveliest people I’ve ever met, and I adore him. Also, he’s seen my tits, so we’re practically married now.
I took one last look at the Chateau, knowing that I wasn’t taking any of it in, but also knowing, in my heart, that one day I would be back. And then I drove away.
OK, so can we all please just take a big breath in, and a big breath out. We’re here. We made it. We got through the hard bit, and now we can finally start talking about the good stuff. Art. And I’mma jump straight in and tell you that there is no such thing as NFT art and there is no such thing as an NFT artist. There are artists, and there is art. And that is all. And because you’ve done my NFT Foundation Course, you already know that to be true, so let’s kick on.
More than 700,000 years ago someone drew an outline of their hand onto a cave wall in Indonesia, creating the very first known work of art. The artist, our ancestor, was attempting to capture the moment (and nailed it). Since then, humans have continued to express themselves in a myriad of ways, including etchings, pottery, sculptures, paintings, screenprints, photographs and more. Today, our lives are predominantly online. Everything is digital, from maps to music to healthcare to entertainment to relationships to work. Is it such a huge leap to accept that art too, must evolve into the digital realm? And by the way, digital art itself is not something that’s new. People have been creating it since the 1960s. The difference now, with the advent of NFTs, is that digital artists can finally be as recognised, rewarded and acclaimed for the work that they create on their computers as their traditional artist counterparts are for the work that they create on canvas, wood, paper and clay. Which is fantastic, right? Who wouldn’t want that for them? Another difference is that when an artist mints their NFT, they can program a percentage of future sales for themselves into the smart contract code, theoretically guaranteeing that they receive royalties for secondary sales of that artwork in perpetuity, even after their death. How awesome! Why shouldn’t artists benefit from future interest in the work that they’ve created? Hell yeah, I’m all for it! And let’s not forget that NFTs make art more accessible, making it available to anyone who is interested, and not just to a small group of privileged and connected few. NFTs are the most modern and most efficient tool for the creation, certification and distribution of art in 700,000 years.
Sure, I understand that it can be hard to wrap your head around the concept of “owning” a piece of digital art, for instance something as simple as a jpeg. We’ve all right-click-saved pictures from the internet before. So why would anyone choose to pay any amount of money, let alone millions of dollars for a picture they could just copy online? The simple answer to that is the voracious human appetite for scarcity. The blockchain has finally made it possible to prove ownership and provenance of digital art. You can right-click-save as much as you like, but the owner of the original file can now verify that an image is theirs, and theirs alone; which makes it scarce. And scarcity drives demand. The same concept applies to all art. Why else would an unsigned screenprint of Banksy’s Girl With Balloon be worth $200K? I’ll tell you why, there are only 600 of them in the whole world. And human beings will always want what no-one else can have.
Pictures of the Mona Lisa don’t dilute the value of the Mona Lisa. And having a picture of the Mona Lisa on your computer doesn’t mean that you own her. Just like saving a picture of my NFT to your camera roll doesn’t give you my NFT. You’re not stealing it from me by right-click-saving it, because when I buy an NFT, I’m not buying the jpeg. So go ahead, and right-click-save all you like. I own my NFT, and the blockchain can prove that. And I’m the only one who can sell it and make money from it. All you’ve got is a pretty little screenshot on your phone, so have fun with that.
You know, some folks are perfectly happy to buy counterfeit Louis Vuitton handbags, knowing that what they’re carrying on their arm is a fake. And some people pay good money for replica artworks, knowing that what they hang up on their wall is a forgery. But those facsimiles will never reduce the value of the real thing. Because people will always want the real thing. They need to have it. It’s imperative to the human condition. It’s the reason why people buy Rolexes and Ferraris and Louis Vuitton handbags. And really expensive art.
I once saw a photo of a well-known artist’s limited edition screenprint in a magazine, and instantly fell in love with it. Head over heels in love. I tapped into google and found a high resolution jpeg of that particular work of art, which I right-click-saved, and then printed, framed and hung up on my wall. And it made me happy. A few years later I had the good fortune to actually buy one of those limited edition prints. Which one do you think I enjoyed more? The photocopy of the jpeg I copied online, or the original screenprint signed by the artist himself? I think you know the answer.
So OK, there’s nothing intrinsically valuable about NFTs. But is there anything intrinsically valuable about anything? What’s intrinsically valuable about Picasso’s Guernica? It’s literally a piece of canvas with some paint splattered on it (albeit artfully splattered paint), but the market has decided that it’s worth $200 million. We seem to inherently understand, and accept, that value can be assigned to traditional art. But we aren’t used to it with digital art. Not yet. We’re in a massive growth and learning period where cryptoart is concerned, with the blockchain finally affording digital art the same framework, respectability, value and marketability as traditional art. And it’s about fucking time. It’s time digital artists got theirs. And it’s time that access to global art markets opened up to everyone. It’s definitely time.
I’ve loved and collected art for years. I bought my first piece when I was 27 years old, working as an au pair in Connecticut, earning just $137 a week. One day I was at the local high school to donate blood (cool story so far, yeah?) and as I slowly inched forward in the line, I found myself eye to eye with a canvas painted black but for a whorl of midnight blue bleeding from the middle of the painting. The piece was titled Sadness, and as I was reluctantly propelled away from it towards the nurse’s station, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. A few days later the principal hooked me up with the kid who made the painting. The little fucker figured me for a mark and demanded $400 for it. I laughed in his pimply face and offered him one week’s salary, no more no less. He made a show of umming and ahhing about it, but his mum impressed upon him that no-one else on earth, in a million years was going to offer him cash for any of his art projects, ever again. And that’s how the deal went down. Since then my salary has increased steadily, and I still spend every spare penny I earn on art. It’s not just a passion, it’s almost an obsession (just ask my long-suffering husband, whom I often wrangle into buying art with me, and sometimes, if I’m lucky, for me). I’ve been buying art for the last 23 years, and the transition from traditional art to cryptoart actually feels really natural to me. It feels like a step in the right direction.
The reason I love NFTs is because I love art. And I’m not the only one. In fact, there are lots of us out there, if the money flowing into the space is anything to go by. OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, posted $5 billion in trades in the first month of this year. And they did a record breaking $476 million worth of NFT trades in one single day on 1st May. In a bear market! NFTs are not going away. Weirdos like me are more than happy to stump up a fair sum for beautiful artwork. Sure, some people are in it for the short term gain, hoping to sell a piece for more than they paid for it. But others are in it for the long haul, seeing it as an investment and a safe store of value. Some collectors buy art simply for the flex, and some of us do it for the pure enjoyment of owning something beautiful. Of course collecting art is different to investing in it. But despite some of my NFTs already increasing in value, I don’t view them as an investment vehicle, just as I don’t view the art on my wall as an investment vehicle, but rather as something to admire and enjoy.
Art historian, writer, tech guru and NFT doyen Jason Bailey (@artnome) is a passionate and vocal advocate for art, and he’s someone that I look up to and consider to be a mentor in the labyrinthine maze of the NFT galaxy. He’s not only a cheerleader for NFTs, he’s also an educator and has recently set up ClubNFT, a company that assists collectors to protect their NFT investments. His excellent advice to people interested in buying NFTs is:
You can’t go wrong.
And that’s been my credo in the NFT space from the beginning. Well, since February anyway, which is when I bought my first non-fungible token. Since then I’ve purchased dozens more, and I haven’t sold a single one. I don’t ever plan to. Because I’m not in it to speculate, or flip, or make shitloads of money. I’m in it because I love them and because they bring me joy. I’m in it because I think NFTs are a spectacularly exciting development in the art world and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. And I’m in it because I really get off on the feeling of knowing that I’m supporting an artist in a new arena. Artists I never would have discovered if it wasn’t for NFTs.
Even if you don’t know much about NFTs, you may have heard about the one that was sold by Christie’s auction house in March, 2021. And if not, you’re in for a treat. Digital artist Beeple’s piece, titled “Everydays: the First 5000 Days” opened with a bid of just one hundred bucks, before the hammer went down on the astronomical sum of $69.3 million. I’m not here to make a judgement about whether the piece is worth that amount, but I do want to take a closer look at it. In May 2007 Beeple committed to creating one digital artwork a day, and he did so every single day for thirteen years and eight months (i.e. 5000 days), including the day he got married. I can’t think of anything (including eating, shitting or sleeping) that I’ve done every single day for 5000 days. Everydays, the artwork, is a digital composite of each of those 5000 images (which you can inspect individually on his website). Whether you like his artworks or not, I believe that the sheer magnitude of the piece is truly astounding. And it absolutely tickles me pink that it’s shaken up the stolid, dusty, old art scene and challenged the status quo. Sotheby’s and Phillips’ are also getting in on the NFT auction action. That these historic and revered auction houses are so readily accepting NFTs as a valid artform is a big stamp of approval.
Look familiar? The formidable “Everydays”.
Wikipedia, however, could not disagree more. They recently removed the sales of two NFTs from their list of most expensive artworks, deeming NFTs “not art”. One of those works was Beeple’s Everydays. Personally, I think that’s an egregious error, based on a dismal lack of understanding and appreciation of what NFTs are. As justification, one of the editors pooh-poohed, “This list is for paintings, sculptures, and closely related works, not whatever these NFT things are”. As you and I both know, the NFT is not the art. The art is the art. And who the hell gets to decide what art is anyway? People said that Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain wasn’t art. They said that Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can wasn’t art. They said that Jackson Pollock’s Blue Poles wasn’t art. And they said that Mark Rothko’s Orange, Red, Yellow wasn’t art. And they were all wrong. Every single time. And they’re wrong now. These art “experts” simply don’t have the vision to understand that art evolves. Art doesn’t sit still. It breaks boundaries and it leaps beyond horizons. It’s dynamic. It shape-shifts, it challenges and it defies.
Duchamp’s Fountain, which he called a “readymade sculpture” also referred to as found object art. It was last sold in 1999 for $1,762,500 to a buyer who said it represented ‘the origin of contemporary art’.
Several versions of Soup Can exist, and the highest price ever paid for one was $11.8 million in 2006.
There was an uproar when the National Gallery of Australia bought this painting in 1973. In 2016 it was valued at $350M.
Mark Rothko’s Orange, Red, Yellow is known as a colour field painting and was sold in 2012 for $86.9 million.
NFTs democratise art by removing the gatekeeper mentality that galleries and art dealers (and online encyclopaedias) have enjoyed for far too long. The rarified world of traditional art is competitive and exclusionary. It is a zero sum game, which fosters unhealthy competition and limits the number of artists that can succeed. If you win, I necessarily lose. NFTs on the other hand, thrive within a beautiful and truly global art community, with everyone involved uplifting and supporting each other. The difference between the two realms is vast. Traditional art is an opaque world by design, with galleries and dealers dictating from behind closed doors, not only which artists make it and which don’t, but also which collectors can purchase art and which can’t. They control the market with an iron fist, creating unfair and insurmountable barriers to entry, for artists and collectors alike. NFTs smash that barrier.
Which is not to say that it’s easy. There are still plenty of hoops to jump through. Even just the process of buying cryptocurrency on an exchange and then getting it to a crypto wallet is burdensome and awkward. But it’s not impossible. I’m the least technically proficient person I know, and I managed to do it. Which means that you can too. Your only barrier to entry now, as a collector or as an artist, is your own willingness to learn. The best way to enter the space is to arm yourself with information. Do the research. Ten hours is great, a hundred hours is better. Spend time watching videos, enroll in online courses, read articles, listen to podcasts, follow NFT pundits on Twitter (I’ve linked to all my favourites) and you will be richly rewarded with what Kurt Vonnegut called the most valuable commodity on earth, knowledge.
A quiet aside to the artists out there. I don’t want to paint a false, rosé-coloured impression that you can just quit your day job and roll around in mountains of cash by turning your art into NFTs. Just because Beeple became an overnight millionaire doesn’t mean that you will too. Sure, one advantage of removing the gallerists and dealers from the equation is that they’re no longer squeezing you for 50% on sales. But the big disadvantage is that now you have to do all the work. You have to do the networking, you have to promote yourself, you have to create the online community, and you have to sell your own art. Which is really tough to do in a saturated market. The majority of NFT primary sales are for less than $200, and that’s before fees. It’s still a very tough industry to crack, and NFTs do not guarantee you success. They do, however, significantly open up the market. And they do make it easier to potentially earn a living from your passion, if you’re prepared to put in the hard yards. I mean jesus fucking christ, in the last 12 months alone, $44 billion was spent on NFTs. And they’ve only been around for five years. To put that into perspective, the entire traditional art industry in 2021 was worth around $65 billion. There’s money out there for the taking, my beautiful artist friends. You just have to go out there and get it.
Crunch the numbers my artist babes.
It might feel scary and intimidating for traditional artists to take the leap from physical art to digital, but turning your artwork into an NFT takes it from being a picture that can have a million exact copies taken of it, and turns it into the one copy that you can verify as being the original. It gives the power of ownership back to you, the artist, and aligns digital art ownership and provenance with that of the traditional art world. And because I like to practice what I preach, I minted my very own collection of NFTs to make sure that it is actually as easy and painless as I’ve been making it out to be. And yes, it is. It was relatively cheap too, costing me less than $150 to mint seven photographs (feel free to make me an offer 😉 ).
I call this one “Airport Road”, coz it’s the road I drive on my way to work. At the airport.
This one’s titled “It’s Alright, Baby It’s Alright” because those are the lyrics to the song, “Road To Nowhere” by Talking Heads, and I have no idea where these roads are going. But also because I took this photo from my beloved therapist, Zimmy’s, apartment building before one of our sessions, and she always makes me feel alright. ♥
For the would-be collectors out there, the only advice I have is that there’s no need to rush into buying. Dive in and check out what’s being created. Get involved on Twitter and start trawling the marketplaces. There’s so much out there, it can actually feel really overwhelming at first, but eventually you’ll figure out what you like, you’ll find your niche, and then you can start buying it. I didn’t get there right away, it took me a while, but for me, now, the holy grail of NFTs is generative art, and in particular generative art that uses the blockchain as part of its creation. This is some next level shit, producing some of the most beautiful, expansive and creative artwork I’ve ever seen.
You may not have heard of Art Blocks, but it is the most influential platform in the generative art world. And you may not recognise the names of blue-chip generative artists Dmitri Cherniak, Erick Calderon (the founder of Art Blocks), or Tyler Hobbs yet, but one day I think you will, just as you recognise the names Picasso, Monet and Warhol. These guys are virtuosos of the generative art form, producing artworks of breathtaking scope. Generative art is a glorious marriage of order and chaos, and I understand that on first glance the genius might not be apparent. It wasn’t immediately obvious to me either. But the more you learn about generative art, and the more you study it, the more you will come to appreciate it.
Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenzas
Dmitri Cherniak’s Ringers
Generative art is sometimes criticised for being dry and soulless, but Erick Calderon’s Chromie Squiggles prove that generative art can be fun and whimsical. Aren’t they pretty???
Unlike PFPs, the prices of blue chip NFTs like Tyler Hobbs’ Fidenza are not driven by speculation, but rather by an appreciation of the artworks themselves. There isn’t a lot of liquidity in these markets and that’s because collectors are buying, and holding onto them. People don’t spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy a Fidenza so that they can flip it three days later. They’re buying it because it’s a long term investment, just like a Banksy, just like a David Hockney and just like a Tracey Emin.
My heart skips a beat whenever I see Fidenza #313.
Fidenza #313 is a work of staggering beauty. It is arguably the most extraordinary NFT ever created. The Tulip Mania bubble may have popped nearly 600 years ago, but ever since Bitcoin was invented, naysayers have been comparing cryptocurrencies (and more recently, NFTs) to tulips, claiming that they are a Ponzi scheme and a speculative bubble with no inherent value, which will one day be worth nothing. Sceptics mock those of us who have conviction in the future of Bitcoin, Ethereum and NFTs. This particular artwork, part of an archetypal collection of 999 pieces by Tyler Hobbs, is especially impactful because it actually resembles a tulip. It stands alone as a work of art, but as part of the Fidenza collection, I think it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The mind-blowing thing about it is that the artist didn’t even program the algorithm to output a tulip. As I mentioned earlier, it was the randomness coded into Hobbs’ algorithm which resulted in #313 being created and minted as a tulip. Even he didn’t know that that would happen. Which is absolutely incredible. It makes the imagery and symbolism that much more powerful. This gorgeous piece of art was recently bought by my favourite collector and Twitter NFT guru, the anonymous Punk6529 (more on him soon), for 1000ETH (worth $3.3 million at the time of the sale). He says he has no plans to ever sell it.
While most of us have missed the boat on blue-chip Fidenzas, Ringers and Chromie Squiggles there are lots more artists working in the genre whose art is affordable right now. If you’re keen to start collecting I’d highly recommend buying from marketplaces that run on the Tezos blockchain (such as objkt and fx(hash) and Versum). First of all, being an open source proof-of-stake network, Tezos is environmentally cleaner than Ethereum but it also hosts some of the most exciting artwork at super reasonable prices. Because Tezos isn’t as well known as Ethereum, the market has a kind of village feel about it. It’s very welcoming, and a lot of the people know, and respect, each other. It’s proof that there really is art out there for everyone, and for all budgets. For instance, yesterday I bought a piece called Golden Glow by one of my favourite artists, Zancan, for 103 Tezos (USD170). I also bought a work from Nick Dima last week for just 1.9 Tezos (USD3.11). I mean c’mon, at that price I almost felt like I was ripping him off.
I also own this Zancan generative drawing titled “Skyscraper”. I absolutely love it.
Nick Dima’s BLEND #507
On the other end of the scale, if you want to be inspired by some truly gorgeous, prestigious artworks, check out this exquisite exhibition of the NFT collection owned by another guy I follow on Twitter, Aftab Hossain (@iamDCinvestor). I mean seriously, check out how many Fidenzas this guy owns!!!
As I mentioned earlier, NFTs are the perfect segue into the metaverse. As we speak, online galleries and museums are being built to facilitate a viewer’s experience of walking through a space and seeing art up on a wall, in an augmented reality kind of way. These experiences will only become more realistic as the technology advances.
The inimitable Punk6529.
And as we come to the end of our NFT Masterclass I’d like to introduce you to Punk6529 (@punk6529), who, as you can see, has taken his CryptoPunk PFP and built an entire goddamn philanthropic empire around that identity, leading as always by example. When I first got into NFTs, I found myself a little bit adrift (there is an almost incomprehensible amount of information out there) and then I discovered Punk6529. He was the one person consistently putting out thoroughly researched, accurate and super interesting information in a really thoughtful way, with absolutely no hidden agenda, and shitloads of skin in the game. He helped guide me in my NFT journey, and he’s articulate, worldly and freakishly intelligent. And in case you can’t tell, I have a massive nerd-girl crush on him. For me, he’s the biggest player in the NFT game, and that’s because he goes beyond NFTs. He’s not only a visionary, an authority, a father-figure, a philosopher and a big-picture thinker, the dude actually walks the walk.
The preeminent online NFT art museum 6529 Museum of Art is his brainchild, and hands down the best online art gallery in the world. And the museum precinct is only the beginning. It’s just the first phase of a much larger, ongoing project to bring us all a community focussed, decentralised Open Metaverse. This guy really knows his shit and is putting his considerable fortune where his punk mouth is.
The precinct is gated by an absolutely stunning Fidenza. The Tulip, natch. Being inside one of the many curated museums, each displaying a different genre of digital art, is not only an exhilarating experience, it’s also just a shitload of fun. You can run around the precinct, chat to other people (if you want to), and if you press the space bar you can even fly!!! Well, not really, but you can jump really high and get a birds-eye view of the entire city. It’s fucking awesome. And in some ways, it’s almost better than being inside a real museum. You can take your goddamn sweet time in front of each piece, you can eat whatever you want and drink milkshakes while you peruse sublime artworks, there are no lines to wait in, and no other people to dodge (because you’re even given the option to enter the public version or go in solo). You don’t have to pay anything or buy a membership or check your bag in a locker. You don’t have to view the artworks from behind a velvet rope, and there are no attendants to yell at you if you feel like taking a picture. You can appreciate a huge range of multi-million dollar artworks in your underwear from the comfort of your own home. I’m telling you, real museums don’t even compare!!!
Pressing the space bar gives you a bird’s eye view of Genesis City, the first metropolis of what will be dozens of cities in Punk6529’s vision for the Open Metaverse.
Ponzi schemes don’t usually feature charlatans buying millions of dollars worth of NFTs, everything from blue-chip generative art to PFPs to $20 photographs, and committing over 2000 pieces of art to a permanent collection displayed in a world-class museum for everyone to enjoy. Not normally. So why has Punk6529 put together the largest and most valuable collection of NFTs for people to freely peruse? He, and the likes of Jason Bailey, are putting their money where their mouths are, ensuring that Web3 framework is being built solidly and securely for the future, and for the people. They are keen to educate, for no other reason than they are passionate about NFTs and wish to share their knowledge. They’ll never tell you what to buy, but they will help you build foundational understanding so that you can figure out for yourself which artworks appeal to you. They’ll teach you how to safely enter the space and how to protect yourself and your digital assets against the many nefarious players that lurk in the shadows trying to steal your money and your art.
And when you’re armed with information, you can navigate the space safely and avoid the bandits and the highway robbers. Because while there is danger out there right now, the actual foundation is stable. And that foundation is blockchain. It’s the backbone of Web3 and while you’ve been going about your life blissfully unaware of its existence, it’s been working as it was designed to work, for almost 13 years. So while it might seem scary right now, I do believe in its longevity. Eventually, everyone will know more about it. Everyone will interact with it. Everyone, even you.
I’m hoping that by now you have a relatively comprehensive understanding of what NFTs are, and why they’re such an important technology in the art space. If you do, congratulations, you’re part of a very small and select group of people. There are nearly eight billion humans beings on earth and, by some estimates, only one million of them get this shit. My goal in writing this is to help more and more people understand it, and I really hope that I’ve helped you with that today. Because I truly believe that it is a revolutionary and transformative technology that will be around, after you and I are long, long gone.
Gallery 6529 PHOTO A , just one of several museums and galleries you can visit.
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